Highland cattle and my book is out! And an art tip.

I'm creating a drawing a day for two years, just for the art of it.
Today's is Highland Cattle, so common in my native Scotland.
I'm riding a high because I've published my book!!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PRINCESS-WOLFS-EYES-moving-fantasy-ebook/dp/B071VVMNL5/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495315109&sr=8-1&keywords=The+princess+with+wolf%27s+eyes

Today's tip: No such thing as too much creating!
#drawingadayclub

Hibiscus flowers

I'm creating a drawing a day for two years, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is hibiscus flowers.
Today's tip: Try not to collect too​ many unfinished projects, finish them and get them out to someone or somewhere. Too many unfinished projects or too much finished art still living at your home with you tends to stop you doing more. Give it away, sell it cheap, sling it on eBay, but get it out! Nature abhors a vacuum, if you have a lovely empty wall you are bound to paint a canvas to fill it up! This is hard if you don't have a full time agent waiting eagerly to sell it all for you, I tend to think "I'll keep this good book until I can send it to all the big publishing houses like it deserves." Just get them out, you can write another! Sharing hundreds of drawings for no profit has done me world's of good in terms of practice and inspiration for my paid work. Finish them and get them out to someone! Good luck.

#drawingadayclub

Yesterday's drawing

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it.
Yesterday's drawing, I got behind again.
Flowers.
#drawingadayclub

Girl with wolves eyes, we have three now and I'd really like to know which is best

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.
Today's is a fantasy girl with wolves eyes.
Which one is best, of the three?
Today's tip: Don't let them pigeon hole you into only one art form, if it looks fun, try it!  Be a singer on Monday and a writer on Tuesday...What do they know about your limits - nothing!
#drawingadayclub

Girl with wolves eyes, second attempt.

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's is a fantasy girl with wolves eyes.

Today's tip: Camera phone, take it everywhere and take pictures of ideas. Ross Reece has said this and I agree.
#drawingadayclub

Pub

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's is inside a pub. (Really it's yesterday's as I didn't manage to draw).
Today's tip: Use every minute. I did this on the back of a paper menu while I waited for my mum who was a few minutes late.
#drawingadayclub

Jaguar and art tip

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is a Jaguar.

Today's tip: Try some coloured papers, and very thick paper that you can use soaking wet!

Devon coast 2 and an art tip

I'm creating a drawing a day just, for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's (or perhaps yesterday's as I didn't manage to draw) is boats on the Devon coast.

Today's tip: Some materials and what they are:
Water colours: pigment and sugar, very transparent, non permanent.
Acrylics​: plastic, sticks to lots of things, very permanent. Opaque, can be watered down to be transparent.
Conte crayons, clay and pigment, not as smudgy as chalk pastels.
Water soluble pencils, paint instead of leads.
Inktence pencils, ink instead of leads, spreads further, more inktence.
That's enough for one day.
#drawingadayclub

Devon coast and tip from Dominic.

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is the Devon coast.

Today's Tip is from Art Director Dominic Roberts.

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0731027/

Hi, been thinking about this for a while & here's my tip. I hope you haven't used it. This won't help everyone because some people just don't have this problem, but If you're a procrastinator like me the best advice I can give is just to start. Tell yourself you'll do 15 minutes drawing, painting or whatever. Once you've made a start, you'll soon get into it and when you look up from your art you'll see time has flown by and you've probably been working for an hour. So get your art materials out, put on some tunes & get stuck in.

#drawingadayclub

Irises and an art tip

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is irises.
Today's tip: Try to restrict your colour. Paint boxes come with all these tempting little trays of colour, but it's seldom a good idea to use the green for leaves, brown for trunk, blue for sky, yellow for sun... you end up with too many and it's not harmonious.

I find you can use any colour for anything as long at you restrict the number in each artwork.

#drawingadayclub #kirsteenlyonsart

Bluebell and a tip from Andromeda

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is a bluebell done with pen and splashing water on no colour-fast tissue paper. Playing basically! I have included a picture of my process.

Today's tip is from Andromeda Edison

http://www.independentwords.com/

Andromeda Edison I help writers get their books self published and often cheer on a writer to complete their book so I can edit it. 

One thing I often find myself saying is to just write a little every day. To not worry about the selling, what the editor is going to say or anything else. Just concentrate on what they are trying to communicate and communicate it. Don't worry right that second if it is the best you could have done, if the editor is going to change it. Just do it. 

Some of the most beautiful writing I have seen has come from people who are just telling their story.

Here be dragons!

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is a dragon.
Today's tip: practice! Study or work out how something is done and then practice, I can't overstate the value of it. Do it until you never want to see it again and then your a third of the way there! I sort of knew this but drawing every day for 476 days has taught me it better. I have not progressed so much as an artist since University (where I also got made to draw every day). After all, wouldn't you like to get gasp-worthy good at something before you die?
#drawingadayclub

More apple blossom

I'm creating a drawing a day, for two years, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is more apple blossom, there is tone of it in the garden just now.
Today's tip: Spend some time on organising. This is especially true if you want to make money from your art, but still worthwhile if it's art for fun. Put materials where you can find them and see that you have a clear surface to work on... eliminate the excuse "I would work but I've no space, my space is not set up, my space is being used as a dog house..."

#drawingadayclub

Sea

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is a seascape.
Today's tip is: semetrical is usually not best, put things in groups of three and five(whole objects or just dark parts of a whole). Put horizons in any part of the page that is not the middle.

#drawingadayclub

Birds in the apple blossom and an art tip

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's (actually yesterday's, sorry) drawing is birds in the apple blossom.

Today's art tip is: learn a little bluffers vocabulary, so if it looks like a kid did it that's "deliberately nieve" and if it's scruffy and lines everywhere that's "sketchy and energetic" if you can't even tell what it's supposed to be that's "experimenting with abstraction". This goes over very will with, teachers, lecturers and public alike as they don't want to be the only one in the room who does not get it. You can also get a friend to stand by you and nod wisely at all your comments for extra credibility!
#drawingadayclub

Serval and an art tip

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is a serval, we went to Tilgate Park today and they fed one a rabbit! This is a compact little predator.

Today's tip: Art teachers talk a lot about perspective and proportion. I have invented my own simple definitions for these, which I include here, but as always, if you really look, you will see what is there without needing a rule to tell you what is there.

Perspective is simply the way in which things (or parts of things) look smaller as they get further away. For example roads get smaller (narrower) as they get further away.

Proportion is simply how many of something can you fit into something else, or how big is it compared to something else.

Two Craines and an art tip from me.

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is two cranes.
Today's tip is: Try to help others, think of them as your future CONTACTS not your future competition. Also helping is rewarding and inspiring in itself.
#drawingadayclub

My son and an art tip from Elizabeth

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.
Today's drawing is my son done with a graphite block.
Today's tip is from writer Elizabeth Bailey.
http://www.elizabethbailey.co.uk

Elizabeth Bailey "Avoid the cliche. If you're finding your work samey, try turning things on their head. There's always another way to say it, or draw it. Do something you don't usually do. Take a risk."
#drawingadayclub

Girl with sunglasses.

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too.

Today's drawing is my daughter with sunglasses on her head, done with a graphite block only, to make me work crudely.

Today's tip: Try things, media, techniques, art forms, thinking you are no good at art because you don't draw well with an HB pencil and an evil school art teacher, is like thinking you are no good at sports because you can't swim crawl. There are other sports, there is even other swimming.
#drawingadayclub

Girl in water soluble pencil and tip from Felix

I'm creating a drawing a day, just for the art of it, and sharing an art tip too. I've hit on the idea of getting some of the artists I admire to give me tips. The first of these is from photographer Felix Kunze.
 http://felixkunze.com

Felix Kunze "In the beginning of anyone's career (which is where I am), it is easy to get the idea that one must give up one's values and integrity to get ahead. To suck up to people you don't like just because they are in a position of power, or do projects because of promised 'exposure'. I started off far too stubborn and chose my projects with my heart first, brain second. I'm apparently unique in the world of photography because I do hardly any unpaid work for other people. The only unpaid work I do is my personal projects. 

Stick to your guns. Don't be an ass about it, be kind, be thoughtful. But don't confuse kindness and naivety. 

Build a career based on your value set, not that of others."

#drawingadayclub