I am currently working on a mini project video which will be release soon, stay tunned on my youtube channel for the excitement. I am excited 🙂
Let me touch on something this week about sketching. I have been sketching for 2 years and initially my topics were urban sketching mostly . My first inspiration youtube artist is Teoh Yi Chie. When I type anything related to urban sketching or art supplies, his videos just popped up right onto my eyes. And he works really inspired me to draw more and that is where I begin my watercolor journey for a whole 2 years.
I feel that whatever your topics are into, sketching serve as a base of most arts. No matter how you want to create a thumbnail, an idea, a sketch is the beginning of the breath of an artist.In order to improve your arts, the best way is to keep a sketchbook. My first sketchbook is an A6 size portrait sketchbook and if not wrong, it contains 96 pages and I really drew it till the end of the page !
At the beginning, the sketchbook are filled with pencils and inks , yes no colors at all.After that, I really dived into watercolor as you may check out my videos:) . I feel sketching really marks my growth in terms of arts, NO MATTER WHAT TOPICS. Coloring is just inputing values onto the sketch to give it more life. I have seen artists whose line works are really really fantastic which serve as a backbone or skeleton of their arts and the coloring at later stage is just mind blowing.
Though my channel is now gearing more towards portrait drawing studies, sketching is still my base of studies to observe on how to draw faces. I hope this may inspired beginner artist to sketch more.
09 Sep 2021 marks my 2nd year on youtube platform. If you are new here or have not heard about my channel , I am actively making arts on youtube channel . Do a search on mom who sketch or click the link below ,you will be directed to it. I would say that, I am surprise that I have come this far in making art videos. When the channel is launched 2 years back , I was just feeling excited back then and just wanted to try out, nothing serious about it. I even intended to treat it as a random upload of my drawings on places I have been to with my 2 children. At that time, I feel it is more meaningful to document my memories in term of drawing them out.
I did not start anything seriously for the first 9 months and only less than 5 videos . After that, I decided to make a swift decision that I really wanted to go into arts. After that decision, I really pick up watercolor and sketchbook to start drawing whatever I love. I spent alot of times on looking at artists’ art videos. And I think that is by far the best experience in learning through observation. I was incredibly falling in loves with making colors , good or bad. I just posted them at first twice per month , then to once per week. It was such a consistent upload of videos after videos.
I wouldn’t say I am successful in youtube in terms of ranking, but I witnessed the growth, week after week. Today I have about 80+ videos and these are my journey of the growth in my arts.
One thing for sure, I did witnessed my arts evolved over time. I changed my styles sometimes, I worked with different mediums, I tested my arts. So far I got 285 subscribers to date.
For beginner artists who wanted to try out arts , youtube is a good platform to get exposure. Why I say that , because youtube is a search engine and it consist a library of videos. Your videos will not be lost overtime( it worked differently on instagram / facebook/ twitter etc ).
I sulks at instagram/facebook . I really have no ideas on how to grow on these social media at all. But I really put in alot of efforts on youtube instead. I feel You will see the growth on yourself , your arts every week( if you upload consistently).Not only that, you will see that your editing skill will improve over time 🙂 Another advantage is , you can make friends on youtube with the same interest. Believe me, you will grow in terms of your arts.
Below is my youtube link and you can watch all my videos there. Happy Birthday ” mom who sketch” ! 🎂🎉🎈🎖
In this week exercise, I am trying to draw and colour Tom Holland as spiderman using the Faber Castell Classic Set. This sketchbook is my normal practice sketchbook which is the stillman and birn ( Beta Series ) . This paper is really thick and white as well which can make the color of any drawing brighter than those off white paper.
The pencil I am using is the Staedtler HB lead pencil. Sometimes, I do use 2H pencil as well that is harder. After marking out the landmark, the next important step that I usually do is the erase those hard lines using the kneaded artist eraser. This is because, I do not want the lines to show through during coloring.
I feel the Faber Castell Classic colored pencils are really easy to control and the pigments are rich.I don’t have to apply extra pressure in order to have a more vibrant color and I think this is great for beginner artists or even for children to use. The set that I am using is the 36 sets and though I feel it provide sufficient hue of different primary colors , but the skin color is just only 1 color. It would be great if this set has 1 more skin color . Due to the limitation of the skin tone, I can only slowly giving slight pressure to make darker skin tone. For darker shadow around the eye, I am using the darker brown which I guess is the raw umber range. There is no name on the colored pencil itself but just only color code. So normally, I will test them on a paper before apply straight onto the original art.
As I mentioned before, I do not do much burnishing, layering to give that flawless look which look exactly photo like. I feel that , I want to convey my art style in a more casual way and at the same time not to lose the likeness of the original photo.
I feel the challenge part on this coloring is Tom holland’s eyes and the lip portion which I made a few corrections on them. On yes,if you made a mistake on colored pencils, you can use the kneaded eraser to erase the unwanted lines . I think kneaded eraser is a MUST art supply for artists as they can easily raise up the pigment without hurting the fiber of the paper.
If you do not have a kneaded eraser, you can use the blue tac to erase 🙂
Below is my affiliate link for the sketchbook which you can purchase from Jackson’s art online store. I earned some commission , but the cost of this commission is not pass onto you.
I hope you like this week sharing and if you want to watch the timelapse of this coloring process , below is link and if you like my channel, you can consider to like , comments , share with your friends who you think they will like and Subscribe to my channel. Thank you !
I always find that blonde is a challenge because you need to find the correct hue of yellow. For this week coloring, it is a good practice when I am drawing Billie Eilish . I find that her features are distinctive as she has a pair of drooping eyes .
I wanted to train my eyes to look for landmark for each portrait drawing. This drawing has took me hours of correcting it. The blonde is such a challenge as I really do not know what type of yellow to apply.
I started to find some styles of my own when comes to draw people . I still love that pencil lines behave on the paper. I don’t really use techniques that professional artists use and I feel that I want to convey my arts in my way and use some distinguished lines to make representation and not replica of the photo. It may turn out raw, but I don’t know why, I love that kind of “unfinished” touches.
This video was made 1 week ago and you can watch this on my youtube channel.
Below are my affiliate link as I earned some commission to support this website.But do note that if you purchased through the link, the cost will not be passed on to you.
https://www.jacksonsart.com/strathmore-300-series-bristol-paper-pad-11x14in-20-sheets-smooth?___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=af21d0c97db2e27e13572cbf59eb343d
https://www.jacksonsart.com/faber-castell-polychromos-pencils-set-of-36-in-a-metal-tin?___store=jacksonsart_en&acc=af21d0c97db2e27e13572cbf59eb343d
This is a debating topic when comes to trying to gain more exposure when many small youtubers intentionally “fighting” to be the 1ST to comment on bigger youtube channel whenever a new video is released . This is just like a gigantic school of fish trying to grab that piece of meat in the ocean. Those so call youtube gurus or expert always give A BIG THUMBS DOWN to discourage this kind of strategy as well if you are trying to grow your channel especially if you are small.This is also somehow going against youtube term as this may intrigue spamming suspicion.
For my small channel, I do not intend to take any insane kind risk when comes to this.But at the same time, I am finding ways to get to get my channel more exposure.
Actually , I don’t care if I am first or last as I knew I seldom get the chance to be the 1st to comment as those highly competitive channel are really hard to get that kind of attention.I just wanted to jump into the fun with the rest and I don’t even understand why people wants to be the top, is just a comment what is the big deal?
But Just only few days ago, I noticed something and I really wish to share my thoughts over here.
My latest video is about using $10 colored pencils to color Marvel Character , Loki and intend to release it on a Saturday late night.
While I was scrolling youtube, A notification blink appeared on my screen and that was this big youtube channel “drawingwiffwaffles” new released video.
I noticed that the topic was talking about drawing her sketchbook cover and It seems interesting and I went in to take a look . The video was only released 9 secs and already 102 comments( I am not joking!!).
The below screenshot is my comment on her video and I don’t intentionally to catch anybody’s attention as I was already the 100+ comment down the line. Within a split Sec, Rin(creator of drawingwiffwaffles) replied my comment ( you bet! She really read through all comments🤪) and immediately pinned my comment.If you know , when someone pinned your comment, it is more than just cherrie on top of the pie , you get what I mean? You are going to get that enormous amount of attention for that particular pinned comment.
My comment was just like snow ball rolling bigger after pinned.Currently, my new video is going to released in another half hour, isn’t it great to release it IMMEDIATE so that now I am the top attention now in the whole world?
Without 2nd thought, I released my new video to the world, dah dah.
Ok, I am not going to brag on this achievement. But let me analyse the situation on what you need to know here.I did get some attention from the driven comments from drawingwiffwaffles channel.
I got that spotlight in that split moment in the COMMENTS only.
This is getting interesing.What I also noticed that followers started to stacked onto my earlier comment to further wanted to grab that top apple from it. Frankly speaking, who don’t want free attention?
I am not sure if this make sense as some stacked comments are just less than 5 words which some were really unrelatable .It gives me that kind of blank look.
And take note this video had already swopped 80+k views after 12 hours. And it took me awhile to randomly check on the profile of people who leave their comments. I can say more than 85% of the profile are either no subscribers on their channel or very very small channel.This is mostly the sign of most commenters. If you really want to connect to other bigger channels,You can count yourself lucky to find just a handful with 1000+ subscribers as for such decent amount of subscribers, you tends to get a better support to your channel (provided they are interested in your contents)as they have been awhile on youtube platform.
Let me share my result after 900+ like comments from drawingwiffwaffles chanel,I got 3 new subscribers ( currently I have slightly more than 250 subs) and some new comments . I really appreciated their time in really checking out my channel.
But , if you say it will bring alot of attention from a pinned comment to your growing channel, I would say it may just help abit or the impact isn’t that great. It can be quite disappointing if you pin too much hope.The thing is most people just treat it as a ” transaction” rather than getting interested in checking about your channel. It is just like , you go to an ATM machine,you insert your card, draw money and go. It may not help alot if you want to grow your channel thinking you may get a decent amount of subscribers or people is really interested in your channel.
Some worst scenario is, some pinned comments from past videos who get thousands of likes are quite inactive on youtube channel. What a waste as they either do not create video or they don’t watch youtube regularly or the account is fake.
And another thing which you may take note is that there is a lifespan for every comment( not video itself) . Let’s say a popular creator uploaded their video every week, so the lifespan of the comment for the previous video will dies off pretty fast . Who will take that effort to comment on past videos where every eyeball is focusing on new video? Your comments will be totally ignored by people.
If you are just starting from 0 subscriber or less than 100 subscribers , you may consider to have a slight connection using this method as I feel you still need some ways to push your videos out to the world and I totally relate to you
Disclaimer:I am not youtube guru so I can’t say this method will surely banned by youtube
But so far I have done it in a more acceptable and proper way and I got some pinned comments from some of my favourite channels
Below is just my sharing and if you disagree or you think there is a better way, you can comments down below.
1)DO NOT SPAM on the comments area.
2)DO NOT ASK sub for sub( I don’t ask people to do it )it will be detrimental to your channel.
3)Always , ALWAYS or I would say, give CONSTRUCTIVE comments on EVERY comment.
4)Be geninue
5)Be creative and keep it short for people to understand about your comment unless the video required your own opinion or debating on the video topic
6)Give some personality to your comments
I wish you good luck if your comments got pinned😉
Oh Yes, Below is my new Video that I have created this week and if you like my channel, feel free to like , comments and subscribe to my channel
Recently I got this old bristol paper from my brother and it was huge size that I find it quite inconvenient to work on such HUGE pad. So I decided to trim it to small size so that it is manageable when come to drawing. This was my first time trying the bristol paper and I heard it works well for coloured pencils.
Below is the drawing I have done and at the same time, I would also like to share with you some of my way when comes to drawing. Almost 98% of my drawing are using reference point method. I used this method since 1 year ago when I started drawing scenery. For this week video, I am drawing and Mackenzie Davis. I love this photo as it had lots of contrast and shadows for me to work on.
Coming back to my drawing method, I am using estimation to get the reference point of each line. It helps me to gauge how close, how long or how wide apart I need to layed my lines. You can always make necessary adjustment on the lines as you go along.
I always started with lighter colour and slowly darkened the colours. Blending stick can be really helpful to smoothen the pigment onto the paper.
I usually using Faber Castell Polychromos coloured pencils for coloured pencil process. I didn’t intentionally get the set, but just because I happened to bought this set over a decade ago and decided to revisit this set. You can see below that I started to build up the shadow area by using a darker brown.
I don’t usually sharpened my coloured pencils as I preferred a raw look but I know most professional artists ensure their pencils are really knife sharp for better control.( maybe I kind of lazy hahahha ) .
But when comes to finer details like the eyebrow and eye areas, I will make sure the pencils are sharp enough to work on.
I hope you like post so far and below is my latest video on this drawing. Have fun and try it out !
This is the first time I am using 1 colour for a portrait drawing. This time, I am using my old Faber Castell Goldfaber Aquarelle coloured pencil. To make the drawing more prominent, I am using red colour. Of course, you can use any other colour that you preferred. This is quite easy to be apply . I just drafted the outline with the coloured pencil just like any normal coloured pencil. After that, I just dab the line with some water for the details.
This is a very old set of Faber Castell Goldfaber Aquarelle coloured pencil that I owned and it gives me a good excuse to revisit my old art supplies in this video.
Oh yes, I almost forgot to mention about the material that I drew on. It is stillman and birn beta series sketchbook and the paper is really thick ( 270 GSM ) . I love the paper colour as it is very white compare to others that I owned.
If you are keen to watch this short demo, you may click the link below which will direct to my youtube channel. Thank you for watching
Below is my affliate link from Jackson’s art online store of the material I am using on this video.I will earn some commission from the link below, but the cost will not be pass on to you. This small amount of commission will be use to support the running of this art website. Thank you once again for your kind support on my art.
Faber Castell Goldfaber Aquarelle
Stillman and Birn Beta portrait Sketchbook:
In this week drawing, I am trying out male drawing BUT in 2 different styles ( Portrait and Anime ). The medium I am using is polychromos coloured pencils and Fabrinano mixed media paper. Drafting out in pencil is always an important steps when come to draw people.
I love to work on this Fabriano mixed media paper as it is quite thick ( 250 gsm ) and it allows to us on coloured pencils as well as some washes on this. I have tried this on watercolour painting before and the colours really turned out vibrant and minimal warping of the paper.
The photo reference was from pinterest on this drawing. I love the original photo because of the bright sunlight which shoned onto the model’s face. This provides a good contrast on the shadow area on the face and neck .
I got some questions which people ask to me on how I drew them ? Reference point. This technique formed in most part of my drawings. I loved this technique as this can apply to any drawings, be it urban sketching, animal or human drawing. Just a disclaimer, I don’t go for those really precision drawing in terms of understanding the anatomy of human. I loved to study them if I have the hell lots of time. But because, my times are fully dedicated to full time job and family time, I have to follow closely to what works best for me in terms of making my arts.
But that doesn’t mean I took my arts leniently . It requires my double or triple of efforts or years to get to what artist are getting today. I am still fumbling my ways to learn everything.So far, most of my arts are loose styles. But when comes to certain area, I am still trying my very best in giving that believable look on my drawing.
There are still mistakes which I realised after each video but that is ok. The point is what have I took away from each drawing lesson ?
I am someone who fidget alot on ideas and that is where I start to know myself better on what I want to go into. I think artists should be too. At the end of the day, self reflection on the arts is really important for me.
Recently there are quite a number of spammers here and I have decided not to post my final arts here. You may watch my time lapse video here and I hope you like it 😄
Below are the link to my affliate link:
Polychromos Coloured pencils 36 sets
Today we are talking about colouring using polychromos coloured pencils and I have choosen Julia Gisella as my subject. It is always a good idea to draft out the outline especially for portrait drawing as I wanted to get the proportion correct and this is really important !
For myself, I am using HB pencil as I feel the pigment is just right that is not too dark or too light. And the artist soft eraser is one of my favourite as it will not be too harsh and remove fibre on the paper itself during erasing some of obvious pencil lines.
Talking about polychromos coloured pencils. This was the set I got it more than 10 years ago and you can see, they are not well used 🙂 . Maybe I bought it due to impulse during that time and I didn’t know this was one of the best coloured pencils out in the market. The one that I got is the 48 set and it has already out of production. If I am not wrong , Faber Castell only produced 12, 24, 60 and 120 sets coloured pencils. Out of some reason, they have removed the production of the 48 set.
When working with coloured pencils , paper is really important ! And after drafting on the Canson XL paper, I realized that I have used the wrong type as it is more for watercolour usage. Nevertheless, I just moved on to apply colour pencils on it. It can be a challenge while working on this piece as I gradually trying to applying more pressure onto the paper .As you can see there are white spacing between each colour pigment. What I think of an alternative solution is to use pencil stump( or what do you call that ? ) to smoothen out the pigment.
Yes , this tool is quite useful if you talking about smooth blending .
After colouring the face portion, I realised that the lips are abit off. I will be fixing that later.
I taught myself all these and was not from any art school .I feel youtube and skillshare helps me alot when I wanted to learn arts and challenge myself in each art session. Not every piece is a successful one and I have done many experiment on how to draw,colour and video shooting.
Below is my video process and if you like my arts so far, you can subscribe to my channel 🙂
