Drawing of Glass of Water (Part 2)- Illustration Markers, Color Pencil and Oil Paint

I am going to be using illustration markers, color pencils and oil paint. Just drop me a line if you have any questions

In step 1 I scanned and reprinted my original drawing- I do this for 2 reasons- 1.) If I mess up, I could just reprint it and 2.) marker and color pencil coexist better with printer ink than with graphite from a pencil.

Next I add a layer of the illustration markers. These markers are totally transparent and they enable me to add a layer of color and still be able to see the lines from my pencil drawing. These markers give the artist a similar effect to watercolor paint, but without the messy setup and clean up.. I am still following the Polaroid picture development analogy from the first video- in that I am adding color to all areas at an even pace and slowly building up the darker tones on the sides and bottom of the glass.

The color pencil is great at this point of the drawing, because it adds a translucent layer of color above the marker. In addition to that, color pencils are mixed with wax. The wax will be very handy in the next step when I add oil paint on top of the marker and color pencil. Working with color pencil also allows me to be very precise with my marks on the page. It can be very challenging to be as accurate with a paint brush. This step allows me to make my drawing more accurate and these clarifications will eventually be absorbed by the oil paint.

Now you are going to see me add three layers of oil paint to finish my drawing. I am using oil paint because I want to edit the colors of this composition and it is much easier to mix and match color with oil paint than it is with color pencil. It is also easier to apply large areas of color with a paintbrush rather than the tiny tip of a pencil. I did all of my editing in the last step and now I am just applying color, trying to notice the nuances of the edges of each shape on my reference. If I need to soften an edge I use a dry, soft brush and I pull the paint with that. The color pencil from the layer below is blending nicely with the paint.

Drawing Tips- (Charcoal and Pencil) Drawing of a Glass of Water

Hint number 1 is to see things as shapes. I like to analogize drawing with assembling a jigsaw puzzle because in both you look for shapes to fit together Hint number 2 is to pay close attention to the edges of what you are drawing. Light and shadows can do funny things and in almost anything that you draw you will see a disparity between the qualities of each edge. Hint number three is to develop your drawing like a Polaroid photograph. Polaroid was the company that innovated instant photography. After pushing the shutter button the photograph would come out of the camera and develop before your eyes. What I want you to know about this is that every part of the photo would develop at the same rate and that is how I want you to try to draw next time. In other words, move the drawing tool around, dont get stuck in a favorite spot. Alright, lets slow it down. What you are seeing me do here is pay close attention to the form and the proportions. In other words, I am comparing the sizes of the different shapes and making sure that the placement of each line is correct. I am using vine charcoal a HB pencil and an eraser. I started out with the vine charcoal because it is easy to erase and move around. You will see later in this video that after I am satisfied with the placement of the charcoal, I will hatch over it with a pencil to keep it undisturbed. I am also trying to be aware of the edges of my shapes and I am especially cognizant of the highlight on the top because that will require me shading the areas around it and using the white of the page as a representation of the strong light. Now when I look back at my reference, I notice that the tone of the background is much darker than the white of the page. I use the side of the charcoal to darken the mid tone of my drawing. This step will make it easy to draw in the highlights with an eraser a little bit later. Now I am folding a piece of paper towel to smudge in the charcoal. You will get a very similar result with a blending stump (also known as a tortillion) but the towel will smudge the charcoal more quickly. To be perfectly honest, many teachers that I have had have told me not to use a blending stump, fingers or anything that comes in to contact with the surface of the paper. I partially agree. Oil from fingers when combined with pencil or charcoal leaves a stain that is tough to work around. Notice that my hand is resting on a sheet of paper. Artists call these slip sheets, but it is just a sheet of computer paper. I like working with the blending stump and the paper and this process works for my needs. It would be dishonest if I changed my process for the sake of making a video. Before, I mentioned the term hatching. Hatching is the short name for the drawing technique of cross hatching. It is simply putting a series of lines next to one another with a drawing tool. These lines usually follow the shape of the object that is being drawn. Once I am done adding pencil marks, I take the blending stub to burnish over my hatch marks. This gives my drawing a more smudged look and possibly my former art teachers a heart attack. I like to smudge the pencil and charcoal because it also gives me a surface that is smooth in tone. Hatching can be layered and I usually stop using the blending stump after the second layer. I once did ten layers of hatching in a pencil drawing. Lets recap and take this to the end of part 1. My focus, over the course of any drawing that I do from observation, is to see a simple pattern of shapes on my reference and to accurately render these shapes, on to the piece of paper that I am drawing. After I get the shapes aligned correctly, I attempt to build up tones with charcoal and pencil. When I am building the tones, I am very aware of the nuances of the edges of each shape, because they are usually different. My focus is also on building the tones of my drawing in a similar manner to how a Polaroid photograph develops. In part 2, I will teach you a way to add color to any pencil drawing. Thanks for watching the video and please let me know if this helped. Merrill Kazanjian

Drill Sergeant Speed Draw- Markers, Color Pencils and Oil Paint

Artist Merrill Kazanjian documents the creation of one of his characters.

Yankee Fan- New York Yankees Art Work- Photo Manipulation, Collage, Color Pencil and Oil Paint

What happens when you combine the faces of Derek Jeter, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez Joe Girardi, Mark Texeira, Mariano Rivera and C.C. Sabathia? Hopefully some interesting art work. I started out with the computer program Paint Shop Pro 8 (a stone age version of Photoshop) to cut and arrange a photomontage. Next, I printed on thick paper. After that, I tied it together with a layer of color pencil. Finally, I put the finishing touches on with oil paint. The method that I use is called Tradigital Art. It combines traditional media (paint, pencil) with digital media (computer applications and digital photography). Thanks for checking out my work!- Merrill Kazanjian major league baseball fastest

Obama + Clinton + Bush Sr. + Dubya = ???

A very bi-partisan artwork. Put your political differences aside and watch artist Merrill Kazanjian merge the faces of our last four Presidents (Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush. A presidential portrait this is not- it sets the precedent for merging presidents- not ideologically- but aesthetically. I started out by creating a collage / photomontage with digital cut outs and combining them with Photoshop CS3 and Paint Shop Pro 8. Next, I printed on a medium format printer (13 x 17 inches). Next I added a layer of color pencils (prismacolor) and markers (AD and prisma) to fill in the gaps and tie everything together. Finally, I added a layer of oil paint to make it look life like. I added the body of Richard Nixon in his iconic peace pose and ironically the face wound up looking a little bit like a young Nixon (I did not intend this). I call the method that I use, tradigital art. It merges traditional art (2D drawing and painting) with digital possibilities (computer art and digital photography). My website is http://merrillk.com