THE MOBILE ART STUDIO

Moon Painting Project Part 2: Refining the Moon with Inktense Pencils In the first stage of this moon painting project , I created a dusky sunset sky with an acrylic glaze of phthalo blue, lemon yellow, burnt umber and varying amounts of white onto primed card. I now aim to touch up the lunar details with Inktense pencils, the focus of this demonstration. Why Use Inktense Pencils Over Acrylic Paint? I found Derwent Inktense pencils ideal for touching up detail on simplified glazes, as can be found in this painting. They are water-soluble art pencils that can be used for shading and detail, and, when added with water via a soft brush, behave like watercolour, but the pigment dries water-fast. Inktense pencils offer greater control and enable small marks to be placed precisely where needed. Different colours can be layered, helping to create a natural-looking lunar surface. Art Materials Used The completed painting of acrylic glazes, which have now dried. Inktense pencils of the followin...

Moon Painting Project: Part 1 This simple moonlit scene required just three acrylic colours and white. This sets the scene for the detail (to be applied later with Inktense pencils - see my next demo: Moon Painting Project Part 2 ). For now, I aimed only to blend acrylic paints into smooth gradations without concern over complex colour mixes. Deep tones softening into pales brought forward a tranquil sky for the use of soft, wide brushes. Art Supplies and Materials Needed Surface : An A4-sized thick card primed with white gesso or acrylic polymer primer. Acrylic Colours : Titanium White, Phthalo Blue, Lemon Yellow, and Burnt Umber. Brushes & Tools : Fine/medium bristle brushes, a soft sable brush, a ruler, a soft pencil, rags, and a circular object like a jar lid. Note : the finishing touches required Inktense pencils, white, dark blue and fern green. What you will Learn from this Demo How to create contrasts between light and dark. Blending a dark, deep colour mix into increasing ...

Stonehenge, a stone circle in Wiltshire, England, is the ideal subject matter for drawing. Shading technique and blocking in have been practised. Here, I expressed Stonehenge in silhouette against a big sunset, creating drama. The finished drawing of Stonehenge silhouette Negative space of Stonehenge The first image shows Stonehenge’s negative shapes within a narrow rectangle. The central dividing line makes plotting this enigmatic stone circle easier. Notice the interesting shapes where the sky peeks between the stones. Negative space is a great technique for practicing drawing freehand. Gridlines over the Stonehenge drawing. Using Negative Space to Plot Stonehenge Accurately 1 Onto a sheet of A5 sketching paper, a rectangle of 10x5cm was divided into 5 sections via a HB and ruler. The lines have been drawn lightly but have been emphasized here. The bottom segment is where Stonehenge will inhabit. This segment has been split in half to make the freehand drawing easier...

I conducted a pen drawing of a church window during a trip to Coventry Cathedral. The trees breaking up the sky captivated me and I liked the linear aspect. This is why I used a ballpoint for the drawing. I had taken HB pencil, ruler, A5 sketchpad and a couple of ballpoint pens (not the cheap sort that fade or blotch). I used Bic. This ink drawing was not intended to be a draughtsman’s finish, but loose and expressive. Close-up of church window drawing Adding Weight and Texture to the Window Slats I took a quick measurement of the window’s proportions and transferred a grid onto the page. The lines were then used as a guide to ensure the drawing did not end up wonky or lopsided which can easily happen when working close to a drawing. The rectangular part of the window drawing measured 10cm by 12cm, adding an extra 4cm for the arch at the top. Grid used as a guide for the drawing 1 and 2 As can be seen in the first image, I had divided the rectangle in half and then ...

Drawing from life becomes easier when using the grid method. In this demonstration, I show how a simple four‑quadrant grid helps place key shapes accurately while sketching a statue at Coventry Cathedral. Using HB and 2B pencils, this exercise focuses on proportion, tonal balance and confident shading. Using a Grid for Drawing Practice A tip for drawing is to use the grid technique. Here, I have simplified the grid into four sections. Drawing from life is made convenient and easy. This drawing demonstration requires HB and 2B  pencils, ruler scalpel, A5 sketchpad and eraser. The head fits into left quadrant of the grid Measuring Proportions and Setting Up the Four-Quadrant Grid I set myself up in the ruins of Coventry Cathedral where an interesting statue happened to roughly fit into a grid of four. This was ascertained by holding the pencil to eyelevel and measuring width to height proportion. The head and torso of the statue was twice as high as it was wide. The photograph of th...

Classroom management includes motivating students in art lessons otherwise the students may not reach their creative potential. According to Reece & Walker’s book Teaching, Training and Learning – a Practical Guide (Business Education Publishers , 2004) a student of low ability but high motivation can experience greater success than a student of high ability and low motivation. For this reason, motivational issues should be treated with equal gravity as a learning need or a disability. Common Causes of Low Motivation in Art Classes Before tackling this problem, the causes of low motivation must be identified. The following might be worth exploring: A messy art studio The learning environment looks unwelcoming, messy or uncared for. Paint spills and dirty pots full of unusable art brushes can be visually off-putting. The area might also appear impersonal and clinical with strip-lighting and insufficient natural daylight. There is insufficient differentiation in the les...

What happens at the end of an art course? The answer is the end of course assessment. How is such an assessment conducted properly? Students may be given an allotted time to attend the assessment with all the work as set out in the criteria requirement. The agreement as set out in the mock assessment may be referred to if necessary or appropriate. Again, praise whenever the opportunity arises. The final marking should never be a surprise and the student should be informed on exactly why a particular marking has been awarded. This will prevent nasty surprises. What Happens at the End of an Art Course? Criterion for Assessments The teacher may write a short feedback on the student’s work, relating to the creative use of materials, the painting style and willingness to try new ideas. How to Evaluate Art Work The student has the opportunity to write a feedback on the learning experience, which might include the teaching, the resources or the institution’s policies. The tea...