Discover How to Draw Backgrounds
September 30th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Backgrounds
Backgrounds are useful in enhancing your vision of how you want to represent your subjects. Backgrounds can soften the presentation or make it more energetic or dramatic.
Make sure that the background works with the subject and not against it. The subject is the reason you starting the drawing in the first place. So, do not get caught up in your background to the point where it starts outshining your subject and diverts the attention of the viewer from your subject.
Here are a few tips on how to proceed with backgrounds so that they become a plus for your finished pencil portraits.
Values - Take a clue from the values of your subject when choosing the value scheme for your background treatment. If your subject is very light on one side, it is always a good idea to make the background in that area darker. This will introduce the necessary contrast.
It also solves the problem of white against white. For example, if your subject has white hair, it is always difficult to make it sufficiently show against the white background of your white paper. Introducing a darker background around the hair is the perfect solution.
Lost and Found - The background treatment can also be used to produce so-called “lost and found edges”. These are edges that initially show but then get lost in the surroundings to finally reappear somewhere down the line.
The disappearing act of the edge is accomplished by rendering the edge and the surroundings with the same value. For example, the edge of a sleeve could be partially lost in the background by giving the background the same value as that part of the sleeve.
Location - It is usually a good idea to keep the shading below the eye level of the subject you are drawing. Shading above the eye level tends to weigh down the subject and does not add to the crispness of the portrait.
Extensive Background - Sometimes your client may insist on a detailed pictorial background. First, make sure you increase the fee, because you will often spend more time on your background drawing than on the subject itself.
Second, always be aware that the subject must remain the focal point of the finished product. So, develop the facility for judging what enhances the subject and what detracts from it.
Ideally, a pictorial background should talk about your subject and give the viewer more information about your subject. A background is also very useful to create or enhance a mood. If your subject is portrayed in a certain mood, you may want to enhance that mood by adding the appropriate background.
Learn what of that can be transformed into tattoo art. Read about tattoos for the back.
Choosing Tattoo Designs
September 29th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Tattoos have never been more popular than they are today, and there are actually few people in the world now that do not have at least one tattoo. If you are considering getting a tattoo, then it is imperative that you take your time and put some serious thought into the tattoo designs that you are thinking about before you go and have the tattoo done.
After all, a tattoo is permanent, and so you want to make sure that you choose tattoo designs that are going to look nice and suit you, but also which you are going to be satisfied with and not get bored of in the future.
Coming up With Ideas
There are many different options when it comes to tattoo designs, and you can either choose to go with one that has already been created, or you can literally start from scratch and design your own. Most tattoo studios will even let you come in and work one-on-one with the tattoo artist so you can tell them what types of tattoo designs you are interested in and they can work with you to create something perfect.
This is often the best way, because if the tattoo is personalized then it is more likely to end up having more significance and meaning more to you, and you are also going to be less likely to tire of it down the road.
If you are more interested in finding a design that has already been created, then you should know that there are a ton of different websites that you can go on and browse through the galleries until you find something that you like.
Tattoo Johnny is one great website in particular, and they offer some of the world’s best-selling and most inspiring designs. One of the best features of all to this site is that if you find tattoo designs that you like, you can actually pay for them and print them off full size, and then take the print out to the tattoo shop, where they can use that exact print to create your tattoo.
This means that you can get exactly what you want and know what it is going to look like before you even actually go into the tattoo shop.
The Bullseye Tattoo Company is another great option, and they are recognized for offering an incredibly large and varied selection of tattoo designs. Here you can browse through thousands of original tattoo designs from a compilation of different artists and then print off the ones that you like best.
The Best Way To Design Your Own Tattoo
September 29th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Many people like the way tattoos look on others and want one for themselves, but have no idea what they want. It’s a pretty big decision; chances are this is something you’ll have to live with for the rest of your life.
So how do you find “the one”?
Quite often these days, more and more people are referring to the internet to find their pictures of tattoos. Recently, this has allowed more choices of tattoos that are unique to an individual.
Another place people can find tattoo ideas are the tattoo artists’ design books, usually found lying around their studio or hanging on the studio walls. Unfortunately, a lot of tattoo artists don’t update their collections often, which leads to the same design getting tattooed on many people over and over again.
So how do you make sure that you have a one-of-a-kind tattoo found nowhere else?
One way to go about this is to get a tattoo pack. These packs come stuffed with dozens of completely original tattoo designs, but you do have to pay for them (though it is usually nominal). The best thing about tattoo packs is that they are guaranteed to be completely original and unique. Chances are, you won’t find many of the designs within the pack anywhere else, making your tattoo truly special. It’s also easy to pick out a tattoo pack, as they are organized with themes that appeal to different people.
For those who are truly imaginative, you can make an effort to sit down and design your own tattoo, try to come up with things that mean something to you; something that you feel like you’ll never regret. One great idea is to explore your family’s past and incorporate themes from your heritage into your design. If you are of Germanic heritage, for instance, you could try some Teutonic symbols or the like.
For people of Celtic heritage, Celtic designs are very popular for people of any descent these days and are therefore easy to find. It’s also great if you can design your own tattoo; tattoo artists are more than happy to look at the design you created sitting at the kitchen table and transfer it to your skin.
In the end, the best way to come up with an idea for a tattoo is to look inside yourself. Don’t draw on things that could change suddenly (jobs, boy/girlfriends, cars, etc.), find something that is a part of your very being and try to come up with something related to that. A design related to your heritage is great, for example, because your heritage can never change; it is a part of every cell in your body.
If you can come up with something along those lines, you should have no trouble coming up with a unique tattoo design that you will be happy with for the rest of your life.
