A lot of artists I follow online suggest having razor sharp pencils for drawing fur, to get those wonderfully soft thin lines that make fur look realistic. Unfortunately, keeping your pencils super super sharp is a great way to use them up really fast, which adds a lot to your costs. So today I wantedContinueContinue reading “Sharp Pencils”
Author Archives: Adlaya
Preparing to Draw
Today I want to talk about how I get ready to draw a portrait, and my techniques for laying down a basic sketch. I’ll preface by saying that I am quite lazy, and thus don’t put in as much prep work as some artists I’ve seen. Still, what I do works for me, and that’sContinueContinue reading “Preparing to Draw”
Pricing Your Art
Pricing your work is one of the hardest things to do as an artist. It’s something I’ve struggled with and I still find it difficult to decide how much I should charge for a portrait. Artists chronically undersell themselves, often learning less than minimum wage. There are a few reasons for this. The first isContinueContinue reading “Pricing Your Art”
Product Review: Faber-Castell Polychromos
It’s been a while since I did a product review, so I think it’s about time I did another one. My last review focused on Prismacolor Premier coloured pencils. Since that post, I’ve done a lot of work in coloured pencil, and the main brand that I use has shifted. So today I thought I’dContinueContinue reading “Product Review: Faber-Castell Polychromos”
Is It Done?
I find that no matter how much time I’ve spent on a piece, or how meticulous I’ve been, there’s always a part of it I feel I can still work on. When I look at one of my portraits, I always see something I could refine, something I could do better. So how do IContinueContinue reading “Is It Done?”
The Ugly Stage
Have you ever looked at a drawing you’re working on and decided it’s complete crap? I certainly have, and I guarantee every other artist out there has as well. I’ve heard it referred to as The Ugly Stage, and it’s an apt name. It’s the stage in a drawing or painting where you’ve just laidContinueContinue reading “The Ugly Stage”
Ink and Splatter
One of my most popular styles, Ink and Watercolour splatter, is also one I don’t see other artists use very often. I thought I’d share a bit on here about how I draw these, what I materials I use, and how I get that fun splatter effect! I first started using ink pens to drawContinueContinue reading “Ink and Splatter”
Behind the Idea: Bugs and Birthstones
A few summers ago I undertook one of my most challenging and most enjoyable projects to date. Most of you have probably seen my Bugs and Birthstones work, and today I wanted to share a bit about how I came up with and developed the idea. August’s birthstone, a peridot, paired with a green shieldContinueContinue reading “Behind the Idea: Bugs and Birthstones”
Drawing White Fur
Getting colours right in fur is always hard, but I find two of the colours people struggle with the most are black fur and white fur. I had a period last year where I found myself drawing a lot of white animals, and thought I’d share some of what I learned here, in the hopesContinueContinue reading “Drawing White Fur”
Am I Good Enough?
It’s one of the challenges all artists face — that nagging self-doubt that is constantly telling us we aren’t good enough, we aren’t going to ‘make it’ as an artist, and that we shouldn’t be charging nearly so much for our work. So are you good enough? Can you be a ‘real artist’ and startContinueContinue reading “Am I Good Enough?”
Adlaya's Art 