It’s
one of those typical days where you go on about your day talking to your
friends and family and enjoying life when suddenly you realize that your best
friend’s birthday is tomorrow and you completely forgot about it! It is your
last year of high school and your best friend will be moving out-of-state to
their lifelong dream university and you want to give something special to your
friend for his or her birthday. Why not
a beautiful birthday card? But you are not a good artist? Don’t worry! I can
help you! The following information below includes the simple steps to creating
a gorgeous drawing that can be attached to your birthday card!
Step
1: Gather all necessary materials including paper (preferably cardstock paper),
pencil, eraser, watercolor pencils (or regular colored pencils if you do not
have watercolor pencils), paper stumps, and mineral spirit. All of these materials can be found in any
art supply store such as Michaels or Hobby Lobby.
Step
2: Draw something on a piece of paper. It
can be anything. Be creative! For example, it can be a picture of a piece of
cake, a cat, a basketball, a candy bar, etc. If you want a better quality
drawing, use cardstock paper because it is sturdier, it has a smoother surface,
and it does not tend to rip as easily. Use
pencil to draw so that you can erase it if you make a mistake. Be careful not to smear the lead because it
will not blend well in the mineral spirit.
Step
3: Carefully color in your drawing using colored pencils. Use watercolor pencils if you can since they
blend more easily and result in finer looking art. As you color, you might want to contrast your
colors a bit and darken the spots in your drawing where you want the color to
stand out more to create depth.
Step
4: Use a paper stump and gently dip it in the mineral spirit. Be sure not to
touch, taste, or smell the mineral spirit because it can cause poisoning and
breathing problems. Handle the mineral
spirit with extreme caution! Afterwards, place the paper stump on a small
section of the drawing and lightly move the paper stump on one color in a
circular motion so that the color can blend.
Then, carefully, move along the drawing and change paper stumps when the
color changes so that some colors do not mix together. Just be sure to blend the colors that you
want to blend. The mineral spirit helps
blend the colors beautifully and it creates a glossy-like finish that makes the
drawing look like an expensive oil painting.
The outcome should be a
beautiful, glossy illustration!
Here are some examples:
Online
examples from www.lovestnpaper.com and
rubberstamping.about.com
I like to draw for fun and I
constantly go online to see different ways to create fine-looking art. My real motivator is my cousin who is a
really good artist. When I was young, I
used to watch her draw tons of stunning anime characters that were simply breathtaking. Since then, I would really want to be like
her! I want to create exquisite drawings.
I am not a very good artist but I try to discover simple methods and
techniques that can improve my drawing skills and to make it look
professional. Thus, I came across some YouTube
videos about mineral spirits and watercolor pencils so that is why I am so
knowledgeable about this. By creating
drawings like these, you can make various types of cards to your loved ones and
I guarantee that they will love it!
23 comments:
This sounds like a fun way to make a basic drawing a little more extraordinary! I love trying new art methods, but I am not the best artist so using the mineral spirits and water color pencils sounds like a great way to help my drawings. Thanks for the helpful tips!
Thank you for sharing this! I've done more research on this method of drawing and found that it really does make normal drawings look better with that special blend effect between the paper and the color pencils. I will probably try this method out next time when I want to be creative and make a card. Overall, the supplies can be easily identified and the instructions were simple and clear. Good job!
-Ben Chang
What a wonderful idea to share. A lot of people say that they can't draw very well, but even if you aren't the best artist in the world, you can still use little methods like these to make something a little more pretty. I like that you didn't give a drawing tutorial on a character or anything too difficult, but that you showed us something that anyone can do. It was very well explained, and I appreciate your explaining the actual concepts behind what makes the mineral spirits work. That shows that you have done plenty of research on the topic. The entire how-to was practical, but creative, and doable for everyone who reads it. Great job!
An original, artist-level card seems pretty fun to make. I think I might try it out. The technique of using mineral spirit to blend the watercolors seems really interesting. The art examples provided nearly makes me want to get up from my desk and fine some paper and pencils. Your instructions seem easy enough to follow, so I think I'll have no problem doing this! Thanks for the advice!
Tiffany, this how-to article reminded me of something off of Pinterest! I loved the way you walked the reader through the process step-by-step. The pictures at the end were a nice touch; a sort of inspiration. Next time I am in need of a last minute gift, I'll know what to do!
-Christina Tapia
I know what I want for Christmas now! :) I've never even heard about mineral spirit, but after reading your piece, I'm amazed at how amazing it is, its like photoshop for drawings! Thanks for introducing us to this little-known tool. Your piece was very informative, and I think even a 5-year-old aspiring artist would be able to follow your clear and detailed instructions to make a beautiful work of art themselves!
I'm not the creative drawing type but this sure makes me want to give it a try and pick up something new. Who knows, it could become a hobby of mine down the road. I've never heard of "mineral spirit" but if I ever decide to make a picture for a friend or whoever it might be, I'll refer back to this. It's great that you have some sort of hobby to keep you busy. I'll would enjoy seeing a few of your drawings. Good job!
Ooh! this is really nice, I think I might use this tips myself. Thankyou for going step by step and explaining in great detail. I actually think I can get this artistic drawing in one try.
Since I have absolutely no drawing talent, this piece gave me some good tips. Although I'm sure my pictures wouldn't turn out too nice, I would happily give this a try. I would like to see some of your fabulous drawings Tiffany!
-Alexandra Aguilar
P.1
I love the topic you chose, one of the most difficult things to do is to draw! Im always struggling to make my drawings look nice so I found this so helpful. I love the way in which you organized your piece because the step by step format makes it's so easy to follow, especially knowing what materials are needed for each step. I also really liked that you incorporated examples to serve as guides to how the drawings should look, that is also very helpful. Great job!
-Lucia Gonzalez
I love the topic you chose, drawing is one of the most difficult things to do! I'm always struggling to make my drawings look nice so I found your piece to be so helpful. I really liked that the step by step format you used made this process easy to follow, especially knowing what materials are necessary. The examples you incorporated could serve as a guide to how the drawings should look which I think is also very helpful. Great job!
-Lucia Gonzalez
This is great, especially for someone like me who cannot draw at all. It is simple, well thought out, and the steps are easy to follow. Great job!
Tiffany this was a great tutorial, I tend to be broke most of the time so this seems like a great idea the next time a friend has a birthday! I really liked how you told us how to blend the color with the mineral spirit, i would have never thought of that method, and I think the fact that when it dries it gives off the impression that it's an oil painting is really awesome since oil paintings are so vivid and glossy. I can't wait to try this in my free time!
Wow this is really neat! Your instructions were clear and easy to follow. I might just try this out myself!
this was very helpful and smart. We don't always have the money to spend on nice things and here is a perfect way to make some, ill definitely be using this in the future.
-Haley Townes
From the very beginning this piece called me attention because I completely relate to the opening situation. In organizing your piece with a relatable story to start you really got me interested in your piece and made it something I would remember if I was ever in a situation like the one you mentioned. Your use of diction really allowed you to build up your credibility because when you mentioned items like mineral spirit, which I have never heard of, it made me believe that you really thought about writing this how-to and that you really know the best way to make a beautiful birthday card. Your writing was clear and detailed and your instructions were easy to follow. I really liked the pictures too. Looking at them made me feel like making the cards is doable and definitely made me want to try it more. Nice Work.
This was great! Very helpful seeing as I can barely draw stick figures and have been banned from coloring on school projects due to my inability to color neatly. Thanks for the instructions.
Usually I'm a terrible artist but these tips and just general ways on how to get started really inspires me to become a better artist, I know what to do for my sister's next birthday gift!
This was really well done. I got an intense tone and pace from the reading. I wanted to hurry up and finish this drawing on my friend's birthday card! I feel now like I can do this, but probably not because im a horrible artist. great job! By the way, great pictures.
This is a very interesting technique for drawing that i haven't been exposed to before. Very informative, i may have to revisit this later for mother's day and try it out. Thank you!
-Arturo D. Ayala
I usually try to avoid anything that requires any imagination, but if I ever need to draw something that someone needs to be able to recognize, I will use this information to make it look as regal as possible to detract from the lack of drawing ability. I liked how you used the first paragraph to defeat any objections about our lack of ability in drawing.
Your instructions were very thorough and specific, which will help guide readers the entire way without getting lost. This will definitely go into my tools for last minute gifts or a gift on a budget. Your use of images at the end really helped so i could see what the final product should look like, because i would probably figure out a way to screw it up and believe it was right. Great piece.
-Alan Medina
Good instructions. They were nice and clear.
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