These days I am looking for simple and fun creative art activities that can be done without much supplies at home.
By Gladys Parker – http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/index.php?dlid=24639, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=49554598
I used to love playing with paper dolls that you can dress up when I was a kid and this activity felt a bit the same đŸ™‚
I have quite a few drawings from life drawings in the studio and thought it could be fun to dress them up and add patterns.
If you have drawings available you can use yours, I also added a couple of mine in this post that you can print if you want to start with those ones.
You will need:
life drawings (original or prints)
colored pencils
pencil
fine liner or dipping pen
watercolor or ink or fluid acrylic
I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.
Pigma Micron pens are acid-free and archival, making them ideal for any application requiring precision and permanance. Pigma ink is derived from a single pigment to ensure color consistency, and is fadeproof against sunlight or UV light. – Set of 6, Black
Select a few drawings
You can work on your original drawings or you can print them as I did:
You can download my drawings here, please credit me if using them and posting them on social media.
You will add patterns, so you can hide lines that you don’t want to show on the clothes with the patterns.
You can start with a pencil to draw the clothes and go over it with a fine liner once you are satisfied with the result.
Add patterns to the clothes
Because I worked with colored pencils on this one, it works better if you draw the patterns with the fine liner or the dipping pen and then color.
I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.
Prismacolor Art Stix are artist-quality woodless colored pencils for every level of expertise. Especially suited for color coverage of large areas, Art Stix offer a bold, smooth laydown of color.
Here is a time lapse video of the drawing with the red background where I used only a fine liner and colored pencils.
Work on the background
If you want to add watercolor paint or inks, then add the paint first and the patterns after the paint has dried.
You can add the patterns with a fine liner or with a dipping pen.
Here is a time lapse for the illustration when I painted the background and then did add the patterns.
Here are the finished illustrations, I would love it if you can share your illustrations in the comments !
Originally from France, I have been living in North Vancouver, Canada for the past 20 years.
My work has been collected and exhibited extensively in Canada and internationally. I am also part of the Art Rentals and sales program of the Vancouver Art Gallery.
Many of my paintings have been published in Art books and magazines (Artist Magazine, Watercolor Artist Magazine, Acrylic Magazine, International Artist Magazine). I wrote 2 art instruction books with North Light/F+W Books.
I have been writing for the last 5 years for my blog: paintingdemos.com, that has a mailing list of about 10 000 subscribers and about 20 000 visitors per month.
I am an active member in the community, as a co-founder of the North Shore Art crawl, a co-founder of a weekly life drawing group, a board member of the North Vancouver Arts Council, and have been invited as a juror for public art, art grants and juried exhibitions. You can read more about my collaborations here.
