Art Prof
Prompt Create an instructional comic on how to prepare your favorite snack. You may not use any keyboard symbols in your comic: no letters, no numbers, no punctuation. Arrows can be used to explain motions and direction in your comic. Ingredients List Start by making a list of all the ingredients used in your snack. […]
Prompt Read comics every day! Half the battle of learning how to create your own comics is to read a LOT of comics and increase your awareness of what is out there. All types of comics count for this assignment: webtoons, manga, newspaper strips, graphic novels, etc. We recommend trying to read as diverse a […]
This Comics Basics Track provides a basic foundation for visual elements and strategies that are specific to drawing sequential narratives. Ongoing AssignmentLesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3Lesson 4 • Lesson 5 • Lesson 6 This track will get you to exercise the hard skills you’ll need as well as an overview of every […]
See a demo of a comics prompt: create a comic showing animal sounds and movements. Useful comics techniques such as point of view, the “foot rule,” panels, speech bubbles, spreads, and pages in order to communicate a narrative. Drawing demo by Teaching Artists Cat Huang and Alex Rowe. Video Walkthrough Prof Lieu’s Tips I’ve always […]
See a demo of a comics prompt: create an instructional comic that uses no symbols from a keyboard. Pick a snack that you like to prepare, and show in your comic instructions for how to create that snack. Several comics techniques such as point of view, the “foot rule,” panels, speech bubbles, spreads, and pages […]
See a demo of how to quickly sketch ideas for comics in Procreate. Tips for starting include how to start designing a character for the comic, what style to use for that character, and discussing elements of comics like point of view, comic panels, timing, storytelling, and more. Drawing demo led by Art Prof Clara […]
Learn all the logistics and art skills you’ll need to start a comic. There are many components to the process: coming up with the idea for the comic, determining the length. Considering the panel format, designing the environments and characters, the drawing process, figuring out what art medium to work are all important skills to […]
Internships for artists can be valuable experiences, but they can also be experiences that are grunt work that have very little value. Internships in art can be helpful, but they are not required to have a career in the arts, and often do not have as much value as is placed on them Learn about […]
Art Dare Prompt Create a travel poster based on either your hometown, or where you live right now. Art media Use any art media! Text & Format Think about the format and purpose of a poster: where posters are seen, how people interact with a poster, what are expectations that come with a poster. This […]
This video shows the results of the 2021 October Art Dare: Mastercopies, where participants were challenged to create a mastercopy of a drawing created before 1950, in traditional media. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan McCracken-Foster. Prize Winner Henrique Maciel (Brazil)@hc_drawings “At first I thought making a copy of someone […]
See how to capture the dark personality of Baron Harkonnen in the 2021 Dune movie using PanPastel drawing techniques. Techniques for shading, blending, and creating a range of slick and smooth surfaces are explored in this tutorial. This tutorial also looks at how to render form in a convincing manner using a limited color scheme. […]
Get concrete tips on how to get started learning art history in an accessible manner that is fun and easily done at your own pace. With so many centuries of artworks from cultures across the globe, how do you even know where to begin? This video provides strategies for how to tailor your learning experience […]
Why are some artists overrated, while others are underrated? This video provides 3 examples of overrated artists, and 3 examples of underrated artists. We explain the specific reasons why these artists receive more, or less attention over time. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artists Alex Rowe & Cat Huang. Video Walkthrough […]
Watch a demo on drawing cats from The Electrical Life of Louis Wain. Sketching techniques using sumi inks for capturing the personality and gesture of the cats in the film are explained, as well as how to build up a range of textures and volumes in the drawings. Explained in the video is how to […]
This video explains the structure of the spine in the torso, focusing on the “centerline” of the human figure. The centerline is visible on the back and the front of the figure on the torso, and is an effective reference to search for when beginning a gesture drawing of a human figure. The centerline can […]
Drawing a skull inside a portrait is a terrific exercise to practice your anatomical understanding of a portrait. This video provides beginning to end, the entire process for building the skull structure into the portrait. Various techniques are explained, that can be used to build up three dimensional volume with colored pencil layering, blending, creating […]
This seven part series demonstrates how to draw clothing, with each video focusing on a specific fold type. Each demo begins with a brief discussion of how each fold type behaves, as well as concrete tips for how to approach drawing the specific fold type. Discussions and drawing demos by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan […]
Watch a drawing demo on how to draw clothing, starting with a brief discussion to explain the different fold types. There are several different fold types: pipe fold, moving fold, half lock fold, dead fold, diaper fold, zig zag fold, and spiral fold. The drawing demo shows drawing techniques using Procreate and colored pencils on […]
What makes a “bad” background? This video shows a broad range of backgrounds in fine art, TV shows, and more. We share the opinions of several artists as to why the backgrounds are effective or not. The opinion of each artist on the backgrounds then stimulates a discussion on why a specific composition in a […]
This video shows drawing tips for how to do quick gesture drawings of horses. Techniques explained include how to capture the entire anatomy of the horse efficiently, and then how to build upon that gesture to create a convincing sense of movement and form. Demo by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Deepti Menon. […]
This video is a drawing demo and a brief discussion on how to draw clothing, focusing on the diaper fold. There are several different fold types: pipe fold, moving fold, half lock fold, dead fold, diaper fold, zig zag fold, and spiral fold. The draw demo shows techniques for drawing in Procreate and with colored […]
This video is part 2 in a Drawing Curriculum designed for self-taught artists. (Watch Part 1 & Part 3) This video is an overview of the broad range of stylistic ways you can draw. This includes line drawings, tonal drawings, cross-hatched drawings, and more, using examples from art history and contemporary art. Discussion led by […]
This demo is a drawing demo on how to draw clothing, starting out with a comprehensive explanation of the different fold types. These fold types include: pipe fold, moving fold, half lock fold, dead fold, diaper fold, zig zag fold, and spiral fold. The drawing demo shows Procreate and colored pencil techniques on how to […]
Many students fall into the trap of creating generic, cliché artwork that tends to all look the same. 1 min video ~ 44 min video Here are specific actions you can take with your art school portfolio to get your work to jump out from the crowd and be more distinctive. Video Walkthrough Prof Lieu’s […]
Creating a mastercopy of a historical drawing is an effective exercise for honing your drawing skills. This video is a hands on demo that provides tips for how to get started with a mastercopy. There is also a discussion that provides insight into the value doing a mastercopy can have to advance and strengthen your […]
Learn the nuts and bolts of how to build and organize an effective artist website. Creating a clean, easy to navigate artist website is surprisingly difficult with a whole host of challenges. Get practical advice for simple actions you can take to clean up and reorganize your artist website so it can better serve your […]
This video provides the basics of how artists can use social media to promote their artwork. Find out which social media platform is best suited to your needs as a visual artist, and learn concrete strategies which will help you use social media effectively. Learn about the social media platforms available, and get practical, straightforward […]
Prompt Shoot photographs of your artwork for use on your website and on social media. The idea here is to stock up on tons of photos so you have a substantial inventory of photos to draw from. Remember, there is no such thing as having “too many” photos! Even photos you don’t use right now […]
Prompt Write 3 artist statements of varying lengths, that provide insight into your art practice and materials. You can write the statements so they encompass your overall practice, or statements that are focused on one specific project. 1 sentence statement This is your elevator pitch: what if you have 2 min. with something at an […]
The Artist Business Track will give you a solid foundation of content, presented in a professional manner to help launch your career as an artist. Ongoing AssignmentLesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3Lesson 4 • Lesson 5 • Lesson 6 Whether you want to sell, network, or engage with an audience this track will get you to form a strategy for […]
Prompt Create strategy for your Instagram to experiment with for a minimum of 6 weeks. Part 1: your instagram behavior Do this exercise 2 times, on separate occasions, before you create your Instagram strategy: look at your Instagram feed and take notes on how you interact with the posts. Note which posts you swipe past, […]
Art Dare Prompt Choose a drawing from art history and create a mastercopy of that drawing using traditional drawing media. The artwork you choose has to have been created before 1950, and can be any genre you want! Anything from a Peanuts comic to a Piranesi drawing is totally fine. We recommend choosing a drawing […]