As I promised yesterday, regular tutorial posts continue today. However, I am bogged down with homework and Alex seems to be taking a vacation, that lazy bum. Anymore, it feels like I am the only one writing posts for Sketching House. Alex, that slacker, wants to “beautify,” while I am stuck doing all the writing. What Alex does not seem to notice is that I have a ton of work, too, but I am not slacking. Someone please kick Alex and tell that person (I do not know a good insult right now) to write some more posts, because I know y’all are just sick of me.
Nyah!
I am feeling in a Disney mood today, so how about drawing a Disney character? Before I began pursuing an English degree, I always had a dream of someday working and animating for Disney. Unfortunately, some dreams die when it comes to being practical (but is going to school for millions of years practical for English/ESL teaching?), so here I am in graduate school getting another English degree. In the meantime, however, a girl can always dream and maybe with a “little faith, hope, and Pixie Dust,” maybe I can someday fulfill my dream of being a Disney animator. Click to read more …

Tags: Color, Disney, draw, Lady and the Tramp, Trace

There’s less than a month left until Christmas, and my Christmas shopping IS NOT finished yet! The poor economy and the fact that my hours at work were cut drastically (I went from 21 hours a week to nine during the course of two semesters) is not helping. However, I have been pretty smart with my Christmas gifts this year by buying presents that I know people will enjoy and use a lot (I hope!). Along the way, I have been buying my own presents. I know, I know, that is bad, but sometimes, the only way to get what you want is to buy your own gifts and give them to people to give to you. Therefore, anyone reading this blog, here are some books I want for Christmas that I have not asked anyone else to buy me. I am dropping a hint, not completely asking for these items! *HINT HINT*

Amrita- Banana Yoshimoto (this is the only book besides Lizard that I do not have by her)

Waiting-Ha Jin (I started reading this at Borders Books a week ago; I love it)

Amrita is out of print and needs to be special ordered. Borders has Waiting, But I am not HINTING at anything!

Speaking of gifts, Christmas is a great time of year for buying art supplies. Why? If you stock up on Christmas, most of us art-minded people have our supplies throughout much of the year. Books and artist tools are really all I need to be happy all-year-round. If you know an artist or if you are one yourself, art-related gifts are probably the best gifts ever. For those who are art-minded, I have compiled a list of art-related gifts under twenty dollars that are great to give this Christmas. Heck, with the economy as bad as it is right now, creating art and buying supplies that will last awhile might not be a bad thing. Find some solace from art and improve your home with your art. Yeah! So, without further ado, here is my top ten art gifts under twenty dollars. My items are in no particular order, so please ignore the numbers. The numbers are there so I can keep track of my ten gift suggestions. Click to read more …

Tags: $20, Amrita, Bad Economy, Banana Yoshimoto, Gifts, Pencils, Velvet

It is that time of week again where I, Marisol, stray from the usual posts and talk about what is on my mind. Regular posts will resume soon.

Twenty-six days until Christmas! Yahoo! I am so excited! Even though I am almost 23 (my birthday is right after Christmas; Tala’s birthday is on Christmas), Christmas is still the best time of the year for me. However, this Christmas is a bit depressing for me… well, the past few Christmases have been rather depressing for me. My family has not been together for Christmas in forever because my brother moved to Florida, got married, and had a baby that looks like an old man; he refuses to speak to my family and he has threatened me. My sister has not spoken to my family for close to four years ever since we could not loan her money that she never pays back. The last time I have seen my whole family together was right after my dad’s heart attack. My brother and sister have issues, but some other people in my family are a bit missed up and controlling, as well. And there is my boyfriend… let us just say he has not been very nice to me and I feel like I do not matter and that I am just here for him to yell at. Maybe when we move out things will be better… I do not know. Click to read more …

Tags: Art, Blue Christmas, Boyfriend, Buddha, Depression, Erotica, Gifts, Harmony, Rant, Sadness

T’is the season for some turkey, gobble, gobble, gobble, gob-gob-gobble! Yeah, that was a poor attempt at creating a Thanksgiving song. Why aren’t there Thanksgiving songs, does anyone know? I know there’s “Over the River and Through the Woods” (I remember that it was a movie starring the Olsen twins *shudder*), but what else is there? When I was in elementary school many, many, many moons ago (I feel so old!), they had all these made-up songs for Thanksgiving. Part of me misses those days… Click to read more …

Tags: Beads, Construction paper, Ornament, Santa, Star, Thanksgiving

Good afternoon, folks! It is a chilly and blustery day in the Midwest today, but that is awesome considering that Turkey Day and Christmas are literally right around the corner ready to slap us in the faces with good, fattening food and Christmas cheer! I love Christmas cheer! At my work place—if you can call it that, it is more like a nut farm—I bought this tacky little Christmas tree for our Christmas party. It is so cute though! Christmas trees should not be all tinsel-y and multi-colored like this tacky little tree, but it is just a baby tree and oh-so-cute! I love Christmas trees! Click to read more …

Tags: anti-tree, Bead, Butterfly, Christmas, Clay, Food, Mill, Rolling Pin, Sculpting, Tree, Turkey

School’s almost out and we all know you’re missing it already. So I decided to throw together a bunch of step-by-step tutorials on how to draw a bunch of school-related things. Explaining drawing step-by-step is really tricky so I made sure that I saved often when drawing so I could break each part down into as many steps as possible.

This guide is all about perspective, something an artist needs to know in order to draw crowds and settings. Follow this guide if you want to put your knowledge of perspective to the test. It took me forever to learn how to do perspective right and I owe everything I know about perspective to  Putting Things In Perspective. Even though this is a how-to-draw-manga book, this has definitely the most helpful book on perspective I’ve ever read, especially the parts on one and two-point perspective. Click to read more …

Tags: guidelines, Perspective, school, Tutorial

Yesterday, Alex and I saw the movie The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a film about the Holocaust as told from the viewpoint of two eight-year-old boys: Bruno, the son of the captain of Auschwitz, and Shmuel, a child living in Auschwitz. This movie was very short, but it did have the strongest hold over Alex and me. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas incorporated so much emotion and imagery in an hour and a half that it will stick with you for a long time. The Boy in the Striped Pyjamasrom our regular art postings and discuss The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. falls under the category of “Movies So Good, You Only Have to See it Once.” Given the subject the movie covered and the seriousness of the issue, Alex and I agreed to take a break from our art blog to write about The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Click to read more …

Tags: concentration camp, holocaust, jews, movie, nazi, the boy in the striped pajamas

Sorry for the delay in posting. I had to work today and Alex and I went to see a movie Saturday.

We all need a little guidance in life, some of us more than others do. Heck? Really, who doesn’t need guidance? It’s a crazy world out there, full of cruel people who just want to chew you up and spit you out. The world is also full of people who get angry for no reason then make you feel like it’s your fault they’re ticked off, even though you have no clue what the heck you did, why they’re angry, and why they are the real-life embodiment of Frosty the Snowman. Sometimes, you wonder why you even open your mouth at all, even if it is just to let off steam (and not to be accusatory or force someone to do something) in order to feel better. I feel better about life, but some individuals, sheesh, need to lay off the Metamucil; too much can put you in a crappy mood—pun intended. Either way, there’s nothing more depressing than a cold shoulder, hugging an ice cube, and sticking your tongue to a frozen flagpole ala A Christmas Story, which, by the way, is about my hometown at Christmas. HOLLA! Click to read more …

Tags: figure, guidance, guidelines, lines, skeleton, touchpad

Proportions are Hard! But Possible.

Tags: angle, face, frontal, Perspective, profile, proportions, quarter, side, view

There is way too much ambient light anymore! We can’t see the stars, the planets, nothing! Unless you’re from Montana, Canada, Alaska, the Dakotas, or parts of Florida (I curseth thee!), the rest of us don’t even know how many stars exist in the night sky. I’ve heard that in places like Montana, people can actually see parts of the Milky Way Galaxy, which is fantastically awesome. In this tutorial, I am going to show you how to create a galaxy-like night sky with Photoshop that can be used in any type of digital drawing. Ready? Let’s begin! Click to read more …

Tags: burn tool, Color, dodge tool, light, paintbrush tool, Photoshop