Art Prof
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 […]
This Drawing curriculum is a series of 3 videos. Drawing 1: Supplies Drawing 2: Drawing Techniques Drawing 3: Drawing Prompts
This video shows the results of the 2021 September Art Dare: Artist video shorts, where participants were challenged to create video shorts about their artistic practice. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan McCracken-Foster. Prize Winner Maya Work (Switzerland)@maya3work “I recently moved to Switzerland from Canada and I have quickly realized […]
This video is part 1 in a Drawing Curriculum designed for self-taught artists. (Watch Part 2 & Part 3) This discussion provides an insight into the immense range and types of drawing media. Including: charcoal, colored pencils, graphite, erasers, pastels, pens, markers, scratchboard, inks, drawing surfaces, drawing accessories, smudging tools, surfaces, and sketchbooks. Discussion led […]
Copying a digital painting is a great exercise to develop your digital painting skills and analyze the techniques used in great paintings. In this video we demonstrates how to make a mastercopy in Procreate. This video shows the step by step process how start one, while also prodiving reasons for what you can learn and […]
This video demonstrates techniques for drawing man made structures, focusing on an oil refinery. Media used in this tutorial are Adobe Fresco and brush pens with a water brush. Explored in the video is how to tackle large, complex structures in a drawing, what to focus on, and how to compose the piece in a […]
See how to use digital painting techniques in Adobe Fresco to draw fish! This video starts with basics of drawing with Adobe Fresco covering layers, tools, and various effects that are possible with the program. More techniques such as how to navigate layers and create textures are also shown. Demo led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and […]
This Digital Basics Track will help develop your skills in digital drawing and painting techniques. For those of you who have experience with digital art, this track can be really useful to refresh and enhance the skills you already have. Ongoing AssignmentLesson 1 • Lesson 2 • Lesson 3Lesson 4 • Lesson 5 • Lesson […]
Prompt Create a composition that includes at least 5 fish. Use any format, any style, as long as there are a minimum of 5 fish in the image, anything goes! The fish do not have to be ones that exists in real life, they can be imaginary if you like. Consider the mood you want […]
Prompt Create a painting using our reference photos of an oil refinery. Aim to balance between showing a convincing sense of structure with a broad range of textures in the forms and surfaces. Examples @pandapufkin, Steen, Trent Tips Blocking patches of color in the negative space around the oil refinery can often times be faster than […]
Prompt Choose one of your character designs from the ongoing assignment. Draw 5 contrasting facial expressions for that character using only line and flat colors. Examples James, Steen, Crissie, Robyn, Tamara Facial expressions confused, furious, disgusted, heartbroken, flirty, lethargic, anxious, jealous, nervous, disappointed, proud, perky, feisty, apathetic Tips Look into a mirror as you draw, try out different […]
Prompt Use at least 3 reference photos to invent a fantasy landscape. Create depth in the landscape by using a diverse range of scales, atmospheric perspective, and composition. Examples @pandapufkin, Steen, Trent Reference images You can shoot your own photos, find photos online, and use our free reference photo collection. Tips Experiment with using reference […]
Watch a fun character design prompt: use the silhouette of any object to start a character design. This video explains how to go about developing a character, addressing their personality traits and how to incorporate those traits into the character design. Demo by Teaching Artist Cat Huang and Guest Teaching Artist Julie Benbassat. Examples Artworks by @pandapufkin, Steen, @trenter_the_dragon Video […]
Enhance your digital painting skills with this prompt, which asks you to paint a broad range of textures, as three-dimensional cubes in digital media. Creating a convincing sense of texture in your digital art will greatly impact your range and visual vocabulary as an artist. Discussion led by Art Prof Clara Lieu and Teaching Artist Jordan McCracken-Foster. Examples Artworks by @pandapufkin, […]
Prompt Create 8 cubes that each have the texture of a real life object. Try to choose as many different textures and colors as you can! Examples @pandapufkin, Steen, Trent Texture Ideas candy, food, glass, bread, meat, minerals, fabric, crystals, metal, wood, translucent objects, fur, plastics, rocks, insects, fantasy textures: fairy dust, Kryptonite, etc. Reference images […]
Prompt Create a copy of a digital artwork. We recommend choosing a digital artwork that is very different from how you usually use digital media so you can expand on your skills. Recommended digital artworks Use any digital artwork of your choice, or pick from these images we compiled. Tips The accuracy of your mastercopy […]
Prompt Create a daily line drawing of a character based on the silhouette of an inanimate object. Trace the shape of that inanimate object and design a character from that silhouette. Examples @pandapufkin, Steen, Trent ONGOING ASSIGNMENT + WEEKLY ASSIGNMENTS This ongoing assignment is to be done simultaneously with the weekly assignments. However, if your schedule […]
See how to get started with alcohol Inks, and the broad range of visual effects you can create. This demo shows how the alcohol inks behave with Yupo Paper, watercolor paper, and with tools like Q-tips, sumi brushes, cotton rags, and more. Techniques with the alcohol inks shown include how to layer colors, how to […]
See a painting demo of how to mix flesh tones using water mixable oil paints and a palette knife. Using exclusively a palette knife is an effective way to focus entirely on the color mixing process by removing the distraction of needing to address brush technique at the same time. Painting a self-portrait from life, […]
See how you can create a fantasy landscape in Procreate, using a broad range of reference photos. You can dramatically manipulate and transform your reference photos to blend them together into an unusual landscape. Use of simple strategies like atmospheric perspective, texture, foreground, middle ground, and background to create a convincing landscape. Demo by Teaching Artists Cat Huang and Deepti Menon. Video […]
This video shows how to draw an environment from imagination using ballpoint pen and watercolor techniques. Diverse experiences, gathering reference images and objects serve as the inspiration for creating this imaginary environment Shown is a plein air drawing session on site using soft pastels, a trip to the grocery store to buy unusual looking produce, […]
RISD Adjunct Professor Tony Janello speaks to Art Prof Clara Lieu in his studio about his approach to color theory as an artist and professor. They discuss a drawing technique Tony developed using Caran d’Ache Neocolor I crayons to create portrait drawings drawn from life. Janello explains common problems students encounter while studying color and […]
Art Prof Clara Lieu demonstrates how to draw a self-portrait using a mirror and a color layering technique using Caran d’Ache Neocolor I crayons. Prof Lieu shows how to set up your easel, drawing, clamp light, and mirror in order to have a smooth drawing experience. Prof Lieu walks you through the thumbnail sketching process […]
This video shows how you can draw from real life! See a demo of how to do gesture drawings from life using Faber-Castell colored pencils and Pitt pens. Discussed in the video are the many advantages of drawing from life, as well as the challenges. See how to draw cats who simply won’t sit still! […]
Do you rationalize to yourself why your artwork doesn’t need a background? Time to stop making excuses and see the immense potential that backgrounds can have on your artwork, regardless of the media you work in. Backgrounds are not just visually rich and dynamic, but they contribute tremendously toward communicating a narrative, atmosphere or tone […]
Watch Prof Lieu fall on her face trying digital art for the first time in Procreate. Will decades of experience with traditional media make any difference here??? (answer: nope, especially when it comes to deleting layers…) Thankfully Jordan McCracken-Foster patiently held her hand through every step. Video Walkthrough Software Reference Photos As a free educational […]
Writing an effective artist CV (curriculum vitae) and resume is hugely important to pursue job and career opportunities as an artist. This video explains in great detail what should or should not be included in an artist CV. Tips on how to format a CV differently depending on where you are sending your CV for […]