Category: Illustration Lessons

Illustration Lessons by the Messy Art Teacher

Resources for Digital Artist

Hi Everyone! Summer is in the swing of things. I’ve been busy doing artist visits, and summer camps this year. I have been working hard to also get my freelance illustration career going.

I wanted to share some helpful resources that another illustrator posted on their Instagram their handle is anngee.foote.creations and I found some extra ones for color I wanted to share.

I find that it’s great to get some jumping points to start by collecting a library of visuals. Then I can look and curate things based on the needs of the visual story I want to tell. If I need things to be an emotional dark scene in the children’s book how have other medias forms created that feeling?

I hope these resources help!

Happy Creating!

Film Grab had some great compositional shots for you to look at for ideas. There is a long list of films and you can sort by the creators. I thought what a great site for compositions, color, and light studies!

https://film-grab.com/

Explore 3D models from any angle for drawing!

https://sketchfab.com/

Do you need references of heads a

http://referenceangle.com/

Need some ideas for color palettes?

https://coolors.co/

Adobe Color

https://color.adobe.com/create/color-wheel

https://www.makethedot.com/textile-design-templates

Ideas for composition, color stories, lightning, etc.

https://animationscreencaps.com/

Art Teacher and Illustrator

Working as an art teacher and a freelance illustrator has been a balance. I discuss the two aspects of my career in an interview with TeMika Grooms, the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Design and Illustration Manager.

My work was also featured on the homepage of the SCBWI website. Thank you so much for the opportunity to share my love of teaching and children’s book illustration. I’ve been slowly but steadily building my illustration career while being an art teacher part-time. Both give me great joy!

Season 9 My Creative Life Podcast

Day 19 Inspiration #amonthinpaper My inspiration has been meeting so many wonderful creatives that are willing to share their art journey. You can learn so much from talking with other artists. Some days I go back and listen to the interviews and I’m inspired. Two other things that have come from doing the podcast are persistence and time management.
Season 9 Guests! Check out these artists and their work!
102 Jun Zhou, Ilustrator @junzhou_draw 1/30

103 Lu Pan, Accessory Design @panlu.create 2/6

104 Kat Albert, Illustrator @kittensbrush 2/13

105 Amelia Leicht, Graphic Designer @schmashmelia 2/20

106 Jennifer Thornhill, Illustrator @jenniferthornhillillo 2/27

107 Robin Martea, Illustrator @robinmartea 3/6

108 Kelly Kiviranna, Surface Designer @kellykiviranna 3/13

109 Via Li, Painter @via.li_art 3/20

110 Jeff Hinchee @jeff_hinchee_art, Illustrator 3/20

To listen visit https://anchor.fm/nmillerillustration

Will Terry Interview on My Creative Life

I was thrilled to chat with Will Terry about teaching and the direction that art education is headed in. I took his classes when he started Folio Academy and then took classes on SVS Learn. I learned a lot about the process of children’s book illustration. I recommend to my high school students to try different online schools if they aren’t sure what they want to do in the arts.

Here is a link to the interview on Anchor for My Creative Life: Will Terry.

Thanks for listening!

Speedball Calligraphy Pen Nib and Handle Basics Tutorial

I created this video because when I went to the art supply store I got so overwhelmed at the different types of handles and nibs that are offered for dip pens. This covers the basics of which nib fits with which handle. How to care for the nibs. I store my nibs and handle in an old plastic battery case from Radio Shack. It fits perfectly and it was free. Then I did a speed inking of a drawing of some characters. I purchased mine from Dick Blick.

My students even in elementary school loved using dip pens. I used to teach them calligraphy starting in 3rd grade after cursive was removed the curriculum. I told them you should be able to make your name distinctive like John Hancock. It leaves an impression. We talked briefly about how it was used in the past and tie it into social studies.

To purchase your own nibs and handles. This is the basic set I purchased in college. https://www.dickblick.com/products/speedball-c-style-calligraphy-set/
Amazon Affiliate: https://amzn.to/3fOTp7W
Here is the other handle Crow Quill for fine lines: https://www.dickblick.com/products/speedball-crow-quill-dip-pen-nibs/
Amazon Affiliate: https://amzn.to/2JtR4TR

Yupo and Acrylic Ink Test

Took some time to play around with Yupo paper and acrylic inks. Yupo is a plastic paper that was originally created to use for shampoo bottles. It’s a great product to get some amazing textures using acrylic ink and some different agents with it. I tried using some of the different types and created a swatch sheet that shows the results. If you want to download a JPG you can get it from my blog.

To purchase the paper they sell it on Dick Blick: https://www.dickblick.com/products/legion-yupo-watercolor-paper/

Also in pads that is more cost-effective, but smaller sizes https://www.dickblick.com/products/legion-yupo-watercolor-paper-pads/

I’ve also purchased it from your local big box craft or office supply store if you venture out of your home. Amazon Yupo paper: https://amzn.to/36jTs8O

Pop-up Cards Graphic Design Lesson

I’m on wordpress and noticed they updated somethings here. Hmm. Ok so I made a pop-up card and this was fun! I used to do pop-up cards with my elementary art students. I wished I had done this with my graphic students. This could be a great lesson for illustration, elementary art. With elementary grades you have to do templates. It’s really easy, and I made them from cardstock. If you have volume of kids that is the way I would do it. I had a limit to the copies I could print in elementary. It just depends on your situation. It’s challenging and you get to cut stuff up. Here’s a video on the process I came up with after doing research on pop-up book artists.

Here’s videos from Matthew Reinharts Youtube Channel. Can I say he is amazing at pop-ups. So complex and fun! He’s channel has really easily used templates and shorter videos for the young ones. If you are an art teacher or you have kids at home these are great to do.

Experimenting with Winsor and Newton Watercolor Granulation Medium

I decided to try some Winsor and Newton Watercolor Granulation Medium so I could learn how to make some amazing textures. I saw the work of Naomi Tideman I wanted to learn how she created her amazing textures in her watercolors. Did some research and I found this video.

 

Then I made my own video showing what I tried.

 

I bought some other mediums and I hope to get some time to try some more things with them as well.

 

Experimenting with Media and Techniques

I took some time to work with some different media and techniques and I’m posting the results on Youtube. I find it is hard to know how certain types of art supplies will work and what are the differences.

I compared acrlyic gouache and regular gouache from Holbein.

 

Then I used the acrylic gouache to do some collage in the style of Eza Jack Keats. Love his work! My students always loved making painted papers and using them in collage.

Speed Drawing Caricature

I’ve been behind posting that I’ve added a new video. During this time I’ve made the effort to try my best to improve my drawing skills. I’ve been taking some online courses from SVS Learn and Schoolism. I highly recommend them if you are interested in illustration. I noticed there are high school students taking these courses. I wished they had this when I was in high school.

 

Production terms for graphic designers and illustrators

There are some basic terms that ever graphic designer and illustrator should be aware of: trim, live area, bleed, and gutter. If you design a book or magazine these things are talked about quite a bit. If you are teaching graphic design or illustration these terms help students how to build their work to the correct size for publishing.