My Museum

Choosing the right background color for your painting is as important as the color of your foreground subjects. Your background should bring out your subject (focus or foreground of your painting ) and not overshadow it or take the attention from it. Unless you’re doing ‘still life’, or abstract and just a beginner, go by this rule. Now, should you do the background first or last? It depends on what’s more convenient for you, there’s really no rule regarding this.

See also: Sketch from a photo

Another pencil sketch of a photo of a pair of birds I found on the internet. You can do live sketches of subjects right in front of you or from a picture or photo. Sketch as often as you can. I try to draw at least once or twice a week, do two or more subjects in one sketching session. Like I always say, practice makes perfect.

Here's another great site for you to visit - Drawing Blog by Mitch Bowler. The site consists of free lessons (PDF files - you will need an acrobat reader for that - Google the software) on drawing caricatures, cartoons, portraits etc. IT offers a step by step guides on "How to dos". A goldmine for beginners in the field. I have yet to really improve on my portrait painting skills and have bookmarked this place. I've also added a link to his site on my side menu (check that out). You can subscribe to the site or contact Mitch yourself. What are you waiting for? Go!

Lanzones is a native fruit in the Philippines. I love doing fruits and what better subject would their be than our own  produce?  Not only does practice make perfect, it also speeds up your ability to draw and paint . Before, a project like this would've taken me longer to finish. This one was drawn from an actual lanzones fruit placed as is on a brown top.  Here's my practice sketch and acrylic applied after a photo of the initial drawing. And here's a photo of real lanzones 

First attempt at a sweet orange (Dalandan - Citrus Aurantium). Pastel pencil on my sketch pad . Lesson: Practice, take risks (Don't be afraid to try new subjects), Learn.