Design Motifs: Preclass

Welcome to class!

I’m very excited to see what students will be creating in this course; it’s a bit different than the usual one around here. I’ll teach you some basics and principles – and then it’s up to you to make them your own!

Each lesson contains 2 videos; the primary one shows step by step how to create the design itself, with options you can choose – or go your own way!  The second video shows small clips from the coloring of a sample piece; that’s partially to jumpstart your creativity, but also to possibly help you find some mediums you might have wanted to try out! At the end of each lesson I’ll be linking to the Jumpstart Course for the mediums shown, so if you get excited and want to dive in, you can get there fast. 🙂

A special request:

Please do not post your homework on grid paper as a straight-on, flat image online! With the advent of AI stealing everything we make, please do not make it easy for machines or copyright thieves to take these designs. If you’d like to share what you did, take a photo at an angle, or lay a pencil or pen on top of it, which will make it harder to steal the image. 

Thank you for understanding and helping our art community reclaim the joy of creating from the interwebs 🙂 

Before we start…a little housekeeping

I retain the copyright to the content you are learning in class. That means…

1. Do not sell or give away the concepts from my classes – you may not re-teach my instruction contained or created within these lessons. My method remains proprietary.
2. Do not post a video tutorial or step by step photo tutorial of your own redraw of class content.
3. Do not repost any handouts you receive in class.

However…I love to see students making strides and taking this teaching and personalizing it with your own skills.

1. DO make your own designs and develop your own style! I love that!
2. DO gift your creations made with these techniques, of course!

At the bottom of each lesson you’ll see some ways to share your homework and ask questions, so that’ll be handy for you.

Supplies

This video shows the items I recommend having on hand to start the class in the first part; the coloring mediums are NOT required, but are simply what is used in demos.

Drawing supplies

1. Grid paper – 8 squares per inch BLICK  AMZ
2. Pencils and sharpeners:
   1. Koh-i-noor Lead holder BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   2. Staedtler Mars Lead holder pencil BLICK  AMZ
   3. Staedtler Mars Lead holder lead refills (get 2B or 4B) BLICK  JACKSONS
   4. Staedtler Mars Lead holder pointer (sharpener) BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
3. Erasers
   1. Faber Castell Kneaded Eraser BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   2. Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   3. Mont Marte Electric Eraser AMZ
4. Tools:
   1. Inexpensive Westcott Compass and protractor set BLICK  AMZ
   2. But the Staedtler one that I just found holds….PENS, whee!! BLICK AMZ
5. Pen options:
   1. Tachikawa Dip Pen Nib Holder AMZ
   2. Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen Ink   AMZ
   3. TWSBI Eco fountain pen ExtraFine AMZ
   4. TWSBI Eco fountain pen Fine AMZ
   5. TWSBI Eco fountain pen Medium AMZ
   6. Sakura Micron Pigma Pens BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   7. Sharpie Ultrafine black marker BLICK AMZ
6. Detail pens:
   1. Copic Acrea Paint Markers BLICK
   2. Copic Acrea Paint Markers Essentials set BLICK

Transferring your designs

Alcohol markers

Use any brand you like! I’ve got a curated set at OLO if you’re interested, and below is a video about them. I like to use them with Neenah Cardstock.

Water-based markers

You can use any brand of course – but I’ve got Faber Castell’s Albrecht Durer set. Same color names and colors that match their other supplies, which I love! BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS

Brushes – I’m using DaVinci Maestro Round 4 ( BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS ) and Round 2 (BLICK  AMZ) in this course.

Staedtler Pigment Pens

A very interesting medium – these dry permanent and allow layering, but are transparent, so they do unique effects. Also they don’t bleeed through even some thin papers like coloring books.

1.  Staedtler Mars Pigment Arts Pen – note that the full range of 60 colors will be out sometime in February in the US. BLICK
2. Pick up some of their blending solution too; it will break down dry pigment and let you do at least some blending. AMAZON
3. Use them with Canson XL paper. BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS

Traditional Watercolor

I love me some Daniel Smith watercolors! They come in tubes, and are squeezed (squoze?) into a palette. But if you’ve got some other pan sets, feel free to use what you’ve got. I’ll show an example of using Masking Fluid.

1. Pebeo Drawing Gum BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
2. Pickup BLICK AMZ

Brushes – I’m using DaVinci Maestro Round 4 ( BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS ) and Round 2 (BLICK  AMZ) in this course.

Colored Pencils

Any brand of artist-grade pencils is recommended – primarily these but there are more:

1. Pencils:
   1. Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils BLICK  AMZ  
   2. Prismacolor Hex Chart
   3. Faber Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   4. Polychromos Hex Chart
   5. Caran d’Ache Luminance Colored Pencils BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS
   6. Luminance Hex Chart
      Derwent Lightfast Colored Pencils BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS  DERWENT
   7. Derwent Lightfast Hex Chart
2. Stonehenge Sketchbook 7×7 BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS 
3. Pencil Extender BLICK  AMZ  JACKSONS 
4. AFMAT long point pencil sharpener