Drawing Children - From Portraits to Creating Characters

In this lecture we will discuss the first 3 Elements of Art, Line, Shape, and Form and their importance in creating any work of art. You will explore and draw:

• Line - The most versatile of the visual elements. Everything that is created starts with these elements

• Draw the many different types of lines including vertical, horizontal, diagonal, curved, curly, spiral, jagged, dotted, and broken

• Learn the many emotions line can express

• Shape - A two dimensional enclosed area. When a line crosses over itself it creates a shape.

• Draw geometric shapes- squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, trapezoids, and ovals

• Draw organic shapes- leaf, cloud, tree

• Form - A three dimensional shape with height, width and depth

• Turn the shape of a square into the form of a cube using line and perspective

• Draw the form of a cone using line and perspective

• Draw both forms from a different perspective

• You will turn the Shape of a circle into the Form of a sphere simply by using line and perspective.

• Draw circles and add points to create an apex to animate them.

• Add lines to the circles following the contour, then cross over the apex to give the illusion of a sphere with one end removed.

• You will create more dimension by drawing several lines that intersect at the apex, splitting the sphere into wedges.

• To complete the feeling of volume, you will draw lines across the lines you created creating latitude marks, like on a globe.

• These exercises will prepare you for upcoming lectures where you will be drawing many heads.

Value - the 4th element of art - is the effect of light and shade in a picture. It enables you to create depth and dimension in your drawings. It's the secret to making them pop with 3D realism. In this lecture you will create a 5 Value Scale to represent the lights and darks you will add to your pencil drawings. You will:

• Draw the Cast Shadow value - The shadow that is cast by an object on the surface it's laying on.

• Draw the Core Shadow or Shadow Edge value - The shadow on the opposite side of the light source.

• Draw the Mid-Tone value - The color of the object without any effects from light or shadow.

• Draw the Reflected Light value - The light that is bouncing off the surfaces around the object.

• Draw the Highlight value - Where the light source hits the object at full strength.

In this lecture you will learn how to add value to forms. Understanding this will help your drawings so much. It will help you emphasize focal points and create depth, drama and texture to pencil drawings and any art form.  Step by easy step you will learn how to

• Add value and dimension to a cube

• Add value and dimension to a cylinder

• Add value and dimension to a cone

• Add value and dimension to a sphere

Color - The 5th element of art - In this lecture we will discuss the basics of color and how it is an important foundation of art - especially children's art. Color stimulates children's developing minds and affects mood, emotions and well being. Together we will create a color wheel to help you better understand the basics, such as:

• Primary Colors

• Secondary Colors

• Tertiary Colors

• Saturation

• Temperature

• Harmonius Colors

• Complementary Colors

• Mononochromatic Colors

• Analogous Colors

Space - the 6th element of art is the area around, between, and within an object. In this lecture we're going to explore and demonstrate both negative and positive space. After that we'll draw the 6 ways artists create space. These include:

• Perspective - You will learn how to draw one point perspective to create the illusion of depth in a 2 dimensional plane.

• Value and Detail - You will draw simple mountain ranges going back into space using value and detail.

• Size - You will draw different sizes of cones demonstrating how size creates the illusion of distance.

• Placement - You will draw 2 circles of the same size placing one higher than the other to create the illusion of distance.

• Shading - you will use shading to create a sphere from a circle, which takes up space.

• Overlapping- you will draw a bunch of apples overlapping each other, remembering what you've learned about placement and detail as well.

Texture- The 7th element of art. In this lecture we will talk about real texture - the kind you could find on a sculpture that you could actually touch - and implied texture, which is when an artist makes something look like it has texture even though you can't feel it. To demonstrate implied texture we will draw:

• Bricks on a wall

• Bark on a tree

• Bumpy texture on a pineapple

You will learn the Loomis method to measure and draw the proportions of a 1 year old baby from the front view and create a finished sketch

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a 1 year old baby from the profile view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a 2-3 year old baby from the front view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a 2-3 year old baby from the profile view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn the Loomis Method to measure and draw the proportions of a 4-7 year old child from the front view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a 4-7 year old child from the profile view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of an 8-12 year old child from the front view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form and perspective, you will learn the Loomis Method to measure and draw the proportions of an 8-12 year old child from the profile view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a teenager from the front view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form and perspective, you will learn how to measure and draw the proportions of a teenager from the profile view and create a finished sketch.

Using line, shape, form and perspective, you will learn the Loomis Method to measure and draw the proportions of a head from 3 different angles.

Using line, shape, form, and perspective, you will learn how to add basic features to your proportion sketches of a head facing 3 different angles.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, and value to create a 3D pencil drawing of an eye from the front.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, and value to create a 3D pencil drawing of an eye in 3/4 view.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, and value to create a 3D pencil drawing of an eye in profile.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form and value to create 3D pencil drawings of a nose from the front, the 3/4, and the profile view.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, and value to create 3D pencil drawings of the lips from the front and 3/4 view.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, and value to create 3D pencil drawings of the lips in profile and smiling.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line , shape, form, and value to create 3D pencil drawings of an ear from the side and front view.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, value and texture to create 3D pencil drawings of hair in straight bob and wavy ponytail style.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, value, and texture to create 3D pencil drawings of very curly and short wavy hair styles.

In this lecture you will learn how to apply line, shape, form, value and texture to create pencil drawings of an afro and a short and spiky hairstyle.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished pencil drawing of your character as a 1 year old baby from the front view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished pencil drawing of your character as a 1 year old baby from the profile view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished pencil drawing of your character as a 6 year old child from the front view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished 3D pencil drawing of your character as a 6 year old child from the profile view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished 3D pencil drawing of your character as a 10 year old child from the front view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished 3D pencil drawing of your character as a 10 year old child from the profile view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished 3D pencil drawing of your character as a teenager from the front view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned so far about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches to create a finished 3D pencil drawing of your character as a teenager from the profile view.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches of the head of a little girl facing forward to create finished 3D pencil drawings.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches of the head of a little girl looking up to create finished 3D pencil drawings.

In this lecture you will apply everything you've learned about form, value, texture, and facial features to your proportion sketches of the head of a little girl looking down to create finished 3D pencil drawings.

Resources

Now that you've learned the Loomis method to sketch out the all important proportions to create a character from your imagination, you will now apply the same method to sketch the proportions to create a portrait from a reference. In this lecture you will be drawing a proportion sketch of a little girl from the front view.

In this lecture you will apply what you've learned about value, form, texture, and facial features to create a finished portrait from the proportion sketches you made in the previous lecture of a little girl facing forward.

Now that you've learned the Loomis method to sketch out the all important proportions to create a character from your imagination, you will now apply the same method to sketch the proportions to create a portrait from a reference. In this lecture you will be drawing a proportion sketch of a little boy facing 3/4

In this lecture you will apply what you've learned about value, form, texture, and facial features to create a finished portrait from the proportion sketches you made in the previous lecture of a little boy facing three quarters.

Resources

Now that you've learned the Loomis method to sketch out the all important proportions to create a character from your imagination, you will now apply the same method to sketch the proportions to create a portrait from a reference. In this lecture you will be drawing a proportion sketch of a Toddler facing profile.

In this lecture you will apply what you've learned about value, form, texture, and facial features to create a finished portrait from the proportion sketches you made in the previous lecture of a toddler facing profile.

You will create a chart to enable you to draw the changing proportions of child's body from babyhood to adult. Using this guide, you will be able to draw a child of any age to create characters from your imagination or from a reference.

You will learn a practical way to draw figures in action to sketch out ideas for characters of all ages.

You will discover the inspiration behind my illustrated characters using different mediums and references. This will inspire you to apply your knowledge of drawing characters from your imagination and drawing portraits to create simple characters to illustrate your own story. You will also will be asked to create a simple drawing or cartoon of yourself for fun to add to your sketchbook.