Art 101 Basic Drawing Handouts

Art 101: Basic Drawing

by Kentee Suone Pasek

Basic Shapes with Shadow and Layout

Here is the handout I gave out in class for practice:

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For more on the class visit http://www.weehawkenarts.org/art101_drawing.html

Basic Drawing Information Class Art 101 by Kentee Suone Pasek

I am posting my handout for Art 101 class for

Date: This Wednesday Night (September 28th)

Location: St. John's Church in Ouray.

Time: Class is from  6-8pm. 

Cost: This class is FREE!  (Drop in rates after this wednesday is $28 per class)

Subject: Art 101 Basic Drawing

Here is the handout but remember the best instruction comes from class participation in order to really learn! Really learning how to draw is first seeing, and then doing!

Anything you put on paper is an illusion of what actually exists:
     • All objects have a highlight, medium light, low light, shadow and reflection
     • Objects begin as:
              o Ball
              o Rectangle
              o Cylinder
              o Square
     • Draw what you actually see not what you think you see
     • Make the right choice of lines, shadows, and highlights.
     • Composition choice of how you place an object on a piece of paper is
         just as important as the shape itself.

Keep Going:
     • Take time to finish a picture from start to finish
     • Remember the more you work on the picture the better it is.
     • If something is not working stand back and squint at the object you are
          drawing and then at your work.
     • Get another opinion.

Shadows:
     • Deep dark black shadows will keep your object on your surface.
     • Make sure you keep the shadows deep and ground an object.
     • Look for reflective shadows as well.

Highlights
     • Super light spot helps shape the object
     • A lighter highlight will help around the super light spot.
     • Highlights are important to help shape the object.

Direction of your pencil
     • The direction you shade needs to be the direction of your object.
     • Cross hatch is a good shadow technique
     • Make each pencil direction count!
     • Lighter directions of your pencil can make sure your object seems round
         and not flat.

3D into 2D
     • Think how you can make this 3D object 2D. Where is the curves, the
          shadows, the highlights to make this object round?
     • How do you take something and make it the right shape. Sometimes
          what you see will just be weird on paper. Think about your painting
          and how you begin to lay it out on the paper. Then think “Is this a
          shape others will understand?”

Layout or Composition
     • What is the best way to take what I want to paint and make it “real”
           and “understandable”?
     • Is my composition of what I want to paint make since to me? To others?
     • What do I really want to focus on in this painting?
     • What do I want to feel?
     • Others to see?
     • What is my voice?
     • Where is my object on the canvas?
     • Does my Negative Space make an interesting shape?
     • Does my Positive Space make an interesting shape?

Jewelry Giclees!

Here is the Gerber Daisy Big Blue Necklace on Stirling Silver Neckring.  The image is a canvas Giclee printed with pigment ink.

Newest Oil Painting Jewlery Line

I have had such a busy summer!  First of all I took on being the Creative Director for the Ridgway Rendezvous Art and Craft Festival, as well as doing a booth at the RR Festival along with an art booth at the Telluride Jazz Festival and an art booth at Phish Telluride Concert as well.  Did I say all three where the same weekend?  Okay so that was a little crazy but what came out of it was a new Jewelry Line!

I have taken my Giclees on canvas, shrunk them down and made jewelry out of them this summer.  I will get photos and publish them as well.  These are all of my flower oils which I have hand made into beautiful necklaces, earrings, and bracelets as well.  They were a hit at all three shows and sold well.

I currently have them at the Wildflower Boutique in Ouray, Colorado as well as Around the Corner Gallery in Montrose, Colorado!  You have to go and check them out!

So the story behind the Jewelry is quite fun and goes like this:
I had this thought that I might not sell as well to the Phish crowd so I was wondering how to turn my artwork into something I could sell for a different crowd.  I knew this crowd would be different than the average Art Show patron and I spent hours thinking of how this would work for me.  I thought that Jewelry might work for where I needed to be for this show.  I came up with the idea and then thought "this could go really well or really bad" but I trudged on.

I printed out a small Giclee on paper and did not like the feel so I went back and printed a Giclee on canvas.  That was so much better.  I found a casting resin on-line, ordered it and tried to free form the necklaces.  I was not happy with the professionalism of the outcome so I scratched that idea and then found the solution of a mini frame of silver around the necklace.  I then hand poured the resin and made a necklace that would work well with my line of Original Artwork.

So I now have a series of handmade jewelry that are giclees on canvas!  You can wear a mini painting!  It is fantastic!  It worked!  Yea!

Around the Corner Gallery in Montrose

The Around the Corner Gallery had asked me to be the guest artist for April.  Guess what?  When I went in to pick up my art they asked me to stay on as an artist!  So now my artwork is at Around the Corner Gallery in Montrose.  The owners Patt and Bob are wonderful people and the gallery is the best!  Thank you!
Come down and see my work.

Around the Corner Gallery: Guest Artist for April

I am the guest artist for the month of April at Around the Corner Gallery!
You are invited to:
Around the Corner Art Gallery
447 East Main Street
Montrose, CO 81401
(970) 249-4243
montroseart.com‎
Monday-Saturday 10:20-5:30.

Special Opening during Art Walk
April 2nd from 6-8
The Guest Artist Show runs the month of April.

I have my large 36x36 oil on canvas paintings as well as my giclee limited edition reproductions and greeting cards for sale.

New to this show first time on display the paint still wet so to speak are: "Poppy Summer" 36x36 oil on canvas, "Water Lily Pads" 24x36 oil on canvas, "Daffodil" 14x11 acrylic on canvas, and "Columbine Rocky Mountain" 16x20 oil on canvas.

The giclees are all on canvas and are hand pulled by me from beginning to end.
Web-site at www.kentee.com
Blog: http://kenteesuonepasek.blogspot.com/

Finishing Canvas Paintings and Giclees by Framing or Gallery Wrap

There are two ways to finish an oil painting.  When the image wraps around a canvas and the finished product is an image on canvas then it is called "gallery wrapped". 

When you frame a canvas then the image is finished by framming the canvas.  Both ways are accepted as professional finishes and are mostly the preference of the artist.

With my large images of flowers I prefer to finish my artwork by gallery wrapping.  This way the art always fits into the room regardless of the style, color or shape.

How Toxic are Oil Paints to Paint With? Oil Paint Safety Tips.

I get asked all of the time how toxic are oil paints?  All paints including watercolor, acrylic and oil paints contain toxic substances.  Cadmium paint (red, yellow) is a mineral that is toxic and in all of these paints.  It is the deep rich color you use when you paint. 


Toxic in paints can be absorbed through the skin, ingested, and inhaled.  Keeping this in mind you can paint safely.  Safety tips:

• Never eat while painting.

• Never put your paintbrush in or around your mouth.

• Use a drop cloth.

• Always wear gloves so you do not absorb the paint.

• Wash your hands after painting..

• Wash brushes in Mineral Spirits not in a sink that way the pigments do not end up down the drain.

• Wear a large shirt over your clothes to avoid contact with the paint.

• Remove wet paint from your skin by first wiping it off with a dry towel, then wash with soap and water.

• Try not to handle solvent and paint covered rags with your bare hands.

• Cadmium paint (red, yellow) is a mineral that is toxic. It is toxic in Oil Paint, Watercolor and Acrylic as well.

• The paint quality is related to light testing verses the toxicity levels in paint.

Keep in mind that it is possible to be safe with paint but you have to think about your own safety.  Once these become habits while you paint the better you will be.

New Show in Montrose at Around the Corner Gallery!

I was asked by a super great friend Linda Nadel to be in the Around the Corner Gallery as a guest artist for the month of April!  I am so excited.  What a fun time.  I will be in Montrose Around the Corner Gallery to check out what I need to bring with me.  Thanks so much Linda!  See you all there~ KP

Weehawken Art Class Tonight!

Tonight is the first night for my Weehawken Art Class.  I am so excited to teach.  It is a super warm day with bright sun.  I know the class is going to be so much fun!  Art classes have a different kind of energy for me.  I am going to try to bring these artists to the next level in painting.  I can not wait.  I remember well when teachers did that for me!
Yea!
So tonight at the Wright Opera House 7-8pm.
See you there!~

Fanstastic Day!

There is fresh snow and sun outside.  I am inside trying to get all of the office items done so I can go play outside.  Love it!  It is beautiful with the mountains and the weather.  Yea! 

Let it snow!

The snow is really coming down today!  The mountains are really covered and today we went skiing on the local ski hill.  We came back and had hot tea, cocoa, and a snack.  It was so much fun to take a day to spend time together.

Nothing going on in the studio today.  I am spending time researching the best card company to go with for my cards.  Current Cards, Blue Mountain Arts, Inc, American Greeting Corporation and Mead have all caught my eye.  I am still surfing the web to check out what else would work.

Here is a preview of my Gaillardia Series

Painting up a storm!

I have several large paintings taking place in the studio.  I finished 1 poppy, am in the middle of another and started a third last night.  So much fun to paint with big bright bold colors.  I also have a water lily painting going at the same time.  They are all large 36x36 and going to be great to hang on the walls.

Telluride Art Show Outcome

Well, it was quite a weekend in Telluride last weekend.  I decided to set up professionally with propanels and my lights.  The booth presentation was the best it could have been.  I found that what sold was rather interesting.  My hand pulled greeting cards are what sold.  I think that in this economy this group of people wanted something useful. 

The most shocking result for me was that overall no one even commented on the pricing of the originals.  Most of the time at these kind of shows I have a different reaction to the originals except the one or two that purchase them.  The originals were really looked at hard by several people.  We will see how that happens.

The top painting of the show was the Oriental Poppy.  This was the first time it has been shown.  The colors worked well and I can not wait to finish my other poppy painting because it works well with the Oriental Poppy. 

It seems like I need to focus my originals to this region.  One comment was "too tropical" and I know that is true of the flowers I have because we have lived in Mobile, Alabama and Jacksonville, Florida for the last 5 years.  It is time to become mountain flowers. 

It is also time to find the local galleries.  I did walk by the Telluride Gallery of Fine Art and talked with them on Saturday.  We will see if they will be willing to work with me.  I liked the layout of the gallery as well as the professionalism of the staff.  I could see my series of large 36x36 in a show at the gallery.  It is just time to wait and see.

Pulling Giclee Limited Edition Prints of Oil Paintings

Today I am pulling a couple of new giclee limited edition prints off of my giclee printer.  I have several new 8x8's for the show including giclees of the paintings; Oriental Poppy, White Wild Rose, and Azalea.  They look fantastic.  Pulling the canvas in gallery wrapped and ready to hang really works well for this size. 

I found out that I am in the Telluride Watch listed as the events.  The hosts of this event are doing a great job!  Yea!

Off to my show list of what to bring including my propanels, lights, artwork, hangers, and sales tools.  I have to see where it all is!  Fun day!

Google Ads, Giclee Canvas, Ready for the show!

Today has been one of those crazy run around days.  Not much is going on in the studio because of getting ready for the show.  One of the only things I did today was to begin Google Ads to see if it will work to draw people to my site.  I was looking at what Yahoo! does for advertising but good old Google won this round.  I am now trying Google Ads so I will let you know how that works.

The air is dry or should I say super dry today.  I was printing giclees for the show and they seemed to dry before the ink sprayed on the canvas.  The giclees look fantastic and I can not wait to see how they do here.  I also have a whole new line of greeting cards for this show.  I almost sold out of these at the last show so here I go to this show with a whole new line.  Right now they are really hot items.  We will see in Telluride how it goes...

Colorado Blue Sky!

To wake up and see the fresh snow on the ground and bright blue Colorado sky was fantastic.  This place is out of a dream to live in. 

I had to run to Ridgway to pick up some cardstock and envelopes for my card sets for the show this weekend.  The drive took my breath away with the crisp white on the mountains set against the sky.  What a place to call home!  What a painting out of my back door!

Now it is time to go back and finish my inventory for the art show!  Maybe this afternoon skiing....

Getting ready for Art Show this weekend in Telluride!

Right now my studio is buzzing with all of the work going into getting ready for the show in Telluride!  The canvas giclees are being pulled and ready the greeting card line is ready with the finishing touches.  Super excited for this show this weekend!  Saturday 10am-8pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm at the Sheridan Theater!

I am always excited about shows but this one is super fun because it will tell me what really works in this area.

This is Azalea a new painting for this year!

Updated Web-site

In this computer savvy market it is important to take time to update your web-site. With a fast going computer industry we all demand more from our viewing experience. This is especially true in the fine arts.

So that is what I have been working on this week. I have published a new updated web-site at www.kentee.com.

In this new web-site I have learned how to write html, smil, and css. I have a slideshow for all of my artwork on the home page that works. It is not easy to update and change but I have had fun and learned so much about the process.

For the small business hosting site I want to thank all of the customer serice of Yahoo! Wow! What a kind and fantastic support crew they have there. That is what I call good old customer service.

Come on over and take a look at the updated version of my studio web-site built by an artist for all of my original design oil paintings and art!

KP