HUION Inspiroy H1060P Graphics Drawing Tablet Review

Are you looking for an affordable graphics drawing tablet that doesn’t skimp on features? I’m using the Huion Inspiroy H1060P and I love it.  In this review, I’ll outline all of its amazing features and give my honest thoughts as a new graphic artist.

The pen that comes with this tablet is great. With 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, up to 5080LPI resolution, tilt-response technology, and a battery-free pen stylus. The Huion Inspiroy H1060P is an excellent choice for anyone who needs reliable performance with stunning results. Read on to find out why this tablet is at the top of my list for people who want to do some drawing and painting with an affordable graphics tablet and free Paint.net.

1) Configuring the Active Work Area

The HUION art tablet is designed with comfort and style in mind. It offers users a spacious 10 x 6.25-inch working area to create their impressive artwork more freely. It’s slim 10mm body enhances its sleek, minimalist look, creating an attractive and modern aesthetic for the workspace. With its combination of functionality and design, the HUION art tablet makes it very comfortable to create digital artwork.

2) Tilt Function Battery-Free Pen Stylus: 

If you’re an artist or want to explore your creative side through digital art, the tilt function battery-free stylus PW100 is the perfect way to get started. With no need to charge and ±60° tilt support, this computer graphics pen offers a realistic experience that precisely captures your unique drawing gestures. I have experienced no lag at all with this pen and tablet set. They are ideal for those who are just starting out or advanced professionals, the Tilt Function Battery-free Stylus allows you to express yourself without interruption.

3) Press Keys:

Using a drawing tablet with 12 programmable press keys and 16 programmable soft keys ensures maximum functionality. These shortcut keys save you time, as tasks like erasing, zooming in or out, and scrolling up and down can be completed without having to access menus. This saves both time and energy when you’re hard at work on a project – no more clicking around to find the tool you need. Moreover, the driver software makes it easy for you to create custom shortcut keys. I found this to be an incredibly helpful feature.

4) Connectivity:

With the HUION graphics tablet, drawing and designing is made easy with its wide compatibility. It supports Windows 7 or later, macOS 10.11+ and Android 6.0+, plus Linux (Ubuntu). Even your phone can easily be connected to the tablet through an OTG connector. It’s the perfect tool for artists on the go. Unfortunately, iPhones and iPads are not supported at this time. Moreover, it can run various mainstream software, including PS, SAI, AI, and CDR, for added convenience and creativity.

5) Slim And Attractive Design:

Symmetrical design lets pen tablet users have the same great experience, regardless of whether they are right or left-handed. Professional artists, beginners, and amateur hobbyists will benefit because the pen tablet can easily be rotated 180° in the driver to suit their needs. Having a pen tablet tailored to your dominant hand can help improve accuracy, speed, and overall user comfort and satisfaction. A more symmetrical design is really ideal for everyone. I got used to this pen and tablet far quicker than I expected.

6) Price:

The Inspiroy H1060P Graphics Drawing Tablet is incredibly affordable. This makes it an excellent choice for any budget-conscious artist or hobbyist. Given the features that this tablet offers – 8192 levels of pressure sensitivity, ±60° tilt support, and wide compatibility. I have not found a more cost-effective option. It’s the perfect choice for anyone looking for reliable performance at a great price.

Technical Specifications

  • Brand: HUION
  • Connectivity Technology: USB
  • Operating System: Mac OS 10.12 or later, Android 6.0 Marshmallow, Linux(Ubuntu), Window 7 or later
  • Special Feature: Programmable Keys
  • Model Name: Inspiroy H1060P

Pros:

  • 8192 Levels of Pressure Sensitivity
  • ±60° Tilt Support
  • 10 x 6.25″ Working Area
  • Slim 10mm Body Design
  • 12 Programmable Press Keys
  • 16 Programmable Soft Keys
  • Wide Compatibility with Windows/MacOS/Android/Linux

 

Conclusion

The HUION Inspiroy H1060P Graphics Drawing Tablet is a great choice for artists who are looking for a quality drawing tablet without breaking the bank. It also makes a nice gift for a teenager or artist friend. It has all of the features that you need to create beautiful art, and its sleek design makes it easy to take with you on the go. So if you’re in the market for a new graphics tablet, I highly recommend giving the HUION Inspiroy H1060P a try.

Click here to buy now:

 

 

 

13 Tips on How to Sell Your Drawings, Paintings, or Crafts

Hello, fellow artists!

It’s common to hear artists and crafters stating that they wish they could sell more of their creations. If a person is a born marketer, s/he knows how to sell things. But not everyone is a great marketer. However, with a good simple plan, an artist or crafter can sell more of his or her creations.

I outline several ways to sell paintings, drawings, and crafts. It’s unlikely that you will want to pursue all of them. But if just one idea resonates with you, it will be worth the reading. Implementing just one idea mentioned in this article – or implementing one idea at a time – will help you sell more of your paintings, drawings, or crafts.

One selling plan, executed as thoroughly as you can, could mean that a door opens to you that will increase your income – because the more people who see your creative work, the more chances you have to sell something to them. In a nutshell: you make something you want to sell and then you find ways to get this item (or a picture of the item) in front of as many likely buyers as possible.

[1] WHO WILL YOU SELL YOUR DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS OR CRAFTS TO?

We all hang out with artists and crafters. Unfortunately, we cannot depend on these people to be our best customers because they already know how to create good artwork.

So who buys paintings, drawings, and crafts? I have done some of this research for you and here is a list of possible buyers:

  • People who have just moved into a new home.
  • People who are setting up a new apartment.
  • People who like to redecorate on a regular basis.
  • Gallery owners who are looking for new artwork.
  • Gift shop owners who want fresh merchandise in their stores.
  • Restaurant owners who want new artwork on their walls or shelves and will sell them and split the profits with you.
  • Business owners who have offices that need to be decorated.
  • People who go to craft shows and art fairs.
  • People who visit shows at their local art center.
  • People (including friends) who are looking for a unique gift for a friend or family member.
  • People who see your work and fall in love with it.
  • People (collectors) who like your particular style and want to buy several pieces.

These people could be mostly woman but not entirely. A single man who has recently moved also needs to spruce up his new place in his own taste will buy drawings, paintings, or crafts. Or if he has an new office, he wants it to look nice.

Think about your creations and decide what group of people would most likely be attracted to your type of work? Are they young, old, modern, old-fashioned, goths, traditional, religious, what? Do they have lots of money or are they poor students? Are they horse lovers or dog lovers? Do they generally love flowers or outer space? All these factors should be clear to you when deciding where and how to post your artwork for sale. You must know who buys your type of artwork.

Take a few minutes now to create a list of possible buyers of your paintings, drawings, or crafts. This list will come in very handy when deciding where to post pictures of your creations. This list will also be useful when you write the description of your artwork. Rather than talking to fellow artists or crafters, you will know you are talking to home owners or business owners and the people described in your “List of Possible Buyers.”

If you are at a point in your creative life where you’re not sure what do make and where will sell it, use this list of possible buyers to decide who you want to appeal to? Do you want older people with traditional tastes to buy your art? Do you hang around with young people who are into getting tattoos? Can you visualize the typical buyer of your art style? Can you tailor your artwork to appeal to the people you see now in your mind’s eye?

This might be a different way of thinking about our art journey. Previously, we just focused on making good art that pleased ourselves and maybe a few teachers, friends or other people around us. But now, since we want to sell more of our creations, we should think of our art from the buyer’s point of view. What are they looking for? What type of things do they like to buy? Later we’ll look at how to get noticed by this category of people, this demographic.

When you think of your target market, do they like big or small creations? Do they like impressionism or abstract – or something else entirely? Do they want something new for their kitchen, living room, bathroom, or bedroom? What typically goes in these different rooms? Larger items for the living room and smaller ones in the bathroom?

Maybe you are the type of artist who says, “I have to make art my way. I’m an artist with a particular style and that’s all I want to do.” That’s okay. So now think about where you will find the people who like your style. Remember, other artists are not our best customers. You have to figure out where the non-artists who might buy your style of artwork hang out. Once you figure that out, you post pictures of your artwork where they are. Picture yourself (visualize) reaching out to them, offering them something that will appeal to them and match their lifestyle.

On the other hand, maybe you’re not so anchored to one style of artwork or craft and you’re willing to try something new to see if you can appeal to a different crowd.

Whatever approach you take, clarify in your mind what type of person is most likely to buy your art creations.

[2] THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS TO NICHE DOWN

As artists, we love to try our hands at everything. There’s nothing wrong with that. Creating art is fun and learning is fun.

But if we want to sell our drawings, paintings or crafts, we should narrow our scope of work. Why? Because it’s easier to find people who like that specific thing you make. It’s the difference between a specialty store and a general store. If a person loves to cook, they really love going to specialty stores that carry all types of gadgets and appliances specifically designed for cooking. This is in contrast to them going to a general store that may carry only a few cooking items – with none of them specialized or unique.

If you already have your niche, you can skip to the next section. But for many people, finding a niche can be very difficult. If you are one of these people, this information may help you.

Another reason why niching down is helpful is when you are asked what you do. If you say, “I am and artist,” every person will have a different vision in their head of what you do. And very few, if any, will get it right. They may not know how to respond.

On the other hand, if you say, “I draw dog portraits,” or “I paint abstract landscapes,” people can picture these. If they like these specific types of paintings, you now have their undivided attention.

The same thing happens if you approach a gallery. If you ask if you might display your artwork there, the first thing you’ll be asked is, “What exactly do you paint?”

Similarly, if you have your eye on store that sells crafts, you will immediately be asked what types of crafts you make because a store owner will not want to carry the same things they are already stocking in the store. They will not want to make another of their craft suppliers angry by stepping on their toes. But if you can describe something specific and they owner can tell that your niche is not represented in her store, then you can get off on the right foot in this situation.

 

 

[3] SELLING DRAWINGS, PAINTING OR CRAFTS REQUIRE PERSEVERANCE

So all there is to it is:
[1] Create something that will sell to a particular audience.
[2] Post a good picture of it on a site that has that audience.
[3] Keep posting a link there until your item sells.

When all else is learned, it comes down to this.

Another way to look at it is this:
[1] You create something that a certain group of people might want to buy.
[2] You post images of your drawings, paintings or crafts where these people hang out.
[3] You drive traffic, free and/or paid, to your images.

This last step is key. It’s not too difficult to find a place to post your creations. Mine, for example, are on a page on my SkillfulArtists.com website. Other people have theirs on Etsy, eBay, Instagram or wherever.

Draw Neurographic mountainsThe secret sauce is driving the traffic to the page where your creations are displayed.

For this reason, you need to make sure that the page that displays your creations has a address (URL) that you can easily send people to. Only the paintings, drawings or crafts you have for sale should be on that page or section of that site. In my case, my easy URL is SkillfulArtists.com/gallery. This is neat and clean and easy to put on a business card. If yours turns out to be more complicated, that could be alright, as long as it is reasonable and you can give or send to people your personal artwork page.

But if you just make a stab at driving traffic (that is, getting people to your page), that won’t work. Artists and crafters have to try several things – or use several schemes – of calling attention to their work before they are seen by enough people to make regular sales. There really is not a quick and effortless way. It takes perseverance and maybe several traffic methods to get people to your web page.

However, although there is not a effortless way, some ways may be better than others or more suited to your style. For example, you might be someone who loves Pinterest. Using Pinterest pins is a way to send free traffic to the page where they can see more of your artwork or crafts.

On the other hand, you might be a big eBay fan. You might be able to navigate eBay with your eyes closed. In this case, eBay might be the best place for you to post your creations.

But the subject of this section is perseverance. That means you might have to get your eBay shop set up and use Pinterest pins to try to get people to your eBay page. This takes time and effort. You (and I) would rather be drawing, painting or crafting. But if you want to SELL those creations, we must persevere in our efforts to get eyeballs on our stuff.

Every day we must post more pins and check or eBay listings. Eventually, we will need to branch out to another traffic source. Depending on your tolerance for social media, you might try Facebook or Instagram. Those platforms take continual posting because new posts push old posts down.

Or maybe you can create videos of your work. In that case, YouTube might be the next place you will try to grab people’s attention.

So it’s not just about perseverance; it’s also about expanding the places you will try to reach people who buy drawings, paintings or crafts. Whatever method (s) you choose, you must keep at it. It’s not enough to post one YouTube video and assume lots of people will find it and click on the link to your artwork page. Each method takes doing and redoing. It’s like showing up to work every day. Some effort must be regularly put into the selling element to see more sales made.

But care should be taken to continue to create your drawings, paintings and crafts. Doing the marketing work can get really time consuming. So create a schedule for yourself where you’re marketing part of the time and making new creations part of the time. Some people switch off on the days; on Monday they create and on Tuesday they market. (Some people call it “posting’.)

Selling implies that you have a business. When someone sets up a brick and mortar store, they intend to sell something. Artists and crafters who want to sell their products must realize that they need a business aspect to their life now.

Schedule your creative hours and marketing hours in any way that suits your lifestyle and your creative character. No matter how you set your schedule, be persistent with both elements – creating and marketing – and you will eventually get sales.

So like I said at the beginning of this chapter:
[1] Create something to sell.
[2] Post a good picture of it on the internet where your type of customer could find it.
[3] Keep posting a link to that page until your item sells.

[4] ARE YOU GOING USE VIDEO TO SELL YOUR DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS, OR CRAFTS?

Although this is optional, it’s worth considering (if you’re not doing it already). The reason I’m bringing this issue up now is because if you are going to use video to get people to learn about your artwork or crafts, you have to make this decision before you start creating the artwork you will want to sell.

YouTube is no longer the only place people watch videos. They are popping up in most other social media, including Facebook, Pinterest, TikTok, Instagram, and others.

You’ll need to set up your video camera and lighting before you start your drawing, painting, or craft session.

You can use your smartphone on a tripod or overhead mount. There are lots of videos on YouTube that describe how this can be done. You’ll need good lighting. A ring light is very reasonably priced on Amazon. You might invest in 2 ring lights so you get even lighting on both sides of your easel or table.

 

 

One nice thing about video is that it can be used in multiple ways. For example, if you have a 20-minute video, you have a “regular” video that is suitable for posting on YouTube. But you can also create a YouTube Short by speeding it up. Pinterest calls its little videos Pinterest Ideas. These, too, are shorter versions of the original. Instagram Reels can also be made from your original video. Even eBay allows videos!

Like I said, videos are not mandatory when it comes to selling your drawings, paintings, or crafts, but they are another way to reach more of your target audience.

Nor am I advocating that you create all the video styles I just mentioned — or even post on all these platforms. Trying to reach everyone can become so overwhelming that it’s discouraging and too time consuming for a person who wants to create artwork. I’m just bringing up the subject of video as something to consider.

[5] WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO HOUSE PICTURES OF THE DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS, OR CRAFTS YOU HAVE FOR SALE?

You need a place to send prospective customers to. Ideally, it will be a web page that you have control over. If you have a website that you are happy with, you can skip ahead to the next section.

I have  this website, SkillfulArtists.com. Here, I have many pages but one is designated to display all my best paintings and drawings. This is where I send people who might consider buying my artwork.

On that page, I also leave pictures of my paintings that have sold. It’s good to let people know what you are capable of creating. Maybe they want to commission you to do something similar to artwork that has already sold.

I use Ionus.com (formally called 1and1.com) to house (host) my website. I have been with this company for almost two decades and have never regretted a day of it. They give excellent service and their prices are very fair.

If you’d like to have a website, take some time to think of a good name. If you are selling drawings, have that word in the website name (aka URL). If crafts are your thing, find the easiest name you can with the word crafts in it. You can use the website name finder on the front page of Ionus.com to learn if that name is still available. They may give you variations of the name if you try for one that is already taken. Finding a name with dot com at the end is the best choice, in my opinion.

When I started with IONUS, I wrote my websites with HTML. Later, I switched to WordPress. It took me a while to understand how to use WordPress but once I got the hang if it, I liked it. There are many videos and books written about how to use WordPress, so take advantage of those, if you are not familiar with it.

[6] HERE’S ANOTHER METHOD TO GET PEOPLE TO YOUR WEBSITE WHERE YOU SELL YOUR DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS OR CRAFTS

Later in this article, we’ll look at a variety of ways to get people to visit your website to buy your artwork. But what if you want people to look at your items but you don’t have any new artwork or crafts completed at the moment?

What can you use to entice them to go to your website? An article (aka blogpost) will do the job. You can write something up, such as a drawing technique or an art book review, and post it on your website. Then you can tell people about it.

Later, when you have pictures of your artwork, place them on a gallery page and link to it in your article. Or they will see one or two of your available art pieces or crafts right on the article’s page.

Also, if you become an affiliate for art or craft related products, you can post and review about a product on your website. If you are successful at convincing the reader that s/he should buy what you are displaying, they will click on your affiliate link and you will get a commission. Many artists have multiple streams of incomes. Affiliate commissions are a common one.

[7] MAKE LOCAL ART SHOWS A PART OF YOUR SELLING PLAN

List three to five places within driving distance that sell paintings, drawings and/or crafts.

Many towns have art centers. They periodically display local paintings, drawings and crafts for sale and they take a percentage of the sales. Their portion of the money helps to fund their organization.

Approach every art center you can drive to. Take samples of your artwork with you – especially ones that are ready to be sold. Also take a notebook and get accurate information about their rules for submitting artwork to their shows.

  • Do they charge for submitting items to a show?
  • Do you have to be a member to display your work?
  • Are there ever any shows that you can submit your work for free?
  • Is there a limit to the number of pieces can you put into a show?
  • What is the date of their next show?
  • Do your items have to be approved before entering the show?
  • What types of items are not allowed? (Such as manufactured items, nudes, reproductions?)
  • Do they have a flier that has their rules in writing?
  • What is their website address? Are the rules and dates on their website?
  • Do they have a business card you can take with you?
  • Can you get on their mailing list to be notified of the upcoming shows?
  • Are you required to be in attendance during the opening night of the show?
  • Do you need to furnish a bio to be hung near your artwork or placed with your craft items?
  • How long are the items on display?
  • What type of art or crafts is most popular with their audience?
  • Does every painting or drawing have to be framed?
  • Do you need to furnish a table to display your crafts?
  • Is there a theme to the show? Are you required to follow the theme in order to enter the show?
  • Are there prizes? Are they cash prizes, ribbons or both? Who does the judging?
  • What is the general price range that people put on their work? (Keep in mind that if you frame your work, you must include the cost of the frame in the price.)
  • If something sells, how long before you are paid?
  • What percentage does the show sponsors take?
  • If something of yours sells, can you pick up your check or is it mailed to you?
  • Who can you call if you have more questions?

You may think of other questions to ask. Write them all down. Don’t be afraid to ask every question. They prefer that you know all the rules than to break even one of them accidentally. And every show will have different rules. Don’t argue with them, even if a rule seems crazy. Just do your best to comply.

Once you learn the rules and that you submit your items, take time to imagine your work in the show. What type of item is most likely to sell or win a cash prize? Did your contact person give you any clues about what is most popular with their clientelle? (Don’t take their clues as gospel. Just take it as possible useful information.)

Don’t be afraid to enter a show or to submit your work to be approved for a show. I’ve been to shows that have items that are very amateurish. I’ve seen “Sold” signs on artwork that I thought was not up to par. Nevertheless, someone else loved it and bought it. You can never predict what people will want to buy. All you can do is try to figure out what sells well in that particular show and do your best to provide it. OR… just do your own thing, submit your best work and expect great results.

What’s more, it’s very awkward to ask family and friends to buy your artwork. But to tell them that your paintings or crafts are being displayed at a community showing is easy! Invite them to the show. Even sketch or print out invitations and give them to people. Let them know if there is an admission fee. Usually, there is no fee to view an art show. The organization makes its money on taking a commission from the sale of the items. Make that clear on the invitation. Give directions, days and times. You know.

I didn’t sell anything during my first two art shows. My first sale came in the third show. After several shows, I started to notice a pattern in what was selling. I now tailor at least one of my pieces to that style and I sell my work more regularly. But at the same time, I also submit items that do not fit the pattern at all. You never know what will catch on and I have to remain true to my own creatives self.

One time I won a cash prize that was larger than the price I had on the drawing.

Another time I created a piece that I was not pleased with. The main tree came out a mess, in my opinion. I tried to fix it but could not get it to look right. But I submitted it to the show anyway with a price lower than I would have put on it if it had come out right. It sold. Go figure. Someone found that goofy tree appealing enough to pay good money for it and take it home. Ya’ never know.

This brings up the issue of price. It could have sold because of the lower price. Certainly, that could have been a factor. But in the end, I got a check for my portion of the sale which allowed me to recoup the costs of producing that painting with money left over to buy more art supplies. AND I didn’t have to hang that painting with the wonky tree in my own home. That would have aggravated me. It was truly a win-win situation.

So go find art shows within a reasonable radius of your home and start submitting pieces for sale. Follow their rules, even if they seem silly, and have a good time. You will not only get in closer touch to what people like to buy but you will be pushed into creating new things, branching out to places you never thought you would go with your creative skills.

 

 

[8] APART FROM A WEBSITE, WHAT IS AN ARTIST’S BIGGEST ASSET FOR SELLING DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS, CRAFTS OR ART OR ART-REALTED PRODUCTS?

This is something that you work on bit by bit. It is your very own email list. The beauty of an email list is that it’s free and you own it. Whereas, if you are on a platform, such as Facebook, your followers could disappear overnight if something happened to your Facebook account or the Facebook platform itself.

Anytime you create something new, whether it’s a drawing, painting, craft items or even a blog post, you can email the people on your list and tell them about it. You’ll include a link to where they can learn more about it and buy it if they want to.

You can also include links to affiliate products in your email – if the affiliate company allows it. (Be sure to check on this before putting affiliate links into emails.) For example, if you do a drawing where you use gray watercolor brush markers for shading, you can show the people on your email list how well these markers did the job. If they buy through your affiliate link, you make a commission. So you have the chance of selling your creation AND making affiliate commissions with just one email blast to your list.

[9] IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT YOUR FIELD OR GENRE, CONSIDER SUBMITTING YOUR IDEAS TO MAGAZINES

Art magazines, both paper and digital, are always looking for fresh content. If you can write an article about your artistic journey, magazines might want to publish it. Even if you have one small hook, such as “How to Grow an Art Life and Children at the Same Time.” Or “Why I Switched from Pencil to Charcoal.”

It might take a few tries to come up with an idea that catches the publisher’s interest but don’t give up. Get a list of art publications and start pitching ideas to them.

Read their submission guidelines and come as close to the rules as you can. Stress the article side of things rather than your art side. But if the guidelines say they want to see your artwork, make sure you send the best images you can produce. They will want your work in excellent lighting, probably a white background and as large as you can get it, such as 3,000 pixels by 4,000 pixels. If your camera doesn’t produce pictures that large, send the best you can do.

Magazines need text and interesting articles, so that’s what the publisher is going to focus on to start. If you don’t want to take the time to write an entire article that they may not want, send them a list of article ideas you can write. Let them choose from something in your list.

Keep in mind that most magazines plan their editions 6 months in advance. If you have a great idea for a Christmas article, submit your idea in mid summer. Don’t worry that they will steal your idea. They don’t do that. They want other people to write articles and submit images. They would prefer that you do it so they can concentrate on the publishing side of things.

Of course, when your article is published, your contact information would be in your article for those people who want to go to your products/sales page and see your full body of work.

[10] START YOUR OWN MAGAZINE

If getting into someone else’s publication is not enough, start your own. This way, you can put your own drawings, paintings or crafts into each addition, along with those of other people who will write interesting articles and submit photos.

Your publication can be weekly, by-weekly, monthly or quarterly. Go on social media to tell people about your online art magazine and ask for subscribers and submissions.

Art and craft magazines come in both in physical and digital form. Digital would be the easiest to start and with the lowest startup costs.

Keep the price low at first to get subscribers. As time goes on, increase the cost for new subscribers and let the old subscribers stay that the introductory low price. Let people know that if the get in early they will stay at the “forever low price unless they cancel.” If they come back in, they will pay the new higher price. This is an incentive to give it a try immediately, since they don’t know when you will raise the price.

You don’t have to offer to pay people who submit articles, although you could give them something. It might be enough for them to get the publicity and a link to their sales page.

 

 

[11] HOW TO BUILD AN EMAIL LIST TO SELL YOUR DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS OR CRAFTS

You can start by signing up for a FREE account with either Awber or Mailchimp. I prefer Aweber because they were established to help affiliate marketers, whereas Mailchimp accommodated these people later in the email marketing game. Or you might have already found another email marketing company and want to go with the for the selling aspect of your artistic life.

I don’t recommend using Yahoo, Hotmail or Gmail. They are not designed for our purpose here. They were not designed for selling products and they do not have auto-responder capabilities that come in so handy.

So choose a company like Aweber and set up a free account. Then learn about the welcome email and get that written. This is the first email that people will get automatically when they sign up to your email list.

The next step is to put the opt-in box code onto your website. Offer your viewers something for free, like an ebook on the types of artwork that look nice in homes. They will give you their email address to get your free ebook.

[12] HOW TO KNOW WHAT TO CHARGE FOR YOUR DRAWINGS, PAINTINGS OR CRAFTS

If you are selling over the internet, you’ll have to box your item and mail it to the buyer. So before you can determine what to sell an item for, you need to know how much it will cost to mail.

What I did is I boxed up three different size items I had for sale and took them to the post office and to the UPS store. I used a zip code of a town that was the furthest from my location and gave that zip code to the postmaster. That’s how I learned what it would cost to mail each size package.

The largest package had a very high shipping cost. So when I got home, I unpacked it and altered the box. I made the box as small as it could be while still leaving room for the item, paper and bubble wrap. When I returned to the post office with the item in the altered box, the price was less than half of what it was before. Then I knew I could ship any painting in these three sizes at a reasonable cost.

When I was determining what to change for a painting, I added up the cost of the canvas, paint, box, packing materials and shipping. Then I added $10 for the fee I would be charge on the platform I planned to sell it. On top of these costs I added 35% for my profit. Surprisingly, the total came right in line with what I planned to charge before I did the math. This gave me confidence that I was putting the correct price on the painting.

I decided to sell my paintings from my website and include the shipping cost in the price. So I give a price followed by “Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States”. When I send a painting priority mail through the USPS, this automatically includes $100 insurance as well as a tracking number. Since I know all my costs before I sell the item, I’m confident that I can offer free shipping without losing my profit.

Having the tracking number is important, so that someone can’t claim they didn’t get the item. The tracking number will tell both parties when the item was delivered.

You can use the same procedure for a drawing or a craft. Box it up and find out what it will cost to ship it to a town far away from where you live. If you are in the United States, pick a town in Maine or Washington state, whichever is farthest. Then add up all the costs to make and ship the item. Add 30% to 35 % for your profit and you have the selling price.

This process take the emotion and doubt of it. It’s a logical method and you can feel confident that the price is fair. Of course, if you want a higher percentage of profit, you are free to ask for that.

Or you can search the internet to see what other people are charging for similar products. That is another good way to take the guesswork out of it.

NOTE: If you are going to post a painting, drawing or craft on a platform besides your website, be sure to include any fees or commissions that company will charge you. Will they charge 15% or 40% of the selling price. There is a wide range so be sure you are clear about the amount and include their commission in your price.

[13] MAKE A LIST OF SOCIAL MEDIA PLACES WHERE YOU CAN POST IMAGES OF YOUR LATEST CREATIONS

There is a Facebook group called “Living Artists Trying to Sell Their Paintings and Drawings” hosted by Amy Prendergast Parker. Her rules are easy… Give good comments on other member’s posts and then post your own artwork.

Every once in a while, include a link to where you post your artwork for sale. Mine is a web page on my website. Yours might be an Etsy or eBay page. Just be sure that your sales page has a reasonable link that is easy to display along with your paintings.

You don’t have to spend more than 5 minutes on a social media page. That means you give likes and comments to a few people and then post – for free – a picture of your paintings, drawings or crafts with a brief description. You could do this least 10 or 12 times around the internet in just 1 hour.

This goes much faster if you have a check list of places to post. If you use a spreadsheet, you can just copy and paste those places and get to them really fast.

Find places where people BUY artwork. LinkedIn is full of companies and small businesses. These places have to decorate their offices. If your artwork would be appropriate for offices, post on LinkedIn and you’ll run into a whole different section of people you won’t find on the art-related social pages.

Another factor to consider is that LinkedIn occasionally sends out emails. I follow some of the artists on LinkedIn and from time to time I get an email saying that one of them posted something I might like to look at. This service needs to be considered. If you don’t have your own email list (or even if you do) it’s a bonus when a platform sends out an email (to who knows how many people) on your behalf.

Speaking of emails, you can give stuff away when you post on social media. Maybe it’ll be a short ebook about how to frame a drawing. Whatever it is, you’ll be asking for their email address so you can send these things to their inbox. This will grow your email list and when you have a new drawing, painting or craft for sale, you can email them about it, offering it for sale first to your personal email list.

CONCLUSION:

Several ways of reaching possible buyers has been presented. If you felt drawn to one method in particular, I recommend you start there. Get that method up and running, then zero in on a second method. By following this pattern, you will methodically increase the number of people who see your work and increase the chances of more sales.

 

Fun Products for Artists

 

 

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Most popular Posca pens:

 

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Gallery Artwork by Elaine Foster


Paintings by Elaine:

Horse on the Run painting for sale

Horse on the Run
11″ x 14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Horse of Many Colors
16″ x 20″
$85.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

 

Tree in the Sun painting for sale

Tree in the Sun
11″ x 14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Indian Pottery painting for sale

Indian Pottery on Red
11″ x 14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Ghost Indian Headdress painting for sale

Ghost Indian Headdress
16″ x 20″
$85.00Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Birch Trees and Colorful Bushes

Birch Trees and Colorful Bushes
11″x14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Dog painting

Friends at Dawn
16″ x 20″
$85.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.


 

Peaked Mountain painting for sale

Peaked Mountains
16″ x 20″
$85.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Blue and White Flowers in an Earthen Vase
12″ x 16″
$65.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Deer at Sunrise painting for sale

Deer at Sunrise
16″ x 20″
$85.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Hay Field After the Harvest painting for sale

Hay Field After the Harvest
11″ x 14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Rushing River and Mountains painting for sale

Rushing River
12″ x 16″
$65.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Young Bear painting for sale

Young Bear
11″ x 14″
$55.00

Free shipping and insurance within the continental United States


If you have any questions about this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Buffalo in the Moonlight — 18″x24″ — $95.00 — Plus shipping

If you’re interested in discussing the purchase of this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 


 

Colorado Before the Storm — 24″x30″ — $125.00 — Plus shipping

If you’re interested in discussing the purchase of this painting, please email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com. I will get back to you the same day.

 

 

 



 

Indian Pottery on Blue – sold

 

Blue Horse – sold

 

Mountain to Conquer – sold

 

Colorado Wildflower, knife painting – not for sale

 

Abstract Weave – Not for sale because of a slight flaw in the canvas

 

Sun and Birch Trees – Sold

 

Prancing Brown and Black Horse – not for sale

 

Bicycle Guard Dog – not for sale

 

Geraniums in Clay Pot – Sold

 

Hot Air Balloons – sold on commission

Birch Tree and Leaves – not for sale

Deer Spotting the Fire – sold

 


Elaine’s Pet Portrait Collection of Artwork:

Husky Dog painting for sale
Husky — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 

Shetland Pony painting for sale
Shetland Pony on the Sand — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 

Calico Cat painting for sale
Calico Cat — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 

White Dog with Collar — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 

Siamese Cat on the Table painting for sale
Siamese Cat on the Table — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 

Black and White Horse — 12″x16″ — $85.00 — Free shipping and insurance in the continental United States

 


 

Sugar Dog – Sold

 

Long Haired Cat – not for sale

 


Charcoal Drawings by Elaine

Mrs. Mary Macon – Historical Figure in Canon City, Colorado

 

Nikola Tesla – Inventor and Electrical Genius

 

Mrs. Mary Peabody – Historical Figure in Canon City, Colorado

 

Mr. Thomas Prescott – Historical Figure in Canon City, Colorado

 

Young Man

 

Sherlock Holmes

 

Historical Lady

 


Part of Elaine’s “Draw With Me Series for Beginners” on YouTube:

Draw Neurographic Mountains

 

 

Log Cabin in Pencil with Pine Trees

 

Swan in pencil drawing

 

 

 

 


Chainsaw Carving by Elaine:

carved bear
Natalie the Carved Bear – Sold

Draw A Tree With Leaves – Nature Landscape With Pencil – Tree and Road – Drawing Tutorial Beginners

Hello, fellow art lovers,

Today we’ll draw together draw a tree with leaves, creating a simple landscape scene with a leafy tree, grass, and a country road. If you draw with me today, you’ll have a nice pencil drawing that you can frame and hang on your wall.

You’ll also get some valuable art tips that will help you with every drawing or painting you do.

All you need for today’s lesson is a pencil, an eraser, and any piece of paper. You can use just plain old printer paper.

draw a tree with leaves

I’m going to draw with these Staedtler pencils but I also made this drawing with just a regular 2 pencils. At the end of this lesson, I’ll show you both drawings side by side and you can decide for yourself whether a regular pencil does a good job of drawing this leafy tree scene.

This set has 6 drawing pencils ranging from HB to 8H. I’ll show you how I use this range throughout this drawing lesson.

draw a tree with leaves

 

IF YOU WOULD RATHER WATCH THE DRAWING LESSON ON VIDEO:

 If you prefer to watch the video instead of drawing along with this written lesson, you will find the video lesson here:

Let’s start by drawing the tree’s trunk a bit off to the side and slightly tilted toward the center.

Then we’ll make the shape of the upper part of the tree.

Draw a horizon line behind the tree.

Next, we’ll make circles in our tree. These guidelines indicate clumps of leaves. The spaces between the circles are what artists call “sky holes.” The sky and some branches will show through these sky holes.

Now let’s start drawing our leaves with the light 2B pencil using these slanted lines. I like to keep all the lines going in the same direction.

I have my pencils in order from light to dark. The lightest ones are near my paper. I use the lighter pencils, which are the HB and the 2B, to draw in the light areas. Then I switch to medium pencils, the 4B and the 6B, to add some depth. I save the 7B and 8B pencils for the very darkest areas.

The darkest leafy areas are on the bottom side of the circles we just drew.

I’m using a 2B pencil to add a mid-tone to the clumps of leaves and to soften the sharp edges left by the last pencil.

Add some light wispy branches around the edges. I keep my lines going in the same direction even when it’s tempting to make them go another way.

The great thing about today’s lesson, where we’re drawing a tree with leaves is that trees come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. This gives us a lot of leeway with how we can draw them.

To give our tree a sense of depth to our tree drawing, we’ll make the bottom sides of the clumps dark and the top light. The sunlight is coming from the upper right corner so the leaves on the upper side of the leafy tree are lighter.

I erase any guidelines that I don’t want to show in the final drawing.

I’ll come back to the leaves later but now I’m going to darken the trunk of the tree. I start with a 4B pencil but I’ll switch to darker pencils as the drawing moves along.

Now let’s add some branches. Some will be hidden in the leaves, others will show a little and other branches will show through the sky holes.

So now I’m switching to the 6B pencil to darken the far side of the trunk and the bottom of the clumps of leaves.

draw a tree with leaves,

HERE IS AN ART TIP:

Artists often stand back from their artwork. That’s why they often stand at an easel – so that they can easily move back and see their work from a distance. When they do this, they notice things they didn’t see when they were closer to the drawing or painting.

We should do the same.

So for example, after you shade your tree trunk, stand back and see if the trunk gives the illusion of being rounded. If not, darken the left side some more and lighten the right side some more with your eraser. Then step back again and take another look.

 

NOW LET’S DRAW THE COUNTRY ROAD, SOME GRASS, AND 3 BIRDS:

Give you’re drawing some grass in the field.

Let’s imagine that the sunlight is coming from the upper right corner of the picture, so the shadows of the branches and trunk slant slightly to the left.

Now I switch to the 8B pencil to add the very darkest tones throughout the whole drawing and to fill in some of the sky holes that are a bit too large or too white. If you are drawing with a regular pencil, just bare down as much as you can.

Add some sky to break up the very whiteness of the paper with a light pencil or light pressure on your pencil.

The grass in the field must be darker than the sky but lighter than the shadow under the tree because it’s getting direct sunlight.

The clumps of grass are smaller when they are further away from the viewer.

I’m going to draw 3 birds to add some interest to the plain sky.

PENCIL VERSUS GRAPHITE PENCIL SET:

I promised you that I would show you both drawings – one done with a regular pencil and one with the  Staedtler pencil set. Here they are. In my opinion, both are good but you can see a subtle difference. I could not get the regular pencil to go as dark as the 8B Staedtler pencil, but I still achieved a sense of dark and light and roundness in both drawings.

 

See what Your trees with leaves drawing looks like in a frame.

Sign your name on your drawing. If you don’t like your drawing well enough to frame it and hang it on your wall, then re-draw this tree with leaves by going through this video again until it is the way you like it.

I also recommend that you try to draw trees with leaves from memory. You will gain a lot of confidence with your drawing when you can just grab a sheet of paper and any pencil and draw something nice like this.

If you drew a tree with leaves, I invite you to post it on my Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/skillfulartists

You can contact me anytime by emailing Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com and I will send you my free PDF ebook that contains 10 useful art tips and 10 simple copyright-free reference photos that you can draw in your spare time.

If you like these types of drawing lessons, like and subscribe and visit my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3vxIKbDlbuzIGGMFF67ngg

I also post videos about art books and have ink and watercolor drawing lessons.

Okay, dear art lover, I’ll see you in the next drawing lesson.

-Elaine

Staedtler Mars Lumograph Art Drawing Pencils, 12 Pack Graphite Pencils in Metal Case, Break-Resistant Bonded Lead, 100 G12

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Art Book Review – Bloom Adult Coloring Book with Drawing Demonstration

Hello, fellow art lovers,

Today let’s draw some flowers that are in the Bloom Adult Coloring Book. I found this book on Amazon. In this drawing demonstration, we’ll focus on the page with the forget me not flowers.

drawing demonstration

This coloring book is full of beautiful drawings of 50 types of flowers. There is no author listed in this book but I do want to give full credit to this wonderful book:

drawing demonstrationThis page is just inside the front cover:

drawing demonstrationHere are some of the drawings you’ll find in this book. I use this book as a reference book because the drawings are beautifully detailed.

drawing demonstrationHere is another glimpse of the drawings you’ll find in this Bloom Adult Coloring Book. This is the Wild Rose page:

drawing demonstration

HERE’S WHAT WE NEED FOR THIS DRAWING DEMONSTRATION:

Today, let’s focus on the forget me not flowers:

We can use any piece of paper and a pencil, pen, or marker. I’m using mixed media paper and an ultra-thin point permanent marker. You could use even use a black pen and regular printer paper. These items can be bought almost anywhere, even at some grocery stores.

The first thing we do is decide how our drawing will fit on the paper. We could make it smaller than the coloring book page or we could decide to draw just a part of the reference photo and make the flowers larger.

I’m going to do my drawing demonstration about the same size as the coloring book page but I’m going to add a small vase at the bottom of the stem.

 

If you want to watch this drawing demonstration on video, click on this image:

drawing demonstration

 

LET’S LOOK CLOSELY AT THE PETALS

They are somewhat round but they often come to a slight point. There are 5 petals on each flower. Each petal comes out from a center that has 5 sections and a middle circle.

In some places, we can see a corner of a petal folded over. And we see a flower drooping over and we almost see it from the side.

LET’S LOOK CLOSELY AT THE STEM

The stem is smooth with lines in it. Smaller stems branch off of the main stem and hold only one flower each.

Some of the flowers are in front of the stem, so the stem doesn’t show in these areas.

LET’S LOOK CLOSELY AT THE LEAVES

The leaves are very simple. Their edges are smooth. There is a prominent vein running down the center. There are lines coming out from the bases of the leaves and on their tips. The tips are somewhat rounded. There are 4 leaves in this reference drawing.

WE ARE NOT LOCKED INTO DRAWING EXACTLY WHAT WE SEE

Since this is a drawing demonstration, we are free to draw things as we want to.

I’m not going to draw this side branch with the flowers, and buds, but you can if you want to. I’m not even going to draw every flower on this branch. Just the ones that fit nicely into the drawing I want to create.

ART TIP:

Don’t worry if your first drawing of these forget-me-nots does not come out the way you want it. Consider your first drawing a practice run. Redo the drawing as many times as you need to to get one that you like well enough to hang on your wall.

DONE!

We can add color to our drawing, if we want to, with watercolor paint, colored pencils, or crayons, but I’m going to leave mine as just an ink drawing.

If you are going to add color with watercolor, make sure the ink you use is permanent and won’t run.

HERE IS ANOTHER ART TIP:

To improve your drawing skills, look over your drawing to see if there is anything you would change if you drew it again. Then make a new drawing with those changes.

When you see an artist make something beautiful look easy, most likely they have drawn or painted that subject many times. Each time they do it, it gets better and is easier for the artist to make it look really good and easy to draw.

To take this to the next level, you can develop memory drawing. Try to draw these forget-me-nots from memory, without looking at the reference photo at all. When you are done, compare your drawing with the reference photo to see if you forgot something. Drawing becomes more fun when you can just pick up a pencil and paper anywhere in the world and draw something as nice as these forget-me-nots from memory.

If you like these sorts of art tips, ask for my free ebook with 10 art tips and simple drawings you can do. Just go to the home page of my website at SkillfulArtists.com and request it or email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com

THE BLOOM ADULT COLORING BOOK:

Again I want to give credit to the book where I found this reference photo. It’s Bloom Adult Coloring Book and I got it from Amazon.

LET’S SEE HOW OUR DRAWING LOOKS IN A FRAME:

I encourage you to work on your forget me not drawing until it’s something you like well enough to frame and hang on your wall. You can buy inexpensive frames to fit your paper, even at thrift stores.

If you drew these forget-me-nots with me, I invite you to post a picture of your drawing on my Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/skillfulartists

If you like these types of drawing demonstrations, subscribe to my Skillful Artists YouTube channel to see more of my drawing tutorials.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3vxIKbDlbuzIGGMFF67ngg?sub_confirmation=1

I teach pencil drawings and ink and watercolor ink drawings. I also do art tip videos. So Most of these are created for people who want to learn to draw or who want to draw along with someone. It’s more fun that way.

So email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com and let me know how your art journey is coming along.

Until then, dear art lover, keep drawing and I’ll see you in the drawing demonstration!
-Elaine

Log Cabin in Pencil with Pine Trees – Easy Pencil Drawing

Hello Fellow Art Lovers,

Today we’re going to Draw a Log Cabin in Pencil with Pine Trees.

If you want to draw this using the YouTube video instead of the written directions below, click on this picture:

Log Cabin in Pencil with Pine TreesFor this project, you will need just a regular pencil, an eraser, and any type of paper.
Get your supplies now, if you don’t have them already.

log cabin in pencil with pine trees

OUTLINE THE CABIN IN PENCIL

Make the top of the door and the top of the window at the same level.
The same log will go across the top of both of them.

log cabin in pencil with pine trees

ADD BOARDS TO THE DOOR AND THE ROOF

Add logs across the front of the log cabin in pencil.

 

SHADE ON THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE LOGS

Leave the center of each log a lighter shade.

Let’s put some lines on the boards on the door.

Darken the window panes since we can’t see into the cabin from where we are standing.

Put some lines onto the boards on the roof.

draw in A PINE TREE ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCENE

Start the base of the tree about halfway up the side of the cabin. This gives the illusion that the tree is further away from us than the front of the cabin. Then draw in the branches.

ART TIP!

A tip to remember is that some of the branches are coming toward us. We easily remember to draw the branches that go out to the sides. But we need to also draw the branches that are coming toward us. These branches hide the trunk.

If there are fewer branches on a tree, some of the trunks would show in a few places.

easy pencil drawing,

DRAW IN 3 PINE TREES BEHIND THE CABIN

They should be of different sizes to add interest. Leave a space between the 2nd and 3rd tree. We we’ll put a chimney in that space.

DRAW IN A SECOND LARGE PINE TREE

Start the base of this pine tree lower on the page, below the bottom of the cabin. This gives the illusion that this tree is closer to us than the front of the cabin. Let’s make an effort to have some of the ends of the branches overlap the front of the cabin.

easy pencil drawing,

DRAW A CHIMNEY WITH SMOKE COMING OUT OF IT

The chimney is stove-pipe black metal, so let’s make it dark. You might like to try using the side of your pencil to make smoke.

easy pencil drawing, pencil drawings of log cabins, easy pencil drawing for beginners,

DRAW A SHADOW WITH YOUR PENCIL FRONT AND AT THE SIDE OF THE CABIN

Add a path from the cabin door coming toward us. This path helps the viewer’s eye be led into the drawing toward the cabin, which is the focal point of the drawing.

Add shadow in front of the trunks of the pine trees.

Add some grass or shadow in the yard to break up the whiteness of the paper.

Now it’s time for the last-minute details and to add more contrasts to our cabin scene

– Smooth out the path and smoke with your finger or tissue wrapped around your finger.
– Darken the window pane a bit more.
– Put a few more lines in the logs and boards.
– Put a hint of scrubby grass in the yard to break up the plainless in those areas.
– Darken the metal of the chimney to add more contrast.
– Add 3 birds in the sky.
– Emphasizing that the tree that is nearest to us has branches that come out in front of the cabin.

easy pencil drawing, pencil drawings of log cabins, easy pencil drawing for beginners,

ADD A FRAME

Let’s add our signature inside the frame.
And we’re done!
Good job everyone.

 

log cabin in pencil with pine trees, pine log cabin, pictures of log cabins in the woods, pine tree pencil drawing,

I hope you enjoyed this easy pencil drawing lesson of a log cabin with pine trees.

You’re invited to post your drawing on my Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/skillfulartists

Contact me anytime by email: Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com

Also, check out my YouTube channel for other drawing lessons by clicking on this image below:

Log Cabin in Pencil with Pine TreesSee you in the next easy drawing lesson!
-Elaine

 

Draw This Neurographic Mountains Scene with Me

Hello, fellow art lovers,

Today we’re going to draw neurographic mountains scene together.

I hope you’ll draw this along with me. I’ll walk you through each step. This drawing is very relaxing so jump in a enjoy!

For today’s project, all you need is a permanent black marker, like a Sharpie marker, a piece of thick paper, like watercolor or mixed media paper, and some watercolor paints. If you don’t have a permanent marker or watercolor paints, you can use colored markers, colored pencils, or crayons.

So, if you don’t yet have your paper and something to draw in your black lines with, gather them up.

Draw Neurographic Mountains

In neurographic art, a person draws random curvy lines that intersect each other. Start at one side of the page and end the line on a different side of the page. You can draw in as many – or as few – lines as you want to.

If you would rather watch the instructions on video than read them in this post, click on this image to watch the video:

Draw Neurographic Mountains

DRAW IN CURVY LINES:

Your lines DO NOT have to look like mine. Draw your lines in any way you want to.

Neurographic mountains

DRAW NEUROGRAPHIC MOUNTAINS AND FIELDS:

Next, we’ll draw in our mountain scene – right over the lines we’ve already drawn. Again, your mountains do not have to look like mine. Make them the way you want them to look.

Three mountains – one up front and two further back in the distance. Also, draw a line near the bottom to indicate a field at the foot of the mountains.

DRAWING IN SIMPLE CLOUDS:

Now let’s draw in some clouds right over the neurographic lines you’ve already drawn.

INTERSECTIONS:

Next, we’ll thicken up our neurographic intersections. Every place that lines intersect, round them off.
This type of drawing is called neurographic drawing because it reminds us of neurons in the brain.
This can be a very calming drawing exercise. So take your time and enjoy the process.

ADDING COLOR:

Next, we’ll add color. I’m going to use this little Winsor & Newton watercolor paint set. It’s minimal for us who like to take it with us when going outside to paint. I paid about only $15 for it. I’ll leave a link to it here in case you want to get yourself a small, good-quality watercolor set for painting on the go.

Drawing neurogenic mountains

 

 

But for our easy drawing lesson today, you can use any watercolor set you have. Or like I said before, you can add color to your drawing with colored markers, colored pencils, or crayons.

I love blue and green so I’m going to make the sky blue and the main mountain green. I’m going to take the field in front of a lighter green because it’s catching the light from the sky. The 2 mountains that are further back behind my main one will be yellowy-green because mountains that are in the distance tend to appear lighter because of all the atmosphere between us and them when we’re looking at them from a distance.

You, however, can use any colors you want. You can make the sky blue and pink and the mountain purple and brown, or whatever. It’s entirely up to you.

First I’ll paint in the sky. I’m going to make some areas darker than others to add interest. I’m going to put just a hint of color in the clouds, but I could just leave them white if I wanted to.
Now paint in your sky.

Drawing Neurographic mountains

PAINT THE MOUNTAINS AND THE FIELD:

Now it’s time to paint the mountains and the field in front of them with various shades of green. I’ll make my main mountain darker than the 2 mountains that are in the distance. I’ll add yellow to them. If you make anything too dark, don’t worry. I’m going to show you an art trick you can use to lighten up areas of a watercolor drawing – even after the paint has dried!

Drawing Neurographic mountains

WATERCOLOR ART LIGHTENING TRICK:

Here is the watercolor trick I promised you. If you made your color too dark anyplace in your drawing, just dip your brush in clean water and scrub some of the watercolor off. Then lift the color with a Kleenex. This works best if you use watercolor paper but it can work on some other types of paper, too.

Pretty cool, huh? I love giving away these types of art tips. If you like getting them, be sure to subscribe to this channel because I’m giving out lots more art tips – for free!

Draw Neurographic mountains

DRAWING IS DONE:

Don’t worry if your drawing is warped or buckled. I have a surefire way to flatten watercolor paintings. There is a video on my YouTube channel about How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting. Follow the simple technique in this video and your draw neurographic mountains painting will be flat:

Here is a Facebook link where you can post your drawing on the Skillful Artists Facebook page so we all can enjoy it:

https://www.facebook.com/skillfulartists

I also suggest you frame your drawing, I’ll put my signature in the corner. You should sign yours, too, – it’s your drawing and uniquely yours.

I invite you to contact me directly anytime with your comments or suggestions by emailing me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com.

If you liked drawing with me today, please subscribe to my YouTube channel.:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3vxIKbDlbuzIGGMFF67ngg?sub_confirmation=1

Until next time dear art lovers, keep drawing and join me in my next easy drawing lesson.
-Elaine

Easy Way to Flatten a Watercolor Painting Without Stretching the Paper First

 

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting

Hello Fellow Art Lovers!

If you’ve painted something on watercolor paper, or even mixed media or drawing paper, your paper probably buckled as mine did. All watercolor artists have to deal with watercolor paper bowing or warping after applying watercolor paint.

So you might have heard people talking about stretching their watercolor paper before they apply their paint.

I tried stretching my watercolor paper and was not satisfied with the results. First, the tape around the paper came lost. Then I put staples in the edge of the paper, which left holes.

And after I did flatten a watercolor painting, the paper still buckled. That really put me off of watercolor painting for a while.

Then I heard about this different method and I tried it. I was very pleased with this method and the results. It’s super simple and it works. Let me show you.

If you would rather watch these instructions in my video, click on this thumbnail:

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting
First, you put down a board. I happen to have a piece of masonite board that I ordered from Dick Blick but any hard, flat surface will do.

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting

 

Then I laid down a piece of acid-free paper. I just used another piece of watercolor paper from my watercolor pad.

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting

 

Then I placed my warped watercolor artwork FACE DOWN on that paper.

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting

 

I wet the back of my painting. Don’t soak the painting. Just put some water on it and rubbed it around with my hand for a few seconds until the entire back of the painting was wet.

wetting the back of painting

Then I placed another clean sheet of watercolor paper on top of the wetted back of my painting.

On top of that, I placed a big book.

Then I piled a bunch of art and coffee table books on top of that to add a bunch of weight and left it like that overnight.

The Next Morning (or Several Hours Later)In the morning, when I removed the books and papers, my painting was completely FLAT!

It was not damp like I was afraid it would be. Instead, it was perfectly dry (not sure how that happened since it was under so many books) but

I was VERY pleased with the results.

 

How to Flatten a Watercolor Painting

 

I think that if I added another layer of flatten a watercolor painting,

I could just let the watercolor paints dry, turn the painting over and wet the back again. Then I’d then place it on the board, sandwiched between the 2 blank acid-free papers and under the pile of books overnight and it will come out flat and dry again.

So let me know if you tried this method and if you liked it. Or if you plan to try it – or not and why not.
You can email me at Elaine@SkillfulArtists.com

If you like these kinds of art tips, request my free ebook, “Drawing Tips 1-10 for Beginners” from the home page of the website: SkillfulArtists.com.

Until next time, dear art lovers!
-Elaine

Swan in Pencil Drawing

Swan in Pencil Drawing – Draw this Easy Drawing for Beginners – This Pencil Drawing is Perfect for Spending Quiet Time Doing a Drawing

All you need for this drawing project is a regular pencil, an eraser, and a piece of paper.

Start by outlining the swan. Leave room all around. There will be water below and the sky above. Set the swan a little to the right side of the paper so there is more room in front of its face than behind its tail.

swan in pencil drawing, easy drawing primary image

Next, outline the feathers.

How to draw pencil in step by step In Swan Drawing

If you want to follow the YouTube video of this drawing instead of this post, click on the image below:

Swan in pencil drawing summarized image, Pencil swan Drawing thumbnail image

Darken the feathers to make them stand out more. The feathers underneath the tail of the swan are darker than the feathers at the top, nearest the sun.

swan pencil shading, swan drawing easy

Add a horizon line to separate the water from the sky.

swan pencil drawing step by stepAdd the sky and birds. The slanted lines of the sky should be spaced out and never darker than the swan, which is the main element in the drawing. Make the skylines wispy. Leave some sky untouched. Put an odd number of birds in the sky, 1, 3, 5, or whatever.

swan pencil sketchAdd water and the swan’s shadow in the water. Add a bit of swirly water in front of the swan. Make the shadow in the water the darkest nearest the swan, where very little sunlight can reach. Make the shadow lighter as it is further away from the swan because the sunlight can lighten the shadow out away from the swan.

how to draw swans in loveNow add your final shadows and see what your drawing looks like in a frame.

DRAWING TIP:

Adding shadow is one of the best ways to improve the looks of your drawing, even a simple drawing. This is usually done over the course of the drawing, not all at once. In this easy drawing, you start by drawing in the swan’s feathers. Then you darken the bottoms of the feathers a little. When you add the lines in the feathers, the overall drawing appears a bit darker. Since the swan’s tail feathers under the swan are away from the sunlight, they are shaded more than the upper feathers.

Often the final touches to a drawing are increasing the shadows. This creates a wider range of “values” in the drawing. White is the lightest value and black is the darkest value. Almost every good drawing has a full range of values – some areas are white and some are black and there is almost every value (shade) in between somewhere in the drawing.

Don’t call a drawing finished until you’ve asked yourself if you can add any more drama to the drawing by darkening some places and lighting (with your eraser) some other places.

swan pencil artSign your name and hang your drawing on the wall.

swan drawing, how to draw in pencil step by stepYOU ARE INVITED TO POST YOUR SWAN IN PENCIL DRAWING ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE HERE:

If you drew this swan with me, I invite you to post it on my Facebook page here:

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If you want to be notified when I post a draw-with-me video and to receive more free art tips, sign up for my newsletter. I send my newsletter only when I have something new that you might like to have or see. I currently have a FREE ebook with 10 art tips for beginners and 10 easy drawing you can do. To get this, go to the home page of my website here and request it:

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CHECK OUT MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL:

Look at the other art-related videos I have on my Skillful Artists YouTube channel:

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CONTACT ME BY EMAIL:

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Until next time, keep drawing dear art lovers!
-Elaine