Scaling Up an Image with Shelley Holtzman

Scaling Up an Image with Shelley Holtzman

by | Mar 27, 2020 | TAG at home

Scaling Up an Image with Shelley Holtzman

To enlarge a painting or image that you would like to draw or paint without a projector is easily done using a grid. It’s not too difficult, but it does take a little  math. The key is to keep the proportions of your reference image and work surface the same so there will be no distortion. For example, if you reference an image that is an 8×10, it will easily enlarge to a 16×20, 24×30, etc.

Draw a grid of equal squares over your reference photo. For an 8×10 image measure with a ruler and make a small mark every inch on each side. Then proceed to connect the marks to create a grid!  Use a pen so the lines stand out.


2) Number the squares across the left side and top of the reference photo.

3) Use the same technique to draw a grid of equal ratio on your paper lightly in pencil. This is a 2” grid because the final piece is 16×20. (For a final piece that’s 20×25 your grid would be 2.5” and so on.)  Number the large grid accordingly.

On canvas use a soft charcoal, which can be sealed with a fixative or washed off with water after you start painting.



4) Now the fun part!  Begin to copy your image square by square. Focusing on one square at a time is easier and less overwhelming than the entire image.  Make sure you are in the correct square! Use the numbers on the sides to guide you. 

5) EXTRA TIP: Cut a frame to the size of the squares on your reference photo to help stay focused!



Keep drawing!

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About Shelley Holzman

Shelley Holzman  Shelley Holtzman is Co-President of The Art Guild and a member of the Port Washington Library Art Advisory Council.  A former art director for a New York ad agency, her experience with graphic design is evidenced in her work, which emphasizes strong lines and vivid contrasts.  Painting in watercolor or oil, her passion for color can be seen in her florals, landscapes and portraits as she strives to illuminate the vibrancy of people and world around us. Shelley’s art can be viewed at ShelleyHoltzman.com 

Shelley is also a designer for Vida, a sustainable socially conscious global company. Her designs can be viewed at shopvida.com/shelley-holtzman

 

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Knowing Where the Nose Goes Rob Silverman

Knowing Where the Nose Goes Rob Silverman

by | Mar 26, 2020 | TAG at home

Rob Silverman, nose tip, portraiture, nose portrait  

Knowing Where the Nose Goes
with Rob Silverman

1. NOSE WIDTH

Width of the nose rests between the eyes and also aligns with the outer portion of mouth tubercles (pillowy tissue on left and right sides of lower lip)

2. NOSTRILS

The base of the nostrils is lower on the face than the septum (the bridge between the nostrils)

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About Rob Silverman:

Rob Silverman’s innovative techniques have been featured in American Artist Workshop Magazine and The Art of the Portrait, the official publication of the Portrait Society of America. His work has appeared at Crosby Street Gallery and Spring Studio Gallery in Soho, the Art League of Long Island, Edward Hopper House, The Art Guild of Port Washington, The National Art League, the Lockwood-Mathews Museum, as well as the National Arts Club and Salmagundi Club. View his work at silvermanportraits.com. 

Rob teaches New Strategies & Techniques in Portraiture at The Art Guild on Mondays.

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Drawing a Still Life with Barbara Silbert

Drawing a Still Life with Barbara Silbert

by | Mar 24, 2020 | TAG at home

Barbara Silbert, still life, pencil, charcoal, art lesson, art at home, TAG at home  

Drawing a Still Life 
with Barbara Silbert

1. SET UP

Set up your objects on a tablecloth, and find another cloth to prop up behind it & tape to a wall or a large board.

2. SHADING

Find the tallest item first and mark the top and bottom of it, then the others. 

Draw a line down the middle of each item, noting if they have an angle or are straight. (see which red lines are straight and which are angled) 

Then draw the curves on each side of the red line, making sure the curves on the bowl are equidistant from the center red line; the curves of the pears may be a bit different, or non-symmetrical and one side may be fatter than the other. 

Look at the flattish ovals that form the top, bottom, and plate of the bowl. The oval of the plate drops behind the bowl & you just see the front of the plate. There’s a smaller oval at the very bottom of bowl.

3. SHADING

Using a 6B sharpened pencil, hold it on the flat side and shade the darkest part of the bowl & pears, using more pressure to get it darker. Then do the same with the mid-tones, and leave the paper white for the lightest tones, or highlights.

4. TABLECLOTH

Draw fold lines on the angles you see, then shade between them.

Next week we will use colored pencils to work on the same still life.

Happy Drawing, Barbara 

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About Barbara Silbert:

  Barbara Silbert’s work has been acknowledged with more than 50 awards in various venues. She has taught Pastel Portraiture at the Nassau County Museum of Art and is presently teaching at The Art Guild and Great Neck’s school of Community Education at Cumberland. Silbert has taught adults, children, teens and seniors locally for the past 15 years. 

“Passing along what I have learned gives me the greatest pleasure of all.”

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BROWSing for Realistic Eyebrows Rob Silverman

BROWSing for Realistic Eyebrows Rob Silverman

by | Mar 23, 2020 | TAG at home

eyebrow lesson, eyebrow, portrait, portraiture, rob silverman  

BROWsing for Realistic Eyebrows 
with Rob Silverman

Eyebrows are not a flat solid dark mark, like painted-on eyebrow makeup

1. BROW RIDGE

Eyebrows are slightly lighter at the upper portion of the brow ridge and darker in the lower, shaded part of the brow ridge.

2. OUTER BROW

Eyebrows lighten as the hairs thin out approaching the outer edges of the brow ridge.

3. SHAPE

Overall shape is not straight across the brow ridge but is more of a checkmark shape.

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About Rob Silverman:

Rob Silverman’s innovative techniques have been featured in American Artist Workshop Magazine and The Art of the Portrait, the official publication of the Portrait Society of America. His work has appeared at Crosby Street Gallery and Spring Studio Gallery in Soho, the Art League of Long Island, Edward Hopper House, The Art Guild of Port Washington, The National Art League, the Lockwood-Mathews Museum, as well as the National Arts Club and Salmagundi Club.

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Bokeh Backgrounds with Katrina Benson

Bokeh Backgrounds with Katrina Benson

by | Mar 21, 2020 | TAG at home

   pastel tip, TAG at home, pastels, bokeh background, bokeh, katrina benson   

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About Katrina Benson:

Katrina Benson is the Vice President of the Art Guild and an award-winning artist working primarily in colored pencil and watercolor. Her work gravitates toward realism, although she enjoys all forms of artistic expression and experimentation. “Working in realism is an opportunity to explore easily overlooked nuances in the world around me. The process of looking deeply and interpreting with each stroke gives me a profound sense of connection and gratitude for the wonders of even the simplest of objects.”  Find out more about Katrina on her website www.kblfineart.com.

Katrina teaches Colored Pencil: Foundational Techniques

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Household Supply Pastel Substitutions

Household Supply Pastel Substitutions

by | Mar 21, 2020 | TAG at home

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About Jill Velasco:

 Jill Velasco is an exhibiting Artist, Graphic Designer and Educator with a BFA in Graphic Design and an MS in Visual Arts Education.  For over ten years, Jill has taught fine art classes in both schools and studios throughout Long Island to both children and adults of all levels. In addition to teaching workshops, creating both digital and fine art for clients, she currently moderates and mentors colored pencil enthusiasts via social media for the publication Colored Pencil Magazine. Colored pencil, pastel and acrylic paint are the featured media in her portraits, botanical and wildlife art.  Jill is a proud member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, American Society of Botanical Artists, Westbury Arts Council and The Art Guild of Port Washington. 

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