Blog

Winners have been announced...

2009-10-02T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well high there, if you have been sitting on the end of your seat wondering how you did in the "Outrageous Video" competition, well wonder no longer.

Check out the winners circle online at : http://www.learn-to-draw.org/

Win A Free Caricature Course

2009-09-29T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

I hope you have an entry in the "Outrageous Video" competition, as time is ticking away and there is only a day or two left to get your Free copy of "Fun With Caricatures".

Don't worry you don't have to make a video just watch one. Easy hey!

More details are available on the home page, www.learn-to-draw.org you could be the winner of the $350 prize if you are the "highly connected" online social butterfly type ; )

But HURRY, times is running out!

Caricature Yourself With This Cool Facebook or Twitter Avatar Maker

2009-09-18T01:03:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to make a cartoon version of yourself? Perhaps you have seen other people's profile pic's on Facebook and thought that it looked pretty cool and you were wondering how to do one for your page, well this video below is one way I have demonstrated how easy it is, especially since the tool you use is free.

Interesting profile images standout and get tons of clicks, that is a fact
that you can use to gain more online popularity. OK it is a little old school
and low tech but it works – every time.

So what is a cool image that makes people click? If you have done any profile
surfing you will know what I mean. You see the cool, standout images and you
click. It may be someone who looks attractive or repulsive. It may be someone
seen from a long way off or super close up.

One of the ways to standout is by putting up a cartoon version of your photo
or mugshot. If you are the creative type, a cartoonist or illustrator like
myself this is a pretty easy task. But I imagine that for most people the idea
of drawing themselves is a pretty daunting task. Thankfully there are some
really cool tools that make this a total no-brainer.

One of them I had fun with recently is MyWebFace. You can make a cartoon of
yourself by selecting from a bunch of different facial elements and other character
bits to make up a unique look.

You do have to be careful though, it soooo easy that most people kind of stuff
it up, so this is why I have made the video below to show you how to get the
most out of this free application.

So if you want to get my tips on creating something out of the ordinary that
is going to get tons of clicks and interest then watch my video to see what
I do at the end of the process that will give your cool facebook avatar,the cut
above the rest.

Greg Gillespie is a freelance illustrator and owner of learn-to-draw.org where
you can find out more about learning cool tips and tricks with drawing that
anyone can learn. He also teaches how to create caricatures for those
who want to learn to draw caricatures. Check it out, worth a look.

If you want to take your facebook avatar right out there on the edge and beyond, then this next video will show you how to that as well. You will need a piece free software if you wish to try it yourself. You can get the Funpix photo distorting application by clicking
here to download the free Funpix Maker from Magix.

Here's A Neat Way To Improve Your Caricatures

2009-05-14T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

I know it has been a while since my last post but life is what happens when you are busy making other plans, (now who said that? I know do you?) reply if you know the answer.

Anyways I was chatting to a good artist friend of mine, Mitch from the Drawing Coach the other day and he let me in on a bit of a secret. He is giving away some cool free tips on improving your drawing and your caricatures and I thought that you guys and gals might just like to check out what he is is up to.

He has some cool videos and tutorials and the quality of his instruction is great. So if you have a little time and are keen to learn from another professional artist, then head on over to Mitch's webiste to take a look.

You may be able to find Mitch's Caricatures Secrets by clicking this link but warning the last time I checked it was sold out. I am not sure when Mitch is going to release this course again, so you may want to hit the back button if you cannot get your hands on this course.

Enjoy.

Do you know who made that famous quote I mentioned?

I will give away a free ebook on drawing to first correct answer.

Cheers and happy drawing,

Greg.

Airbrush, ah my Old Friend...

2009-02-19T21:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, so why is an airbrush my old friend ( I can hear you thinking..tick..tick..tick)?

Well it's easy really, you see I started my career as an airbrush artist in the commercial art game back in the early 1980's, yeah I know I know, that makes me about 50 or something. Hmm pretty close.

So airbrush what is it?

It is a tool for spraying small areas of paint on to a drawing to create the most smooth effect you have ever seen.

The very first time I saw this being demonstrated in real life was at the Hot Buttered surfboard factory in Brookvale in about 1974. There was this guy creating the most spectacular surf scenes on surfboards before they were fiberglassed.

We are talking about sunsets over the ocean in beautiful oranges and pinks, crisp spray flying over the back of classic offshore days that you mostly can only dream of. This just bleeeeew me away.

I asked the dude (Martin Worthington)

what he was doing and he told me he was airbrushing! Woow! How do I get to do that, I asked? He told me I needed to get a compressor to supply the air and an airbrush to blow it through and then start experimenting.

So that is what I did when I got my first job

after leaving school in 1979. I picked up my place of employment in Brookvale as a surfboard fin maker. It was there that I got to experiment with their airbrush on some old bits of surfboard foam and from that moment I was hooked, if it hadn't been from the time I first saw Martin Worthington doing this back at Hot Buttered.

After doing a year in surfboards, and incidently making the very first set of "Tri-Fins" for Simon Anderson in 1980, cira October (the fins that have changed the surfing world forever), I decided to go and study Graphic Design so that I could become Australia's best airbrush artist.

I guess you are wondering, "Did he do it?" become the best?

Well it is a matter of opinion but some would say that I was up there with the top 5 in Australia.

Now if you would like to see some of my st

uff, here is an image I did for Coca Cola. It was used for a calendar and some advertising. All done in airbrush, (oh and a teeny tiny amount with a 000 brush for the small lettering on the bottle). What do you think?

So what else has this got to do with learning to draw caricatures, which seems to be the topic of the moment?

Well I have just got the coolest video of a "dude" who creates his caricatures with an airbrush.

You have got to see this as it is another way of standing out from the crowd. And I might add it is a very fast way to work.

Check this out and let me know what you think. Post a comment if you like...?

This Guy is Good! Just Watch Him!

2009-02-19T21:24:00.000-08:00

Three really is no such thing as too much exaggeration!

Enjoy and learn!

Learn To Draw CARICATURES

2009-02-09T16:56:00.001-08:00

Has anyone tried this "Serious Fun With Caricatures Course" yet?

Must say it looks, good, if you can learn how to do caricatures like Graeme in the video, he makes it look easy.

$1M Dollar Painting Revealed!

2008-09-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

The $1 Million Painting Auction Contenders

2008-09-13T01:54:00.000-07:00

$1M Dollar Art Auction

2008-09-09T16:43:00.000-07:00

2008-08-19T16:46:00.000-07:00

Can One Painting Change the World?

Can art play a significant part in how we think and act in the world in which we live?

Here is one artist who believes it can.

How powerful can art be in initiating change? Could it be possible that
at a moment we least expect, a work of art emerges that could do just that?

This artist believes it has.

As an abstract expressionist painter (new born passion), creator of visions that challenge our comfort zones, I bring this challenge to you.

"High contrast imagery that moves in natural flows, compliment a carefully chosen palette of colours that hold deep significance and symbolism that reaches out far beyond the depiction of physically recognisable objects."

All of this arises from a subconscious, pseudo-rational placement of colour, tones and shapes, that reveal deep thoughts to the viewer.

Welcome to one such challenging moment.

The Younique Project

In line with the forthcoming launch of my current (inaugural) body of abstract work, comes the Younique Project.

Aim:

Raise $1Million for the Compassion International child sponsorship organization with the auction of one painting.

Could this be possible?

Help the poorest of the poor with a painting?

???

As each individual is unique on this planet, my work is designed to help people understand their life can make a difference to the world in a far-reaching positive way that many people underestimate. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.

Secret Caricature Markets Revealed

2008-05-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

Hi This Has Just Been Released!

I have just found this "weird" video from Artist Graeme Biddle where he reveals a SECRET money making way to do caricatures that is very lucrative. He mentions that he can do somethinglike $1,400 a day!

If that sounds like something you would be interested in then listen to this, it is all possible by learning his simple caricature style. Click the play button NOW!

To find out more please visit: http://www.learn-to-draw.org/SECRET

More a little later,

Cheers and Bye for Now!

GG.

Caricature Artist Retires Takes Secrets With Him...Almost

2008-05-11T16:30:00.000-07:00

Here is some news from the trenches of hand to hand art combat that is sure to raise an eyebrow.

Caricature Artist Graeme Biddle successful throughout the art world is finally ready to hang up the pens and pencils and retire to some warm beach somewhere out of sight.

Graeme has been famous for his super fast sketchy caricatures that have kept audiences all over the world amazed as he skillfully knocked out his subjects in funny poses that have attracted a constant hum of "ooohs" and "ahhhs" from curious onlookers.

He has had an incredible career that has found him drawing caricatures in places such as Italy and London, Africa and Australia. But now it is time to hand the reins over to the next generation of talented folk who wish to take up this fun and quite lucrative art form.

Graeme has had many private or secret markets for this caricatures that many artist wouldn't even think of pursuing, that have provided great financial rewards for a good many years.

Now the thought of taking these trade secrets into retirement doesn't sit all that well with Graeme, so he has today released a home study course that spills the beans on the whole box and dice, for not only how to learn his unique style of cartooning that is easy to pick up but all the secret markets that he has had to himself for years and years.

His website contains examples of his work, which include a free video example of Graeme in action, along with the opportunity to sign up for a sneak peak at what you will find inside the home study course he has created.

So if you fancy yourself as a cartoonist or just want to pick up some pointers on how to cash in on a reportedly secret market for caricatures then head on over to the site. You had better hurry as Graeme tells me this home study course if only going to be available for a limited time to a lucky few who can act quickly and secure a place in this elearning class.

Click here now to visit Graeme's website www.learn-to-draw.org/caricatures.html

Great Tutorial on Computer Drawing

2008-04-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

This Youtube tutorial is an excellent way to learn how to use Photoshop to draw and importantly color in your drawing.

Express Yourself, Uh Huh!

2008-04-07T20:15:00.000-07:00

Just when you thought you had seen it all, along comes something to make you rethink.

Ever seen someone paint a picture with McDonalds ketchup and french fries?

Nope me neither until a moment ago.

This video just goes to show you that it is not what you draw but how you draw it that gets people's attention. A couple of million youtube viewers can't be wrong.

How To Draw A Vargas Girl

2008-04-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

This image is an illustration I did some years ago now back in the day before the advent of the personal computer. Back in a time when illustrations were ALL done by hand.

The technique of choice for me in the 1980's and early 1990's was Airbrush.

You could achieve ultra realism by the smooth flow of paint that you could produce. But like all tools, fairly useless in the hands of the unskilled. This meant many, many, many hours studying other artists, reading books, and practicing before being able to produce anything worthwhile looking at let alone showing to another living being.

So what do you think?

Would you like to learn how to do this? Leave a comment.

Wow You Are Such A Good Drawer Honey!

2008-04-04T16:45:00.000-07:00

If you were encouraged as a child to keep on drawing because your drawings were good, then it probably went something like this...

"Wow (insert your name here) that is a really good drawing darling! It looks just like your kindergarten teacher Ms Nesbit! You have to take that to school and put it up on the board"

Sometime later followed by...

"Your art is really good, you should consider a career as a commercial artist."

And then this one when you got your first job...

"Wow a commericial artist - so you are working in an area you love, that must be so much fun!"

And of course this one...

"You get paid to do that

(pointing at one of your paintings/cartoons/illustrations).

You are so lucky to be able to draw like that. Gee I wish I could do that too."

Well, following is a video of Artist Graeme Biddle a personal friend of mine busy at work (yeah right Graeme you call that work?) who has been doing the "art for money thing" for over 30 years now and has made somewhere between $2- $3 million dollars doing so.

Not bad work if you can get!

Enjoy.

What is Art?

2008-03-24T23:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard this one, "oh they are self taught" spoken in a derogatory manner?

I don't fully understand this line of thinking but it goes something like this. If you want acceptance into the art critics "inner circle" you have to be university educated with a degree in art.

None of this self taught nonsense, you must be educated before we will accept you as an "Artist".

Funny I thought artists were born and not made? Or have I been lead to believe a lie? Which brings us to the question of todays post, "What is Art?" anyway.

Is art something that comes from within and has an extraordinary plethora of expressions, from drawing and painting to installations? Is it something that "needs" to be expressed for the benefit of others?

The answer is art is art in different ways to different people. In its simplest form, art is any mark made on a piece of paper that gives expression to the human experience. If the art is successful people get what you mean. If it is mysterious and open to interpretation then this is also successful if this was the intent. But what if the artist creates something that is interpreted in a completely different manner for which it was created?

Doesn't that then add another dimension to what art is or can be? Which then if it be so completely wipes the smug off the faces of the art critics who assume they can determine who and what is art by looking at someone's educational history.

So the next time someone puts you down for not being a formerly trained artist or "self taught" remind them of these simple points:

* Art is for all

* Anyone can create art

* Anyone can be an artist

If they who hold the keys to the inner circle of success are to keep you out, then watch them stop you promoting yourself on youtube or on your own blog. Success in your art will be determined by the number of votes given you by the general public who afterall are the recipients of our intentions.

Like what you see?

2008-03-02T16:17:00.000-08:00

I would love you to favor me on Technorati only if you think I have something valuable to share with others. Just go ahead a click this button, thanks Greg.

Grab a stick, rag or a chunk of burnt wood

2008-02-27T20:57:00.001-08:00

If you want to make a mark, your mark you need to loosen up. What I mean is this, tradition (what you have always done) is holding you back.

Have you ever tried to draw something with charcoal? If not you may want to give it a try. I know it gets a little messy but you will find that the awkwardness of it all actually makes you draw differently.

Now by differently I don't mean bad different but good. You see when you are not used to the medium in which you may find yourself drawing you will no doubt have to change the way you go about your drawing.

One time whilst on holidays at a nice mountain retreat we were holed up in this neat cabin with this open fire and I happened to have a sketch book with me. Ceasing the moment as I noticed a piece of now cooled charcoal on the floor beside the fire, I picked it up and began to sketch my son Keenan sitting on the lounge watching TV. When I find this drawing I will add it to this post.

More recently I was teaching a friend to draw faces better and instead of using a paint brush, I got him to pick up a rag instead. The experience was very liberating and you can see his results below by clicking
on this link.

Until next the inspiring moment arouses a few words, caio!

Turn A Blind Eye To Art

2008-02-11T18:16:00.000-08:00

Well, after my last post on the "blind contour" exercise, I decided to Google "blind artist" and what do you know, up comes a website about someone who was just that, a blind artist.

Now as amazing as that seems, that a person could or would attempt to draw or paint as a blind person the story gets even more interesting when you find out that this artist didn't learn to draw or learn to paint until after she
lost her sight.

Lisa Fittipaldi learned to draw and paint only after she had sadly lost her vision or should I say sight. You see Lisa is one of a rare breed who definitely have vision even thought her ability to see with her eyes is now gone. So it would be unfair to say that she has no vision, for surely it takes incredible
courage and vision to try to do something as challenging as learning to draw without eyesight.

If you read about her story on he website at, www.lisafittipaldi.com/Artinterviews.htm you will see that further to my idea that anyone can learn to draw is not really all that far fetched.

I did meet another person the other day who assured me that he could NOT be taught to draw. After reading about Lisa and her amazing accomplishment (I still don't understand how she does it) I would have to fall back on my firm belief that if anyone is willing no matter what the circumstances, they can learn to draw too.

More next time.

Take Time To See Before You Draw

2008-02-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

The most common mistake that people make when they begin drawing is that they spend too little time studying what they are attempting to draw.

This is true whether you are painting, sketching or drawing with a pencil.

So a quick and easy tip is this, "look more than you draw" for improved results. One thing you could try is the "blind contour" exercise. If you don't know what I am talking about here, just grab a pencil, a piece of paper and then find an object to draw.

The thing is, don't look at your drawing until you are finished. Instead just look at the object and draw blind. You will be surprised with the results. Don't expect it to look like a completed picture but do expect to find some interesting shapes that your eye followed completely.

Give it a try and see how you go, I am sure you will be surprised.

Send me a comment if this has been helpful or at least some fun.

Cheers,

Greg.

Hey We Are Listed on Blogarama!

2008-01-30T16:12:00.000-08:00

Blogarama has over 72,000 blogs listed on their site, and Learn How To Draw is the 72,546 th one to be listed. Click the link to get yours listed there for free.

Cheers,

Greg

Can Anyone Learn To Draw?

2008-01-29T20:07:00.001-08:00

I was painting a pet portrait the other day as part of a "live Art" demonstration inside a pet store. The photo I was using for reference was of a cute little puppy called "Cokey", a black mostly and white Maltese Shihtzu cross. We thought of the name on the way to the pet store when we bought him after we were brainstorming names. My daughter Hayley had a bottle of Coke so she suggested Cokey, as we knew he was black.

Anyway I am painting this portrait of our lovely little pet of him as a young pup and a man came by with his daughter and commented on the painting that I was doing. He said something very familiar to me, something that I hear quite often. "I am the worst drawer in the world"!

When I told him that he could learn to draw he laughed and said, "No there is no way you can teach me to draw". I begged to differ with him but he was adamant, he could not be taught to draw and that was it.

In a sense he was correct, he could not be taught to draw, if his attitude was that he couldn't. There would be no reason for even trying to teach someone like that, who would be determined to prove the point that they couldn't learn.

Now if the same man had decided that he currently could not draw but believed that it may be possible then he could be taught to draw.

Like all things in life there is a technique for doing things. There is a technique to drawing.

It all begins by learning to see. Learning to see correctly by questioning what you are looking at.

Then follows the process of learning to make a mark on paper, or canvas or timber or a cave wall.

How difficult is it learn to drive a car? Ask my daughter Hayley who has just gotten her learners permit and is struggling to learn how to coordinate the gears, the clutch, the indicators, the steering wheel and not to forget the traffic. On par with learning to draw driving is a whole lot harder.

The myth that some people can't draw to save themselves is just that a myth. Think about how many people learn to drive and consider the very small number who can't drive to save their lives. Ok there are some good and bad drivers out there but driving is no question a difficult thing to learn. Drawing on the other hand, by comparison is not.

Look, question and make your mark. Repeat. Keep looking, keep questioning and then you are ready to make another mark.

This is drawing at it's simplest.

Hope this helps in your quest to learn to draw!

PS. If you want to see how the painting turned out, you can click here to see the pet gallery portrait of "Cokey".

More next time, cu later.

2008-01-29T20:07:00.000-08:00

Artist Intelligence of an 8 year old

2008-01-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the fun you had back in infant school when it was time to bring out your paints and pencils to draw or paint something?

Remember the fun of getting the paint to do all sorts of cool things?

Well it was probably before the age of 8 that you had the most fun with art, that is unless you were one of the lucky ones to be held up high and praised for your artwork.

If you can remember the way things worked out it was probably something like the following.

Good artwork got praise from the teacher and other classmates, and the rest just got ignored. We all love to praise things of beauty and when it comes to a painting or a drawing it is no different.

Did your drawing gain praise or ridicule? Did you do the drawing of the teacher or a friend that was a good likeness, that everyone though was good? Or did you just get ignored as your drawing was not all that much like your subject?

It is around about the age of 8 that we begin to take notice of what others think about what we do. This includes our awareness of whether we are perceived to be a "good drawer" or not.

Those of us who are shunned for our seeming lack of ability to represent someone's face in a realistic manner, pretty much decide there and then that "we cannot draw" or "I am no good at drawing".

We then take that awareness one step further and reassure ourselves that it is OK not to be able to draw, as we are not an artist. With this we step back from pursuing any art education that would give rise to a greater ability or artistic intelligence.

So when I see grown adults trying to draw a person, it is usually to the ability of an 8 year old because that is where they left off back in the 3 rd grade.

Imagine if we applied the same rule to "reading" or "writing". We would face a very handicapped life if that were the case, and for an unfortunate majority in under developed countries this remains the case for all of their lives. Whereas we in the west have access to education that helps us to take our raw intelligence and build it into a reliable resource for our own betterment and support of our needs through employment or some business related activity.

With education drawing skills can be transfered from one individual to another. Just like learning to read or write, drawing can be taught and everyone can learn. That is right I said everyone. It doesn't take someone with special gifted hands to draw or paint, just look at the folks that have learned to do it with their feet or mouths. It lies in the artistic intelligence that we all have inside us, nurtured into an expression that reveals so many things to us about what we actually see in this world of ours.

So yes you can learn to draw, and you can draw better than an 8 year old, you just need to pick up where you left off and there is really nothing you cannot draw.

Next post, where do you go to learn to draw?

Drawing a Living from your Art Skills

2008-01-22T18:05:00.000-08:00

Hi and welcome to my Drawing a Living blog.

Today I am going to discuss the in's and out's of drawing as a fulltime work pursuit. You can view my profile and visit my website to see that I am a professional illustrator and have been drawing and making a living from art since the age of 8. That's right got my first competition cheque for $15 at the tender age of 8 by coming second in the Health Week schools competition at St Thomas' Willoughby in 1969, the year man supposedly landed on the moon.

I say supposedly as I have grave doubts as to the fact after viewing many of NASA's videos on their own website that clearly from a professional 3D artist's point of view deem them as fake or orchestrated. Hey this sounds like the topic of another blog so we may just have to leave that thought right there. Maybe I will open up a little on that topic a bit later. It really is quite fascinating stuff. But for now I will leave Neil Armstrong and lunar crew alone.

Becoming an advertising illustrator in 1983 after completing a 2 year full time art school certificate course that desperately tried to help me avoid the up and down lifestyle of the "freelance artist" but no I wouldn't listen, and have since had to pay the price of not taking other more experienced peoples' advice.

So I hope to enlighten some of you as to what to expect when it comes to drawing for a living. There are many ways of making or drawing a living from your art talents and I hope to show you some of the better ones and ways that will help you not to make the mistakes I have made over the past 25 years.

As you can see from my website www.gtgart.com.au I have created a good number of professional illustrations for a long list of clients both national and international. Another of my recent pursuits is that of pet portraits, as oil paintings. I have recently launched this site, www.mypetpainted.com. You may like to visit this site to see the quality of my oil painting artworks.

I have a work in progress called www.learn-to-draw.org and I am working with Artist Graeme Biddle, world renown for his caricatures and art training which he has conducted in 27 different countries around the world. He has taught school children in private colleges in England and poor African children out in the open fields and just about everybody else in between.

We are developing a "How To Draw" course on caricatures to help people discover the great art of cartooning for money. It really is a great way to make extra money for those who know the secrets behind a well drawn caricature.

It's funny but I wish I had a dollar for everyone who has ever said to me, "I wish I could Draw!" I have always had the ability to draw and it is something that comes easy to me. So I don't know what it is like to not be able to draw. To me drawing is as easy as seeing. That is not to say I have made no progress as an artist since that first competition back in 1969 but the raw ability
is something that has always been at the top of my skillset.

Another funny thing that I have discovered is that yes anyone can learn to draw. Yes that is hard to believe for many people who would readily tell me that they "couldn't draw to save their lives!" Oh really?

Most people could draw to save their lives, but it would be at about the level of an 8 year old. There is that age again, hmmm? What is it about 8 years of age and art? More on this in my next post.