As I said in last week’s blog post, I have been starting to get back into art––to get into it properly for the first time ever, really. I also said I’d been watching a lot of YouTube videos on the topic, and so I have gleaned a bunch of useful info. This post is just to document that. It will likely become a series, as I continue to learn, but here’s what I have so far:
- Kneaded Erasers are a thing. They kind of look like a lump of Blu Tack and, as the name suggests, can be kneaded into different shapes to suit the artist. They’re preferable to regular rubbers (as they’re called in the UK), as they absorb the lead/graphite rather than rubbing it (and sometimes the paper) away, leaving those annoying bits behind.
- Paper Basics
- Acid-free paper won’t fade/yellow over time.
- The quality of paper is often denoted in a numerical ‘GSM’ value, which stands for grams per square meter.
- Sketchbooks might also mention ‘tooth’ on the cover, which means texture.
- Harder pencils draw lighter lines
- Draw with H pencils (harder wood)
- Detail with HB pencils
- Shade with B pencils (which are softer wood, and therefore create darker lines)
- Draw on a tilted surface, not flat, to avoid distortion/elongation of your lines.
- If you’re drawing at night, the warm glow of electric lighting can affect how the colours look. Daylight bulbs get around this.
- You should prep your canvasses before painting by putting on a layer of primer first.
- In the US, the most popular brand of primer is called Gesso.
- Some canvasses come pre-primed. It will say this on the label, if so.
- You can add a layer of sealer to your painting when you’re done (Mod Podge in the US, PVA in the UK).
- Types of Paints:
- Oil
- Acrylic
- Watercolour
- Gouache (Which is opaque watercolour, though apparently Acrylic Gouache is also a thing.)
- Acrylics dry fast and are therefore not good for blending.
- You should dry brushes upside down, where possible, but not in something that lets the bristles rest on a surface, as that will make it lose shape faster.
- Most of us know what it means when ink or paint ‘bleeds’ through a page onto the one underneath (or onto your table/desk), but I have recently discovered that it’s called ‘ghosting‘ when you can clearly see what’s you’ve drawn/painted on the opposite side of the paper, but it hasn’t bled the entire way through.
Feel free to share your favourite art facts or tips in the comment section below!
