As most people will not have access to expensive supplies, here are some hacks to upgrade normal art supplies or learn to improve your drawings.
Crayons: Amazing and detailed art can be created using crayons. All you need is a sharp tool so you can scrape off any excess wax from the crayons to create an even surface.
Coloured pencils: Many people avoid using coloured pencils as they sometimes think of them as being mainly for children or for simple drawings. Or, some coloured pencils are too expensive, even though they are better quality. However, you can make your pencils work better by leaving the tips of the pencils soaking in water for 3 to 5 minutes. You may need to repeat this when you leave the pencils for a while, but it is still worth improving the quality of them.
Sketching: A main problem people have with sketching is proportions of objects or faces. This is because people imagine them to look very different to how they actually are. First of all, peoples eyes are actually in line with their ears, which are approximately halfway down the face. The nose is halfway between the eyes and the bottom of the face, and the bottom of the mouth is halfway between the bottom of the face and the nose. This is a basic guide for sketching faces which makes it much easier to get proportions accurate.
Watercolour: Common mistakes people make with watercolour is that they use too much water. Not too much water is required, as this may start damaging the paper, which can ruin the artwork. Also, watercolour is not opaque, so use the lighter colours first ad the darker ones afterwards. Finally, if you have watercolour paper which is designed for watercolour, you can use a slightly damp sponge to make the watercolours lighter if you have made a mistake. This doesn’t always erase it entirely, though.
Kneaded eraser: This tool is very useful when sketching, as it can be formed to make thinner lines when rubbing out pencil. However, it is often expensive. So, you can make a kneaded eraser using a normal eraser and tape. It may take a while but the results are usually very successful. Just rub a normal eraser onto the sticky side of some masking tape or painters tape, then knead the pieces together.
Thank you for listening!
Ted, Ellie, Jack and the TFRC Team.
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