Want to be an artist? In Nepal!

Are you from Nepal and love to draw?

Or do you want to know what options you have in an arts career?

If you said yes, this is for you.

There is a lack of fine arts universities in Nepal in most areas. Lalitkala Campus does provide a Bachelor in Fine Arts, among other courses. And KU probably does one by now but currently, they're based in Kathmandu only. There are no colleges in Pokhara running Bachelor degree courses in drawing.

If you are more interested in animation/ digital painting, Maya Animation Academy does provide a monthly package.
Whole package including storyboard, character and design cost about 1.5 lacs last time I checked (to be paid in installments).

There are also some artists who do art classes around their locality. If you know some, you are very lucky!
So, if you intend to grow as a professional artist, it's entirely upto you. Purchase decent supplies (branded ones like prismacolor and even kneadable erasers are hard to find in most places) and draw regularly.

There's no such thing like earning a living with sketching/ drawing unless you put in some serious effort so be prepared to choose a career path to support you.

That said, we're happy to help you grow with us. Contact us if you have any questions to ask.

New to photorealism?

Are you new to photorealism?

Whenever anybody picks up pencil and paper to draw anything, they want their drawing to look accurate. And look indistinguishable from a high quality photograph.

Artists like Heather Rooney and Mark Krillen have earned recognition thanks to their awe-inspiring skills.

So, how exactly do you start to draw like them?

It's simple actually. You just have to think before drawing. Not just proportions, and shapes but overall composition of your drawing.

Many things might be missing but here's a quick summary to getting drawings come to life:

Acrylics/Air pastels/ Water color/ graphite are some mediums to get started with.

i) Draw mindfully. This is very easy to forget. Look at the reference photo every second, everytime you draw a line, a shape or any shadows and highlights. Don't draw it the way you think it should be. Draw it the way you see. Even if it is awkward to draw.

ii) Though some artists actually draw shapes by themselves without any grids, most usually trace or use a LCD projector or a grid to get the outlines correct. It's not cheating when accuracy matters.
If you don't want to trace, work out the shapes perfectly so that it resembles the reference closely.

iii) Always keep a light hand when drawing outlines. Gradually darken the lines in layers. Keep a good composure and be patient. Extremely detailed drawings take weeks to finish!

iv) Be open to criticism. Keep your lines to a minimum. If your drawing has contrast and apt shading, it will automatically look photorealistic.

v) Invest on quality tools. A good cartridge sketchpad, mechanical pencils and blending stump. You could get them easily at any local art store.

I suck at drawing. How do I improve at it?

Have you always wanted to draw like da Vinci but end up drawing like a fourth grade kid? Do you want to be an artist?
Then this post is for you.
First things first, artist is a broad term. What separates novice amateurs from professional artists is passion. Nothing substitutes years of practice.

Basics first.

So what do you need to draw?
Interest!
What do you love? Do you love cartoons or faces or butterflies? Choose a photo to draw from.
You dont need to have artist grade Prismacolor/Staedtler/Fabercastell pencils, you'll know when you'll want those.
What do I need?
Buy a mechanical pencil, hb grade. And another 6b grade. Or pencils with sharpener. Don't get stuck on papers. Drawing papers get pretty expensive. Starting out on cheapest white paper you could find is fine. Get a decent rubber eraser (kneadable eraser recommended) and a flat, smooth drawing surface.

Start with very light marks on paper.

These are basic outlines. Just light enough so you can see them.
When drawing, try to find shapes in things. ovals for pupils, triangles for noses and curves for lips. This will make it easy for you.
If you have never drawn before, it's fine to trace. Many artists have used camera-like devices to trace faces on paper.

Some tips :

i) Never ever start out with dark lines. Unless you're already confident you won't mess up.

ii) Don't lose plan of your overall work. Always look at your whole drawing while drawing. You'll often forget to pay attention to overall proportions.

iii) Don't use an eraser.
Yes you read it right.
Using an eraser over and over not only damages paper, it also conditions you to repeatedly keep mistakes. Instead, draw smooth lines lightly and mimic angles instead of curves.

iv) Don't shade extensively. Control yourself!

v) Don't just make everything darker because it doesn't look nice. Check proportions, then observe the lighting of reference photo. Always have an idea of what you're doing next.

vi) Use lead pencils for precise control of lines. I've always preferred them over any other pencils.

Drawing Mr. Bean

The outline has been drawn with 2h and details filled in with a  3b Fabercastell pencil.

Notice the position of eyeball and the direction of lights and shadow. 

How to draw a realistic tiger

Drawing a realistic tiger

This has been drawn using hb, mechanical pencil for detailing and 2b pencil for shades.
Notice how fur coats make fine beautiful stripes, and how those almost converge at the midline of head. The snout is prominent, and whiskers are actually white in a photograph. I used eraser for the effect. You could use a white drawing pencil or something of that sort.
Build in layers, begin with lighter values and put in darker values and shades later.

Panda:')

#ashu
Some friends are very precious:')

Pencils used: hb, mechanical pencil for detailing

Somehow, reality always seems to be prettier than scribbles and strokes. See her smile?

Notice how the highlights and dark areas give her face volume and depth. Despite being a time-consuming process, it certainly pays off in the end.

Face study

Jan 14, 2017

Every face is different. This pretty one here, has been sketched with a 5b Faber-castell pencil, A4 size.

When you first look at a photo or a live face, the first thing you need to notice is the overall form. How it looks. Is it pretty? Before getting into technical aspects, take it easy.

What direction is the reference looking? How high?

What is he/she feeling?

Everybody has their unique way to start portraits. I almost always start with an outline of the shape of face. Once I get it pretty accurate to the real photo, I look for basic features.

I break the face into three equal parts (forehead- eyebrow, eyebrow- base of nose, base of nose-chin)

Once I have those lines in place, I draw eye socket roughly and place eyes, eyelids and pupil to help with details. Eyes are often one eye apart. Then, shape of nose, then lips and finally I look if the face resembles the reference  I do hair last.

Having lighter lines while drawing proportions and darkening those lines helps to get the contrast, and more realistic drawings.