Portrait Art Series: Drawing with Crayons

Portrait: Crayon Kalon

        When choosing the perfect medium for each of my portraits I like to go out on a limb sometimes and try something that I have never used before. In this particular case I chose to go with the handy old box of Crayola Crayons.
      
      When I first decided that I would use the crayons I was not sure of what it would look like when it was finished. So, I grabbed my box of Crayolas and set forth on my new adventure.
      One thing that I realised was that the crayons have a similar look and texture as color pencils. Nevertheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed working with this new media. The crayon can be a very diverse and useful part of any artist's arsenal of mediums.

      The are many things that you can do to instill a love of art into our children. The following is a list of  activities that you can share with your children courtesy of Crayola.

• Free Coloring pages
• Craft Ideas
• Card Creator
• Certificate Maker
• Outdoor Game Ideas
• For the Parents

Try these out and we hope you and your children enjoy yourselves.

Portrait Art Series: Drawing with Colored Pencils

Portrait: Brayton in Colored Pencil

        Colored pencils! Yeah, they are like first cousins with the famous crayon. Now I am sure that each one of us at sometime has created our own piece of  refrigerator art. These colorful masterpieces mark the beginning of the making of a future Picasso. 


         The idea of using colored pencils to produce a high quality piece of art might seem unusual, but if done properly it will produce a photo esque creation. There are a few general concepts, tips, and techniques that one needs to learn in order to draw with colored pencils. Below is a summarized list of these concepts.

• Layering and crosshatching used for blending.
• Building up color gradually with soft pencil strokes.
• Keeping a very sharp colored pencil tip.
• Keeping your pencil strokes neat and clean, not sloppy and messy.
• Remember colored pencil can only be erased to an extent.
• Keep the paper surface clean of any colored pencil crumbs. 

                         

          The process can be a bit tedious but it is will worth the time invested. To learn more about these techniques check out this Colored Pencil Tutorial.
         
          Now, I am not saying that by following this tutorial you will become the next Claude Monet, but you will have fun and you might learn a thing or two. The cool thing about colored pencils is that if used correctly they can produce very vibrant and colorful pictures.
Check out the artwork page.