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Official Art Recipe Exchange Signup

Time for another SKD exchange!!

What is an Art Recipe Exchange? This exchange is going to be very similar to our postcard exchange, but instead we will be sharing and illustrating recipes! Once again, the plan will be for each person to send and receive 3 cards each, but this is subject to change based on the number of people that sign up.

Specifications: Your card should meet the following qualifications:

• Be postcard sized. This isn’t a postcard exchange this time, but for ease of mailing it would be best to stay close to that size. It doesn't have to be exact, but don't go crazy small or crazy big. Google says it should be around 148 x 105mm (5.8 x 4.1 inches)
  
• Include both a recipe you’d like to share, as well as an illustration of it! The receiver should be able to both enjoy your artwork, and cook the food you draw! Be sure to include directions, measurements, and the ingredients of your recipe.
  
• Use reasonable paper. You don't have to buy official blank postcards, but don't use crappy standard printer paper. It should hold it's shape when you hold it by a corner and not just flop over. Your card is going to be a cherished possession of it's new owner so we want it to last!
  
  My art is going to be destroyed in the mail! This is definitely a danger we face. My recommendation is to put your postcard in an envelope and mail that to keep it a bit more protected, but you can live on the edge if you'd rather a more authentic postcard experience.
  
  I'm not good enough to participate :( Yes you are. All skill levels are welcome!
  
  Ok fine I'm good enough, but am I allowed to join? In the effort to make sure that everyone participating both makes and receives all of their cards, there is a small barrier to entry. To participate, you must:
  
  
• Have a current streak of > 15
  
  OR
  
  
• Have your second number in the flair be > 30
  
  How do I sign up? Comment below saying you want to do it, and I'll add you to my official list. You have until this post is unstickied, so about a week (use that time to start planning!).
  
  How does it work after I signup? Once signups are complete, I'll randomly match you up with 3 (probably) people. You'll privately exchange mailing addresses with them and begin making your cards. Once they're done, you mail one card to each of those 3 people, and they'll each do the same to you. Let them know it's in the mail so they can keep an eye out for it.
  
  You'll wake up every morning excited and rush off to check your mail. Eventually cards will arrive and you'll have a lovely day. You'll then come to our weekly discussion post and share what you got, including a big thank you to whoever sent it. This is important so we know if someone got stood up.
  
  How long do I have to finish my cards? One week per card, so probably 3 weeks. If you haven't mailed your cards by then, we'll assume it's not happening. If you find yourself in that position you can (and should) still finish them and send them off as soon as you're able. Late is better than never.
  
  What happens if someone doesn't send a card? This is unfortunately something that will almost definitely happen. Since everyone has 3 matches, you should at least get something. If the person sending (or receiving) isn't responding, let me know and we'll sort something out. If something comes up and you're not going to be able to finish, let me know as soon as possible.
  
  I live somewhere far away. Can I still join? Of course you can! That’s half the fun!
  
  Yes, I stole a lot of this from u/artomizer’s post for the last exchange. No, I do not feel guilty about it. Sign up and let me know if you have any questions or concerns!

To me, watercolors are the perfect a pretty ok way to get in to painting.

1. The supplies don't take up much space. You can get something like this, a brush, and a sketchbook and you're good to go.
   
   
2. On the same note, it's super portable. You can stuff it all in your pocket and venture to the great outdoors.
   
   
3. You can paint in a sketchbook, so you don't need to figure out what to do with a bunch of canvases.
   
   
4. It's really versatile. If you're already comfortable with sketching you can use it to just add bit of color on top of that, or else you could skip the drawing completely and build up a bunch of paint layers.
   
   
5. It's easy to clean up.
   
   A few of my favorite supplies:
   
   

• Bee Creative Watercolor sketchbook - This is my favorite sketchbook. 100% cotton paper is so nice, and this book is actually pretty well priced.
  
  
• A kneaded eraser - If you're doing pencil sketches first, a kneaded eraser will go a long ways in reducing smudges
  
  
• M. Graham paint - I find this re-wets better than all the other paints I've tried. It's really nice.
  
  
• MEEDEN tin - I have the big one and the small one and like the small one better. You can fit an extra row of half pans in the middle (which for some reason you can't do in the bigger one).
  
  
• Silver Brushes - A mix of synthetic & squirrel. They've not very snappy, but they hold a ton of water.
  
  And a few of my favorite watercolor youtube channels:
  
  
• Tim Wilmot - I love the way he explains his thought process. His style is also really neat, and surprisingly beginner friendly. His videos are pretty long, so for best results maybe turn it up to 2x speed, or don't feel bad about jumping around a bit.
  
  
• Liron Yanconsky - A bit more hit or miss for me, but still has lots of great videos.
  
  
• James Gurney - Less instructional than the other two, but his paintings are great and seeing his process is really interesting.

! do it!

I am very much an amateur just sort of... doing whatever. I am a huge supporter of the idea of "AH WHATEVER, do what makes you happy" laughs.

https://www.amazon.com/Winsor-Newton-Cotman-Colour-Sketchers/dp/B00004THXI/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1517883166&sr=8-3&keywords=windsor+newton+watercolor+set

the palette i'm using. I'm a COMPLETE amateur with watercolor, honestly, so these paints are student grade, not artist/professional, but I don't have the experience to know better. they seem fine to my untrained hand, and are cheap enough that i dont worry about "wasting" them. Someone more experienced could probably suggest a better palette but my concern was more "I want to not be stressed out about making mistakes with a+++ price supplies," so thats what I went for. (I did pop out the white and squeeze some payne's grey into the pan to replace it though)

I'm not even using the right sketchbook for them laughs i just like seeing colour as i flip through the pages. Watercolour is such a cheap medium. If you're into it, I definitely say heckin do it.

Hey! Thank you!! Sure thing:
1. Mess up a whole page with sketches and doodles.
2a. Pick one out and copy it on some tracing paper.
2b. Fiddle with it a bit to make sure you've got the right proportions and everything is to your liking.
3. Hop on over to the light box. If you don't have one, there are bunches and bunches of youtubes that can help you Macgyver one out very cheaply or free. (I got my first real official table from a craigslist find) OR if you have a tablet, google white, full screen the picture and Boom... intsa-light box.
4. Tape the tracing paper on the back of your paper. Depending on the weight of your watercolor paper you might have to go over the lines one more time if you can't see them clearly enough on the light box.
5. Lightly sketch out the lines, with a soft(ish) pencil (I use an HB)
6. Ink the lines, make sure its waterproof ink, I've been using Uni Pin Fine Liners
7. Tape down all around the edges on a nice sturdy, level, smooth board. A clipboard is great, MDF board is super duper too. If you don't tape and you use a lot of water or do a lot of washes the paper is going to curl and wrinkle a bit.
8. Let dry, or shoot it with a hair dryer, and remove the tape.
9. Hang on refrigerator.

I've not experienced pencil smudges with my paints, but then again I've been using the same pencil types for a while now so they may have some magical qualities. Any pencil lines I've painted over I can't erase, but pencils I've feathered in after painting I've had some success in erasing.

Does any / all of that make sense? Sorry if I rambled. I get excited answering questions I know the answers to :)

Only 5~ months ago did I decide to get serious about improving my art in my free time. For most of my life I only doodled occasionally. So I thought I would describe my plan of action with books and resources that I will likely be using. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

My process will be basics of construction-> perspective -> figure drawing -> digital art and rendering. Approximately 45% will be improving, 45% will be doing what I want for fun and 10% will be a daily sketch(this subreddit) that takes anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour to complete. for fun I will be doing anything from digital to water color.

Construction and perspective: First I am starting my art journey by completing draw a box . Next I will go through Marshall Vandruff's Linear Perspective Videos and Perspective Made Easy simultaneously while referencing with how to draw by Scott Robertson. Briefly I will gloss at Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain or keys to drawing pulling ideas of where I might find weakness.

Figure drawing: Once those are finished, I will begin my figure drawing phase. I will move onto free proko subsided with loomis books such as this, other photo references sites like http://reference.sketchdaily.net/en and Figure Drawing: Design and Invention. I will also reference Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist and maybe more depending on my budget.

digital art and rendering: For the final stage of my journey, I will venture into ctrlpaint. Simultaneously I will be reading How to Render, Imaginative Realism: How to Paint What Doesn't Exist and Color and Light: A Guide for the Realist Painter

After that.... I don't know. We will see were I am in a year.

I’m reposting my resources I commented on yesterday’s post because I was really late to the game.


Thanks for linking to John Muir Laws. He’s one of the best people to go to for bird art. He has a book on drawing birds that I was going to recommend before I even clicked your link. Most avian anatomy is hidden under feathers and the feathers themselves are very complex so it helps to know what you’re dealing with in order to really hone in your drawings.


There is also a youtube playlist of his lecture seriesat his local nature club. These videos sometimes have bad sound quality but they are great for budding nature artists and he also covers some really good general drawing skills. I recommend everyone watch it.


Anyway here’s my digital Great Blue Heron painting. I took this picture in my backyard in Florida. I’d say Black-crowned Night Heron is my favorite local species.

I think your figures great. I like the way your draw their expressions.

I've only been drawing for a short while but I found the book ['Figure Drawing for All it's Worth'] (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Figure-Drawing-All-its-Worth/dp/0857680986/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453510308&sr=8-1&keywords=andrew+loomis) to be really helpful. It's all about anatomy, drawing figures in proportion, perspective and shadows/planes. It's a bit pricey but I thought it was worth it.

I hope this helps.

/u/skitchbot showed me this a couple of weeks ago - they talk about using water-soluble pens to sketch somewhere around the 12:30 mark, which I thought was really interesting. I went out and bought these pens after seeing it because it looked like fun.

This is also a great book by him. It's one of the most useful art guides I've seen.

I got these, which I saw being recommended on multiple places (including in the watercolors weekly discussion here by u/artomizer)

I've been reading this NSFW book. I sketched this lion with some of its principles in mind.

I mainly switch between Andrew Loomis and George Bridgman.