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Drawing Tips
Vegetables make great drawing subjects for beginners. Choose light colored veges which have interesting shapes and textures.
Here are some suggestions:
- Squash
- Peppers
- Onions
- Garlic
- Oranges
Do a study of each one, or arrange them into still lifes.
Powdered graphite can be applied with a bush to create delicate tonal washes. It's great for making skin tones and flower petal textures.
You can read more about how to make and use it on my powdered graphite page.
Make it easy to practice drawing. Keep extra pencils and paper near the chair where you watch TV at night and draw during commercials!
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Portable Drawing Kit
"Messenger" style book bags make great drawing kits. They're just the right size for medium drawing pads and have plenty of compartments for other supplies.
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How to Make a Magnetic Drawing Board
Make a portable magnetic drawing board out of foam core board, galvanized flashing, and duct tape!
by Carol Rosinski
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What is a magnetic drawing board and how do you use it?
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I have used a magnetic drawing board for many years. As you can see from the illustration above, it's a good way to keep your paper and reference photos in place. Each of my drawings in process has its own drawing board and I stack them in a drawer. Each drawing board holds the artwork and reference photos I need to work on it in a portable package that I can just pick up and take with me. I hold the drawing board in my lap or on top of a pillow when I draw.
In addition to holding the drawing paper and photos, I use the magnets to hold a protective sheet of paper in place where my hand would touch the paper as I draw. This keeps my drawing paper nice and clean. I also use the magnets to keep drawing aids in place. If you have read my how-to pages, you know that I use "windows" cut out of paper to help establish values and the magnets work great for holding those in place.
As far as I know, there are no magnetic drawing boards available for sale. I made my own board and I'll explain how you can do that, too.
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Supply List
- Galvanized flashing can be found at hardware stores and it comes in different widths and lengths. You can buy several feet of the twelve inch wide variety for about eight dollars. I've found that a twelve inch wide magnetized strip down the middle of any size drawing board is very useful, so I use the that size on all my boards.
- Tin snips are found at the hardware store too. You can get a pair for about six dollars.
- Duct tape is pretty easy to find since people use it for everything.
- Foam core board can be found at art, office supply and department stores. It is usually under two dollars a sheet.
- Magnets can be a little harder to locate, but you might be able to raid your refrigerator for some.
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Cut the foam board and flashing as shown in the illustration below.
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| The drawing board is made up of a piece of foam core board, a piece of galvanized flashing and duct tape. As shown in the drawing above, I make the foam core board larger than the flashing. The foam core board is easily cut with a matte knife and the galvanized flashing cuts fairly easily with tin snips.
Since I hold these drawing boards in my lap, usually resting on one hand, I like to keep them as lightweight as possible. Foam core board makes a stiff yet lightweight base and galvanized flashing is the thinnest metal I've been able to locate.
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Keep it all together with Duct Tape!
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| When I tape the flashing to the board, I wrap the duct tape over the edge of the board for a really secure hold. The edges of the tape and metal won't transfer through to your drawing if you're using thick paper. If you want to use thin paper, and the boarders of the drawing will extend over those edges, put a stiff piece of cardboard or illustration board underneath. The magnets will hold several layers of paper in place and will also work through the duct tape.
Enjoy your drawing board!
Carol
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