Learn to Draw With Confidence with David Kitler
With this drawing instruction DVD you will learn to draw as David N. Kitler shows you how to use basic shapes, locate important value shifts, understand the role of different pencil grades to create depth, locate and accurately plot objects on a page, and properly position the parts of any object, be it animal or plant, to relate to the whole. David combines these drawing techniques and the fundamentals of how to draw with confidence to help you develop a center of interest and to lead viewers’ eyes around your composition.
David Kitler reviews basic drawing concepts and then demonstrates drawing the entire process by completing a life-like, fully textured drawing of a ground squirrel.
David Kitler is an internationally known wildlife artist known for his accuracy to the subjects he draws and paints.
Sale ends Tuesday, 9/16/08
From Behind the Camera – Drawing Transfer
When I use an opaque projector, I think I’m denying myself the opportunity to become more familiar with my subject. Additionally, manual transfer of an image adds that little bit of distortion that is part of the artist’s style.
If freehand drawing is not for you, there’s a way to transfer an image and keep the YOU in your painting, without the use of modern technology.
The drawing GRID works well for complex subjects. It’s a time tested method when working with two dimensional reference materials. The idea is to make the areas you want to draw small enough to be manageable. Divide your resource in half and half again, and do the same on your larger sheet (horizontally and vertically). Continue to make the areas smaller, on both sheets, until you feel you can manage the information in each box. The vertical and horizontal grid lines act as reference points.
Make sure both your reference and you larger sheet are the same proportion, otherwise their respective grid boxes will be different shapes (square/rectangle). Click here for a quick way to check proportions.
A view finder can help provide the same reference points when you are drawing from life. Basically, you look through a mini-frame to your subject. You can sub-divide the scene by stretching wires or threads across your viewfinder to make a grid pattern as you would with two dimensional reference material. Divide your paper accordingly and transfer your image.
There are many ways to make your drawings more accurate, but I will leave that for another day. In the mean time, David Kitler’s DVD, DRAW with CONFIDENCE: From Basic to Brilliant with David N. Kitler, is an excellent way to learn.
Cheers,
Lynn Powers
Janie Gildow on COMPOSITION
CCP e-Newsletter June 10, 2008
Cold chills. Sweaty palms. Plummeting vital signs. Brain shut-down. Don’t worry; it’s just what happens when someone mentions the dreaded word: “composition.”
I’ve taught composition for a great many years and it really isn’t scary at all. Once you see how it works, you’ll find out that it’s simple, straightforward, and so very easy. All it takes is for someone to explain it in easy-to-understand terms with picture illustrations and you’ll be proficient in no time.
And as you read on, keep this in mind: composition is extremely important and your knowledge of it absolutely vital. All the technique in the world won’t make up for bad composition.
Design Elements - the tools of the artist. First of all, if you’re going to do any kind of job, you need the proper tools. Just as the carpenter uses saw, hammer, and nails; as an artist, your “tools” are the design Elements you employ and manipulate in order to create a work of art.
Line - the handwriting (or mark) of the artist.
Shape - the area within a closed line or edge.
Space - the area that gives the eye a rest and emphasizes active areas.
Texture - a dimensional quality that can be actual or implied.
Value/Contrast - value: the range of nuances from light to dark.
– contrast: the difference between light and dark.
Color – the frosting on the cake that adds depth, interest, and enrichment, and is highly personal for each artist.
Good composition consists of an orderly and purposeful arrangement of the Design Elements.
Your Goal: Unity and Oneness
The aim or goal of composition is to develop a piece of art that exhibits planning and forethought. It should look finished. Its elements need to relate to one another in order to create a feeling of oneness of unity. And unity is what gives the work a sense of rightness. Correct implementation of the Design Principles (the laws that govern the use of the tools or Elements) generates good strong composition.
That said, let-s get right to the nitty gritties…
THREE great drawing workshops!
Make drawing second nature!
Three excellent workshops: Carl Dalio’s Sketching in Perspective – Drawing and Composition for Artists,
David N. Kitler’s Draw with Confidence, from Basic to Brilliant and
Craig Nelson’s Drawing a Duotone Portrait. You will learn skills that are integral to fine painting and drawing. Check it out!
THREE great drawing workshops!
Make drawing second nature!
Three excellent workshops: Carl Dalio’s Sketching in Perspective – Drawing and Composition for Artists,
David N. Kitler’s Draw with Confidence, from Basic to Brilliant and
Craig Nelson’s Drawing a Duotone Portrait. You will learn skills that are integral to fine painting and drawing. Check it out!
Preview all of our drawing DVDs
Congratulations to David N. Kitler!
David has again been recognized for his truly excellent work. David’s “Harpy Eagle Montage” was awarded first place in Artist’s Magazine’s, The Year’s Best Art (December 2007) in the Animal/Wildlife category. His piece is a combination of graphite and acrylic on a toned board.
David camped out for three weeks under a harpy nest in the Panama jungle observing and drawing their every move. He has since been a guest lecturer at the Cornell School of Ornithology as a harpy ‘expert’. David’s Creative Catalyst drawing workshop teaches his quick method of documenting accurate information. His acrylic workshop will be released next year.
Craig Nelson’s Drawing Workshops
Build a solid foundation in the visual arts with Craig Nelson’s drawing workshops. Nelson draws with a variety of media (pastel, conte, charcoal) while he demonstrates and discusses the issues he has discovered are most important to success in drawing and painting. His incredible teaching style comes from years of experience as a professor at Art Center College of Design (Los Angeles) and the San Francisco Academy of Art College where he is currently the Department Director of Fine Art.
Drawing with Pastel & Charcoal
Drawing a Duotone Portrait
Drawing Gesture in Charcoal & Pastel
Creative Catalyst Newsletter – July 17, 2007
TRY-SOMETHING-NEW Chinese Brush Painting – $10 OFF SALE!
We encourage you to try something new this summer with a $10 savings! on this DVD workshop.
Learn brush dexterity from master artist Kwan Jung while you marvel at his handling of this ancient art form. Kwan is one of America’s leading Chinese Brush painters.
In this DVD workshop, Kwan starts with a tutorial on materials and then demonstrates, from several different camera angles, exactly how to hold your brush. You learn the impact of sizing on paper, how to double load a brush, suggested strokes to create a variety of effects …and many more invaluable lessons. You then progress through six different demonstrations, each of a classic Chinese brush-painting subject. Even though Kwan’s workshop was one of Creative Catalyst’s early productions, it is still one of the best DVD workshops on the subject!
Note: Offer applies to the DVD NOT to the VHS (which is already half price).
Learn More About This DVD & try something new this summer
LAST CHANCE TO SAVE on DRAW WITH CONFIDENCE: From Basic to Brilliant
The pre-sale ends this week when this DVD arrives in our warehouse.
Enhance your drawing skills and speed up many of the processes you have previously found to be time intensive with this content-rich drawing DVD by David N. Kitler. DRAW WITH CONFIDENCE: From Basic to Brilliant.
Artists of all experience levels will benefit from this DVD workshop.
One woman’s observation about what makes an ARTIST
Have you ever asked yourself “What makes a person an artist instead of just a painter?” The answer to that frequently asked question was again brought home to me this week while filming Carla O’Connor.
For me, a PAINTER is someone who finds joy in the act of painting, frequently has a preconceived idea of the end result before beginning and is directed by the ‘object’ being painted. In addition, there is often an element of risk-aversion in a painter’s way of attacking a painting.
An ARTIST is frequently inspired by visual stimuli, is inwardly driven, permits the painting to ’speak to them’ and is as interested in the creative process as in the result. An artist is willing to ‘risk it all’ for the improvement of the whole. They are willing to alter much more than a few edges to improve a painting. Artists are also willing to spend as much time thinking about their composition as they are painting.
I watched Carla wipe out entire areas to strengthen her painting (even her “favorite” section). She was brave and exercised the power of design. The result was wonderful “¦ a learning experience on so many levels. This is going to be an excellent workshop.
-Lynn-
Creative Catalyst Newsletter – July 2, 2007
DRAW WITH CONFIDENCE: From Basic to Brilliant
We are thrilled to introduce a new CCP learning to draw DVD. It covers areas missed by other workshops … how to accurately place and portray three-dimensional elements on a two dimensional surface while on site or in the studio. David N. Kitler is a renowned wildlife artist that makes his living accurately portraying wildlife to a degree of accuracy only other experts can truly appreciate. His commitment to detail includes camping out under a Harpies nest in the jungles of Panama to fully understand his subject. This drawing DVD workshop includes: How to think in terms of shapes, placement, proportion, scale, value, texture, perspective, and toning. It also includes printable information sheets you can take with you while you are out practicing what you have learned.
Pre-Sale Special price is $5 off until supplies arrive in our warehouse.
Learn more about this DVD workshop
EXPAND YOUR HORIZONS
For those of us who have become comfortable painting in a realistic mode it is sometimes a stretch to try something different in our work. We add to our understanding by experimentation. Here are three fun things to try.
1. Divide the painted surface by extending lines off an object all the way to the edge of the painting. (See boats at right) For example if you are painting a barn, extend the line from the roof off the edge of your canvas. Do this on enough images and you will have added additional shapes to your surface and new zones for additional colors.
2. Add an element of abstraction by modifying the lines in your design to reflect your mood about the subject. Joyful lines might curve up; sad lines turn downward, nervous lines may become more jagged and hard. It doesn’t have to be done in many places in a design to have a substantial impact on the mood of the piece.
3. Distort perspective or scale. Break the rules of perspective by flattening objects. It can be oddly disconcerting but a lot of fun. And by making small things large and vice-versa, the content of your painting changes drastically. A small cat on a warm lap is something completely different when that feline becomes the size of a horse.
-Lynn-
“I came to the simple solution, through feeling and thinking, that the aims (and thus the means) of nature and art are essentially, organically, and by universal law different from each other – and equally great and equally strong…. This solution liberated me and opened up new worlds.”
- Wassily Kandinsky
1866-1944
From Artist to Artist
compiled by Clint Brown
Creative Catalyst Newsletter- June 14, 2007
Landscape Acrylic Painting!
Learn some painting tips for that summer trip you’re planning.
Get the scoop on how to capture a wonderful rural scene with acrylic. You learn how to make wood look weathered, stone look textured and foregrounds look convincing. In addition, you can print out your own copy of the final painting and reference material to more fully understand Charles’ process. Get all the advantages of acrylic while achieving the juicy, transparent look of watercolor.
Charles Harrington in WATERCOLOR WAYS WITH LANDSCAPE PAINTING IN ACRYLIC.
MAKE DRAWING PART OF EVERY DAY
Most artists agree that drawing is the foundation on which the visual arts are built. It is said that we should draw every day! So make drawing something that is fun and easy to do daily. Put a small sketchbook and pencil in places you frequent, such as your car, next to your TV, at the telephone etc., and leave them there! They will remind you to draw and make it possible to draw rather than spend time looking for your drawing materials!
Nearly all of the artists who have filmed here at CCP have brought a sketchbook and each book has been very different. It reflects the varying goals of the artist. Mark Mehaffey and Ratindra Das used theirs to think through design options for paintings. They make bold value sketches and notes of what is going on around them. George James paints relationships. His sketchbooks are filled with people in active poses. With his sketchbook as a reference, he is able to place figures in his paintings with realistic accuracy. In George James’s third art instruction video, Designing for Content we included over 25 pictures of his sketchbook. It’s a wonderful insight into how he thinks.
Cheng-Khee Chee tells us to collect visual reference material. As he puts it, “For an artist, it’s like money in the bank!”
Enjoy a Selection of Wonderful CCP Workshops for Drawing
Encourage Your Creative Kids & Teens
Summer is a great time for kids and families to do art together!
The Creative Catalyst Blog#trent (posted June 12) has the first installment about “Creative Kid Trent” and his mom, Tanya. It is their adventures with the Creative Catalyst website and art instruction DVDs.
We would love to hear your adventures “¦ send us your stories about Creative Catalyst, your kid(s) or other family members. We might just post your story! Unfortunately, we cannot post all stories.
Check out the Creative Catalyst Blog where Kelly has posted eleven great ideas for summer craft projects inspired by CCP DVDs.
Reader’s Tip
“To keep bees away (and other insects as well), tuck Bounce, the fabric softener sheet, into your hatband or around your easel. It is one of the most effective insect repellants known.” Sent in by Dorcas O’Reilly “¦ thank you, Dorcas!
Join the Summer Art Show
Creative Kids and Teens Art Shows
Recognize the talents of the young by entering someone special in the non-competitive CREATIVE KIDS ART SHOW! and the CCP TEEN ART SHOW.
Just think how cool it would be for them to see their work on our website. In addition, they can write about themselves and their work (or you can writ for them in their own words).
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