perspective Archives - INESE'S ART STUDIO

November 11, 2022October 10, 2024

My large sketchbook and ink drawings

Sketchbook as collection of ink and pencil drawings

My sketchbook is large 24 x 18 inches or 61 x 46 cm. It actually feels big and heavy. The tiny pocket-size sketchbooks don’t work for me. Why? If I get a good sketch and it has potential to be turned into watercolor or acrylic painting, I just trace the outline onto the respective surface. The initial sketch serves as a fantastic reference with all shadows, perspective lines and mood, as well. Much better reference than photo. As you might know, color is secondary, and values are primary when it comes to painting. Therefore, my huge sketchbook becomes a great collection of potential large size art. Some of this art is practically a finished artwork.

Advantage of ink and pencil drawing

Drawing is relaxing and it doesn’t require proper timing which is absolutely necessary for watercolor or acrylic painting because correct timing directly affects the result. For example, you squeezed out a lot of paint in order to paint for a few hours. Something happens, and the painting session is cut short. Paint dries and cannot be rescued and you will need to paint over a few areas, but sometimes – the entire surface. With ink or pencil drawing in our sketchbook, nothing dries out, nothing needs doing over, so you just pick up where you left it before. I consider this a big advantage.

Best subjects for drawing

I’ve always loved drawing buildings. And still life. Flowers are fine, as well. My huge sketchbook has numerous drawings of these subjects. For me, it’s important that I don’t need a photo. I rather construct the subject and add whatever needs adding as I go. I call that artistic freedom. I have a complete control over what I want to be on my paper. That is why my subjects often involve only things which I see around and have in the garden or house. Simple, easy and very manageable. Buildings, still life items, landscapes, flowers: they all can be made multidimensional on a flat paper.

We can do well without devices

Since technological advance has been immense, people do manual drawing rarely. They don’t have to manually write either, so the ability to re-create our idea, vision, imagination and reality is declining. The correlation between devices and use of camera is very clear when it comes to manual drawing. The more devices somebody uses to create their art, the less of observational drawing ability they have. I suppose, our brain dismisses everything we don’t engage. Why to stress out if you don’t have to?

Maybe try it

I can make these conclusions because I’ve watched how people go about manual drawing for many decades. What are their strengths and failures, how they tackle dimension, values and shapes. Devices have advanced a lot, but humans? Humans not that much. We delegate anything we cannot do well to devices since there’s a wide choice of them. However, manual observational drawing is an extremely rewarding experience. Large drawings in a big sketchbook can become the best artistic experience.

Large size makes all the difference

It’s the most fantastic feeling. We have the blank sheet of paper. I prefer large one for many reasons. We just play around and implement whatever we feel like. Using soft lines, then moving to stronger values and lines. All of a sudden, the image emerges. Just some shades of black and grey and the white of paper. That’s all it takes. Sometimes it becomes a fantastic drawing where one can literary participate in the scene. If you want to learn drawing, trust me – go big. Use the 24 x 18-inch sketchbook. Want to advance faster, draw large images. I also used Micron archival ink pen.

I hope you enjoyed this article!

August 8, 2021October 10, 2024

The extremely calming pencil drawing

Pencil sketch and drawing

For me, many of paintings start with pencil sketch or drawing. It can be a marker or a simple black pen, too. I’ve never counted my drawings, but there are numerous of them, many hundreds. Every time when I give an art class, I create an outline sketch, value sketch or quite a detailed drawing. Compared to other medium choices we have, drawing is the simplest and the least dependent medium on anything. We need just something to draw with and on, but the rest can be imagination, real items, even a photo. In my opinion, pencil drawing is the beginning of any art which displays realism to some degree.

Easy drawing process

Pencil drawing doesn’t require timing your process. It allows to start, put off and continue any time afterwards. With water media, such as watercolor or acrylic, timing is an extremely important factor. The same goes for humidity, ambient temperature and similar aspects. Quality of water media art is strongly affected by the quality of art supplies. Pencil drawing can be done even when we do not have special pencils of different hardness, we can draw even without eraser and pretty much on any paper. I do regret that many of my drawings are done on transparent paper since I needed them to be transferable onto watercolor paper. They don’t look that good when photographed and cannot be presented as finished artwork, although, many are. In fact, any large and very large drawings are problematic to photograph.

Still life and perspective — Pencil drawing: amazing activity and practice

Still life with fruit — Pencil drawing: amazing activity and practice

Sketch and draw real things

I’ve noticed that people, who haven’t been using photos as reference for creation of their art initially, develop the ability to draw more effortlessly and it is easier for them to understand the mechanism of capturing something which has volume onto a flat surface. These, who have started out tracing, copying and using somebody else’s drawing, have more difficult times. It’s probably because they don’t trust their eyes, have less confidence and don’t want to take risks or experiment. However, all it takes is seeing your subject in an artistic way. Seeing is the part which many of us are lacking.

Drawing shadows — Quick marker drawing on shadows

All buildings and one-point perspective drawings are constructed and drawn from imagination, without using any reference.

Constructed one-point perspective drawing, full size 24 x 19 in or 61 x 48 cm

Distorted photo images

I come from a different background; therefore, I simply didn’t have photos and couldn’t take them either. That worked out as an advantage eventually. If you look online at photo images, you cannot help, but notice how distorted they are. That most likely comes from the frequent use of phone cameras and the way perspective, as well as colors are automatically adjusted. What we get, is a profoundly wrong reference which is no good for drawing or painting. If you pay attention to shadows or reflection, solid structures and their dimensions, or for that matter, comparative size of separate parts and their proportion, the absence of correct linear perspective is very notable. If the reflection or shadows stretch for miles, it simply looks wrong. It will be even less acceptable in a painting. The same applies to buildings and street views.

Live art classes

Since private art classes resumed, we’ve done a few drawings, pencil sketches, as well as watercolors and acrylic landscapes. My younger students usually aim for filling up portfolio, therefore, they want to learn about perspective, shadows, direction of light and similar aspects of drawing. That is fantastic because regardless of medium, any more or less realistic art consists of the same parts: composition, linear and atmospheric perspective, values, contrast, light and shadows, as well as size and proportions between parts. It is interesting that younger students eagerly want to learn about perspective, correct proportions, types of shadows and ways to display play of light on their drawings and paintings. One-point perspective is a very good subject for beginners.

Drawing from real fruits — Pencil drawing of pears and apples

Painting process simplified

The fastest way to learn about all aspects of a successful painting is using pencil. Pencil drawing allows seeing the essence of your subject easier and in a more impressive manner. Students love the fact that they cannot do drawing wrong, hence, we can erase anything if want to. Pencil drawing is a fantastic pastime for people, who have time, or the best artistic practice and preparation step for artists, established and beginning. It is a calm and soothing activity. There’s no rush as with water-soluble paint which might dry too fast, get tacky and so forth. There are no worries about water flowing where you don’t want it or pigment acting weirdly. Pencil dances on the paper and this allows creating our phantasy or reality. Whichever we choose, we are the winners. Pencil drawing is extremely rewarding in any regard.

Fence post drawing — Fence drawing is a complete artwork

Mastering drawing

Taking or making time and being observant is difficult for folks nowadays, but drawing requires seeing things which people normally do not notice. This activity makes our world bigger with every single pencil line. Due to preparation work for art classes, as well as the huge time that was necessary for setting up the outdoor classroom, I have not been able to post practically anything on both my blogs. Well, here you have it. My pencil drawings are not done just within a few hours. My drawings are usually large, up to 29 x 22 in or 74 x 56 cm, and they take plenty of time. I would say, to post this article with images which come from different years, and to take and edit current photos, took me at least a month. Many hours go into every single drawing, most often, 20 or more hours for the large ones for sure. However, it is time well spent.

Line drawing, pencil outlines intended for watercolor painting

Close-up of fruit bowl — Close-up view of frut and buildings

Pencil drawing, perspective — Close-up view of frut and buildings

Online presentation and new art classes

You will obviously see the small online images. The paper was bright white, yet, it didn’t look that bright on my pictures. Well, it is what it is. Enjoy and join the art classes if you live around Ajax, Ontario:

Group art classes

Private art classes might be an option: Private art lessons

I have added the artistic prints page, it takes to another site, so, click on the back arrow to get back onto my site:

Artistic products and art prints

My other blog is about life and getting the best out of it. Many people who click on “like” from the Reader, do not know I have it, but I write also poetry and stories, about my observations and interesting facts which became notable after many decades. You might like to have a look:

Life school blog

Have a great time in August!

May 5, 2020October 17, 2024

First painting of Summer place series and more daisies

Summer place 1, acrylic painting by Inese Poga

This time, I’m presenting Summer place 1 which actually started the series. This painting should have been posted right after the Summer place 2 which is shown in the previous post, but I got done very little these days. That is especially true about posting pictures, but not creating paintings.

Summer place 1, original acrylic painting by Inese Poga

I wish I had some clear vision about all this situation and where it is heading, but it is quite difficult at the moment. I’ve run out of acrylic paints. I ordered some, and the waiting has been about a month so far. In normal conditions, I do not ever prefer online shopping, but it is the only option right now. I’m also waiting for some other things which are essential for me because the previous computer died and I lost good software which I cannot get back. The realization that I have left not that much good watercolor paper and I will be still missing some acrylic paints because I simply forgot to order them the first time, makes me feel not good.

To create good art, I use high quality art supplies, often the best available. I do not want to waste these good canvases and papers and paint on them with leftover paint. The shipping might be faster when ordering online in other countries, but it is quite slow in Ontario.

There is one more important aspect to all of this: I love giving live art classes. They ended by the second half of February. I had to take off my art show halfway through, and without any physical showings, I just haven’t managed to sell anything either. I took off the “Buy now” buttons for a moment because I just would not be able to handle and cover the shipping right now, in particular, for large paintings which many of them are. In fact, I do not have tiny paintings. To somewhat facilitate my presence online, I intend to widen the social media circle and I updated my website nicely, too. More work will be done, but I’m not rushing it.

Daisies and summer place, acrylic nature paintings

Springtime is usually spent in the garden; therefore, I can devote less hours to art. I always appreciate interest in art and people, who have bought it. This time is stressful for many people and bloggers. I would be probably wrong to expect somebody trying to buy art at the moment. Meanwhile, there is so much of it that lack of space is becoming a serious issue. We have moved almost every year for a while, and carrying around large numbers of sensitive paintings is very difficult. Sometimes art gets damaged, sometimes I’m struggling.

Summer cottage, summer house, Summer place 1, acrylic painting by Inese Poga

The Summer place 1 is an updated canvas. I had painted the fence during previous year, and it just never looked as a completed painting. I added more trees and drew in the building, and it came to life immediately. I do frequently travel in my thoughts and imagination, that includes time traveling. Summer place 1 looks like that adorable place where I spent my youth.

The white daisies were updated, too, because the previous version needed a facelift. I find that it is much easier to paint on textured or previously painted canvas. Acrylic is such paint: the more we add, the more layers we build, the better it looks. Any of my paintings take about a few days to a few weeks to paint. Photography unfortunately cannot capture the transparent layers or halftones, and that annoys me slightly.

Art collections by Inese Poga

I have numerous Mother’s Day cards and paintings, from which the most viewed was Rose for my mom.

Enjoy!

May 7, 2018October 17, 2024

How to use manually created art as a memory boost

How to use manually created art as memory boost

How to use sketching and drawing to improve our brain fitness

Manually created sketches and drawings can really help. I will try to explain how and why we should use this approach to improve the brain fitness and cognitive abilities.

Manual sketching, drawing or painting when done from real scenes and subjects use our brain efficiently, create new neurons and signal pathways since these activities are challenging, interesting, new every time, rewarding and pleasurable. When done in a group, it also gives one chance to communicate, learn new skills and achieve real meditative state of mind which in turn relaxes and calms.

I am somebody who always reminds: use your brain, keep it flexible, well-functioning and young. Therefore, I am always inviting people to join our drawing, sketching and pen and watercolor classes. There is nothing to lose, plenty to gain.

Artificial intelligence and human brain capacity

The artificial intelligence progresses very fast. It feels there is some new gadget, device or app every day. Artificial intelligence is supposed to make our life easier and more comfortable. We are required to memorize less, to decide less, to search our personal brain storage less because everything is on the internet. We do not have any need to remember or write down things that are important, and we are actually losing the specific ability and muscle groups to use our hand for manual writing or drawing. Fine and extremely accurate movements still matter, so does our ability to perform them. However, the performance of our brain is the factor that matters most.

What happens to our own intelligence?

As somebody who works with people and teaches, I can see that the human intelligence suffers actually a lot. Just in the last 5 years while everybody has been actively using mobile devices, I have noticed significant decrease in attention span, focusing ability, memory and ability to make decisions. All these features are significant brain and cognitive function markers. It feels that AI has a huge boost, but the human intelligence cannot keep up with it. People are getting forgetful, losing focus and their decision-making skills.

Manual drawing and sketching as prevention of memory loss

One of things we still can do, do easily and everywhere is drawing and painting manually by using our own visual perception. We should try no to depend on any devices while engaging in this activity. That is recognized as one of the best ways of keeping our brain sharp and flexible and cognitive function well performing.

Potential benefits

One to two times a week drawing outdoors is beneficial in all possible ways. Who knows that better than me? Time flies and I have created something to show for while being outside and enjoying nature. Small backyard birds are also an excellent subject: lovely, friendly and always around. It might be not that easy to always catch the right view of a bird, but still, – nobody is going to judge. If it comes out great, share it, if it requires more practicing, keep it as a learning experience. And enjoy your memory boost!

It is not that everybody is going to get involved in serious and time-consuming research or high difficulty grade studies which certainly are memory boost, brain flexibility and power. Language learning is a fantastic way of making brain younger again, but it is a very lengthy process before one can really see good results. I know that, too, because I speak at a native level 4 languages. Each one requires a lot of additional work and studies. That is a life-long process.

Overcoming fear of getting involved with a new activity

Much faster and simpler, as well as much easier memory boost is drawing and sketching. Some people start keeping an art journal if they prefer small forms, and that is such an adventure on its own. That, too, will be your memory boost.

Some people worry that they need to do a lot of preparation work before they engage in either drawing or sketching. That is not true. One has to start somewhere, and that is an excellent starting point – from zero. It means actually that there is a whole lot to explore, find out and enjoy. The only thing one should be not hoping for is to become a master within a few hours or days. Years might sound just about right, but who says one has to be a master or professional in order to draw, sketch and paint? I know fellow bloggers who do it for their own pleasure or to have good time.

Some of my pen and watercolor paintings that deal with perspective lines and involve man-made structures

Buildings make a superb subject!

We start with drawing, and I intend to publish guiding materials for drawing and sketching.

Here: making the drawing more visible with washes

This pen and watercolor painting is ready!

The pencil helplines are erased, but using them makes creation of black pen drawing easy.

More watercolor washes, here and there, and the painting is ready

My advice is: just do it! Along with creating art, it will serve as memory boost. After a while, you might have a new attitude towards many things, as well as see how well this is working for you. Good luck!

Link to drawing: Engage in drawing and watercolor

Link to art classes: Application for art classes

June 18, 2017October 16, 2024

Draw the line: put things in perspective

Watercolor, perspective, painting by Inese Poga

Purpose of linear perspective in painting

Perspective in art is much easier to implement than perspective in life. In fact, there is nothing much to it as far as we are aware of how it works and what it does for a painting or drawing. Linear perspective creates depth and dimension in any drawing and painting which deals with suitable subject. Traditional linear perspective uses size, overlap of objects and their placement in composition, as well as convergence of lines.

Black pen drawing of simplified 2-point perspective building

Where to use it

If you love landscape, street scenes, rural scenes with farms and barns, simple roads, streams or rivers and so forth, you will need to implement linear and atmospheric perspective because they both contribute to dimension and volume of your painting. You will also use color values accordingly to perspective principles. If you are drawing and painting outdoors, you are most likely applying some perspective already.

Old countryside house in pen and watercolor, 18 x 12 in or 46 x 30.5 cm

Vanishing points and front view

Some people are confused: how many vanishing points to use: 1, 2 or even more? The answer is that will depend on the placement of your shapes and forms on different planes. 1-point perspective uses 1 vanishing point on the horizon or reference line. Horizon line can be called eye-level, but I like to call it reference line. You have to remember that vertical lines are parallel to the sides of your paper (if it’s straight) to make look building stand up correctly. Horizontal line creates 90 degree angle with the vertical line in front view. Horizontal lines of front view are parallel to the bottom and top of your paper. Therefore, in 1-point perspective, the straight lines at the bottom of your building and corresponding lines higher up will always create a 90 degree angle with the vertical line.

1-point perspective in landscape

Most often, we use 1-point perspective with roads, streams, tree and fence lines and buildings on both or one side of a road, that is, with views where something disappears in the distance. That creates an easy perceivable and visually attractive composition which is a breeze to create. In 1-point perspective, all lines which lead into distance, meet in the vanishing point. The front angles of the building on the respective plane are 90 degree angles. It sounds more complicated than it is when you draw it. Start with closest end of the building, drawing a rectangle. Connect the points on one vertical line (in my case the left side where I mark height of any element) to the vanishing point.

Barn, road, watercolor painting and pen drawing

Pen and watercolor wash of barn, 16 x 12 in or 41 x 30.5 cm

2-point perspective uses respectively 2 vanishing points.

Drawing, house, two point perspective drawing, pencil drawing

My drawing of neighbor’s house

Plein-air drawing, 2-point perspective. Photo does not show all lines correctly since camera draws the front edge closer. To draw it correctly, vanishing points on reference line are placed outside the drawing. That we do always when the subject is large. I usually draw intuitively since I know where approximately these lines meet and where the vanishing points are. Starting out? Mark up vanishing points on each side and connect with respective points on vertical lines. I teach this all in my private classes because it is simply not easy to describe.

Building,, 2-point perspective in watercolor and line

Pen and watercolor 2-point perspective sketch, it was mostly done outdoors, since this building is next to my studio entrance.

Many buildings in a landscape or street scene

When drawing close-ups of buildings or placing many scattered buildings in composition, we use rather 2-point (angular) perspective. We use drawing separate buildings most often 2 vanishing points. We adjust the eye level or reference line placement as needed. It can be higher or lower depending on your view. We can move it up or down, and we should use this feature in our favor. That will allow achieving plenty of depth and dimension.

3 vanishing points in one-point or two-point perspective

When some buildings are close, some distant or scattered all around, you could use 3 vanishing points. It does not mean that your drawing becomes extremely complex. It means that you will have freedom to place things in your composition wherever you want them.

Where to place rooftop?

Often, demo drawings that involve 2-point perspective do not explain that the rooftop line runs through one vanishing point. That was also the most confusing part for students since they had a problem placing the roofline where it belongs. Please enjoy the recent paintings and sketches which involve perspective. I will prepare online materials for understanding better how to create linear perspective in drawing or painting.

Watercolor sketch, line and watercolor landscape, one point perspective

Perpendicular and parallel lines

The most important aspect is to understand what lines are perpendicular, what parallel, what is obtuse angle, right angle and acute angle. Remembering basics of geometry is really helpful because perspective in drawing is simply achieved once you know how to create it. I am posting some of my recent works that involve creating perspective to illustrate the concept.

Uphill, watercolor painting of rural house, size of this painting is 21.5 x 16.5 in or 54.5 x 42 cm

Outdoor painting

Many drawings, sketches and watercolor paintings are done outdoors or plein-air. Perspective is an important part of any painting, sketch or drawing which displays buildings, street views, roads, fences, bridges and similar subjects. Learning how to create perspective is not difficult or overwhelming. You really need to master perspective if you ever do a realistic painting or drawing with buildings and man-made structures.

More about this: Power of line

and how to start sketching: How to start sketching

Visit the online print store:

Art collections by Inese Poga