Hey everyone!
I am back with a new video and this is going to be another video using Crayola crayons
and a ballpoint pen.
I actually did two separate videos using these materials in my channel already, so if you
want to see the previous videos, I will link them in the cards section of this video, which
is located on the top right corner with the “I” button.
So any old video that I would refer to will be linked through that button.
Just putting that out there for reference for future videos and other recent videos
I have.
Anyway, in this video I’ll briefly talk about the artwork and a little bit about how
I started with art – which both have something to do with art materials, and whether or not
it really matters if you’re art materials are cheap or expensive if you’re just starting
out.
So the artwork in this one is fairly simple and straightforward.
I really just treated this like a sketchbook drawing.
I didn’t put a lot of thought into what I’m going to do.
Instead I focused a little bit on how to execute the shading using the ballpoint pen because
the last I used a ballpoint pen for a drawing, is probably when I did the ballpoint pen challenge
video.
And that was ages ago.
So I actually did a warm up drawing before this, which prepped me to do the shading and
how to handle the pen so that it creates the lines that I wanted.
So something that I usually do for shading with a ballpoint pen is of course cross hatching,
but aside from that I also like to tilt the pen to its side, so that the ink doesn’t
flow smoothly.
It actually almost feels like I’m simply scratching the paper, because the pen is hardly
making any marks on the paper.
But that actually allows me to vary the tones in the drawing.
And yeah that’s what I did for the drawing part.
I mean I really just wanted to emphasise the cross hatching so eventually the crayons’
were kind of just like the final touch.
I mean I did try to imply the idea of light and shadow through the way I’ve placed specific
colours like yellow and purple, but aside from that I didn’t really layer too much
with the crayons, especially the browns because the shading of the face was already achieved
by the pen.
For this one I simply wanted to somehow incorporate the style I have now to these cheap art materials,
which were the materials that I started out with when I was really young, but these specific
products are not the exact materials from my childhood.
The actual set of crayons that I used back then is gone now and I think I had a 128 set,
which was one of my most prized possessions back then.
Anyway, for anyone new to my channel or to anyone who doesn’t know, I pretty much started
drawing from a really young age.
I usually say that I started at 6 just because that’s my earliest memory of drawing, but
I feel like I’ve been drawing way before I was 6 which was back in 2001.
Anyway.
During that time I was really starting from scratch.
I didn’t have a sketchbook until I was 12, so before then I used my dad’s scrap paper
that he’d usually take home from work.
I’d use that for drawing, a pencil, and some crayons.
And I actually showed in a video of my old artworks a collection of fashion illustrations
I did using crayons.
So if you want to see more old drawings, just click the video in the “I” button.
Anyway, those were my materials before I was 12 – pieces of paper with printing on one
side and a black page on the other.
Around that time sure I wanted to have the art supplies that I’d see in bookstores
and art stores.
I wanted cool coloured pencils and scented water-based markers, but at the same time
I didn’t really fuss on what I was using to draw.
I cared more about the fact that I was able to draw, because when I was really young drawing
wasn’t really seen as a good thing in my family.
Sure it somehow gave my parents something to tell their friends like “hey my daughter
draws” this and that, but whenever I was drawing, it was somehow seen as something
I shouldn’t do, because I should be focusing on studying – which makes sense.
But that affected the materials I had because obviously as a child, I didn’t have control
on what things I could have.
I mean my parents bought everything for me.
So for a long time I was stuck with crayons for colouring materials – although I eventually
got coloured pencils and those fine tip water-based markers that were dupes of sharpies, as I
got older.
It wasn’t until I was fourteen when I got really serious about my art and around that
time in 2009 we already moved here to Australia and I was just a two years into high school.
So my older brother and I would get $5 every week for school and I was saving for art materials
that I’d see at our local dollar shop which was actually conveniently located on the way
to our house.
So sometimes I’d go in and just browse.
And eventually for a while and even now I used and I still use dollar shop items because
that’s when I discovered that art materials in some dollar shops are actually decent quality.
From then I’d keep saving money to buy more expensive art materials from art stores.
And when I was around 16, I earned money from my very first commission which if you don’t
know what it is, it’s basically when someone asks you to draw a picture for them and they
pay you.
So that helped me buy my entire Copic Ciao marker collection, which was very fortunate
for me.
Without that I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford Copic markers at such an early
age.
And basically that became a staple in every YouTube video I’d make.
And the journey pretty much continues here.
Up until now I still use dollar shop items for art materials that I am using for the
first time or art materials that I am still getting used to.
And this goes back to the whole thing that I’ve talked about in previous videos, and
other artists have also talk about in their own videos, and still is pretty much an issue
for young artists or beginner artists.
I mean it doesn’t really matter what art materials you use, as long as you focus on
learning the basics, and developing those skills.
The quality of art materials you use will usually only matter when you start to make
a living out of your art.
Artist quality materials offer longevity in the art you make, which is a big deal in the
art world, because as we know art can last longer than the artist and it tends to be
preserved or kept in it’s original condition.
So if you’re just starting out, and you see other artists using art materials that
are expensive, don’t be discouraged because you’re not using the same art materials.
I mean we all have to start somewhere, and starting with cheap art materials like a pencil
and scrap paper, or starting with expensive markers because you can afford it doesn’t
really matter.
What matters is improving your skills, and upgrading your art materials can come later.
So I hope that makes sense.
But yeah!
That is it for this video.
I hope you enjoyed it.
If you did, please don’t forget to give this video a thumbs up and subscribe for more
videos.
Also check out my social media links in the description box.
I’ve got Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.
And yeah!
Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in my next one!