Art-Devine-Slasher

Step by step painting demonstrations, FREE painting tips and tutorials.

Posts Tagged sketch

Oil painting of an Elephant: Step 1

Jul 26

Posted by Nkolika in Oil paintings | 10 Comments

I love trying out new things and projects. I always love a new challenge and I am not so much interested in what the end result would be……good or bad it does not matter (though I aim for the best always).

Reference photo

What matters is starting off. I decided to attempt painting an Elephant and will be showing you how I would be doing it.

I am using a reference photo of an Elephant and her baby which I got from a magazine. Magazines and publications make excellent sources of reference photos for painting. They come in handy especially when one is learning to paint and ideas seem to run dry.

To make the sketch I used the grid format. Though it is tedious drawing the lines over and over again, it gives a very good approximation as to the right magnification while maintaining the proportion.I used a charcoal pencil. Though you can use a lead or graphite pencil.

There are several ways you can use to make a sketch or draft of the subject of your painting. Aside from the using the grid method, you can use tracing paper to trace the picture and then transfer it onto your canvas. Or you can make a free hand sketch. Whichever method you use depends on what you are comfortable with

Oil painting of an Elephant: Step 1

After laying down the sketch, I erased the lines with a rubber eraser and sprayed a thin layer of fixative on it. This is to make sure the charcoal does not stain my paint.

The drawing is then left to dry, after which it would be ready for the 2nd stage and the application of the first layer of paint. The work is on primed canvas and I would be executing it with oil paint.

I then used Prussian blue to redraw the whole picture, bringing out the dark parts, the creases and shadows. This serves as a monochrome under painting. Monochrome meaning one colour.

I scanned the picture and blew it up on my laptop in order to see the wrinkles and fine details well. Otherwise you can use a hand held magnifying lens.

I have split the work into several steps and would be posting the follow up steps regularly.

Have you subscribed to Art-Devine-Slasher? Subscribe now to the RSS news feed or to the Email newsletter updates to receive all the latest updates as they come.

Tags: , , ,

Charcoal sketch

Feb 12

Posted by Nkolika in Drawings, Women | 6 Comments

Sketch by Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

This is a charcoal sketch I made sometime last year of my husband’s  jacket/suit covers hanging on the wall beside the wardrobe. Beside it as I oft times do, I made a little note of what was going through my mind at that point in time. The note says:

To you O Lord I commit all

You alone know all things…..

You alone know why…………

You alone know when……….

Quiet my heart, Father!

Calm my spirit….and fill me with your peace.

That I may obey your call

That your will may be done in my life, now and always.

Nkolika

Tags: ,

Painting of African drummers: Step 1

Jan 3

Posted by Nkolika in Sketches | No Comments

Marriage in my traditional African culture is always a 3 part event which starts with the man coming to see the girl’s father with some elders in his family and ends with the exchange of palm wine between the man and the girl.  To cut cost, many people do everything at the same time while most split them up into 3 different occasions.

Even though marriage in a Church is important……the traditional marriage is the most important because without it the marriage cannot be recognized by the family elders. And recognition by the family elders is very important because of the way the African family is structured. Their is a very strong sense of family in Africa and it is very common to see families living together in one compound. When getting married, young people always know and understand that with marriage comes the addition of a whole new family.

Part of the highlights of every traditional marriage ceremony is the presence of traditional singers and drummers. These people are always colorfully dressed and add a lot color and fun to the whole event.

With this post I will be starting a painting of a group of African drummers who were present during my traditional marriage ceremony. I will be using a reference photograph from the set of pictures taken during the ceremony.

I usually start off my paintings with a sketch (sometimes I paint straight on the canvas without a sketch!! ). Below is the sketch I made with Charcoal pencil on canvas cloth.

Painting of African Drummers: Step 1

Painting of African Drummers: Step 1

Sketch made with Charcoal pencil

Size is 16″ x 20″

Please be sure to check back to watch how the painting develops.

Tags: , , ,

Pencil drawing

Dec 28

Posted by Nkolika in Drawings | 14 Comments

1996 pencil drawing by Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

pencil drawing

Date drawn: 1996

copyright Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)

This is about the only drawing I was able to save from my high school days when I took fine arts. As at that time I knew I had a love for drawing and the fine arts but I desperately wanted to be a medical doctor. Thought hard how I could put the two together……….finally giving up.

Little did I know that 12 years later I would still be drawing and painting. Better still, little did I know that I would get to the point of having confidence and courage to show my work to fellow well trained and better experienced artists.

I loved the fine art classes I had then and though I was the only female in the class I loved the challenge. I particularly loved drawing and wish I had saved up more of my early works………it would be fun looking at the early days and knowing how much I had improved (or vice versa!!)

One thing’s for sure, there’s noone who can ever say for sure: I know where and what I would be doing in 10 years time. At least for me all I had 10 years ago was a talent, passion for sports and art; and dreams. I believe it was the dreams that have brought me this far and will continue to take me further

The supreme object of life is to live. Few people live. It is true life only to realize one’s own perfection, to make one’s every dream a reality~ Oscar Wilde

A goal is a dream with a deadline~ Napoleon Hill

Dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go; be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you want to do.

Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.

Its been a slow journey but a very steady one. The most important thing is to never loose sight of the end point………………to be truly happy at whatever I do.

Are you still on the path of what you dreamt about years ago? or are they constantly changing with the ebbs and flows of life?

ART-DEVINE-SLASHER

Tags: , , , ,

Welcome to my Art blog

Dec 19

Posted by Nkolika in Introduction | 2 Comments

Hi, welcome to my blog. I dunno if I’m excited or a bit anxious as I make this my very first post. Why; you may ask,…………..I guess it’s all because I’ve thought about starting a blog for so long now that I feel a lot of water has gone under the bridge. But yet again, it’s always better late than never.

With this blog I’ll be keeping you abreast with the happenings in my world as an artist and as a lady who loves using her talent to push herself and those around her.

From time to time I’ll show how I go about creating my art from the very first sketch to the last brush stroke. Other times I’ll simply simply write about the one thing I have a lot of passion for……painting.

Please be sure to check out my website: art-devine-slasher.com and check back often in order not to miss out on the interesting journey we’ll soon be undertaking in full swing.

ART-DEVINE-SLASHER

Tags: , , , , , ,