Fun Friday Resources: How to Art

Happy Friday, everyone! Let’s learn how to do some Art. Most of these resources are untested by me, so proceed with one eye on the exit.

Wanting to improve your figure drawing skills for your career in manga, but your friends refuse to pose any more? Check out Quickposes — lots and lots of humans in a variety of genres and poses. The main idea is to get you to draw quickly (ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS) and get better at recording what you see.

Want to draw cats instead? Check out Cedarseed’s tutorials. (Also people, birds, and horses.)

Color mixing is always a tough but fascinating aspect of doing Art. There are a variety of articles on ArtistsNetwork.com, but if you’re looking for a serious workout, head over to Dianne Mize’s YouTube channel and let her kick your butt for a while. (Dianne was my painting teacher at Governor’s Honors 48 years ago. She retired from teaching a while back, but couldn’t stop herself from launching a new career as an online instructor.)

If you’re on an iOS device (iPhone or iPad), check out the Chromaldry app. It kind of claims to be a coloring book app, but it’s actually a color theory game. It’s like having Dianne Mize in the palm of your hand.

The Artist Trading Card movement seems to have lost steam — I went looking for resources and most have gone from the intertubes — but it’s a cool way to do Art if you’re afraid of anything larger than 2.5 x 3.5 inches. Here’s a YouTube video short enough to get the point across. (Trigger alert: it’s pretty commercialized, but cromulent.)

And remember, you’re just here to create crap: