 Hi, my name is Maria and I'm a visual artist teaching artist so today we're going to be Doing some observational drawing so developing our observational like skills and in art so a lot of times as artists we interpret and observe the world around us and create art out of it and Observing Seeing our surroundings is one of the biggest inspirations to the work that we do So this is the focus of it is how we can observe the details around us and in terms of That that skill development. So so you're gonna grab just like a blank sheet of paper And So you're gonna grab your paper And so when we think of observational skills or observing What comes to mind to you? For me, what comes to mind is I'm looking at something and I'm seeing how it's shaped How does it look like? And then I'm seeing the reflection of it. Does it have shade? Is it? Is it a certain direction? And then I'm looking at things around that so is it Is this object in a city? What kind of setting is it? Is it like in an urban setting? Is it in a city? Is it like in a? Either like rural area. Are you looking at a space that has trees or Does it have buildings? Cars like what are when you're looking at something you want to be mindful of looking at everything around what you're creating So so I'm gonna imagine right now in the beach In the ocean or I'm I'm at a beach somewhere in the tropics And so what I'm looking at is I'm looking at the ocean And then I'm thinking what time of day is it it's kind of morning So it's sunrise. So these are things to keep in mind time of day where where's Your scenery app and so you also can be imaginative and just imagine a space a scenery or a background It doesn't literally have to be what you observe But you do have to be mindful of like making sure that the things that you want in your scenery are there So like for your for the person that is looking at your artwork to also observe and think about and so So we're gonna get to drawing together and creating art So I'm gonna make an ocean background. So when I think of an ocean, I think I'm when I think of a beach I think of the ocean So I'm gonna put a straight a line just across my paper and So this will be my ocean water. This will be my sky And so when you want to when you're sketching out always sketch with the pencils that way It's easier to erase and easy easier to cover When you're painting or coloring your art. So So here's my ocean and then I think when I think of a beach scenery or when I think of When I'm looking at a beach. I always see palm trees So I'm gonna draw a palm tree here and if you're doing your setting like in a Like in a different like in a city of you. Are you looking at buildings? So you want to draw? what? that out so I'm drawing out my So remember you're just sketching with the pencil. So you don't have to go really in detail It's just a rough draft for you to like know where what you're working with and So there's my palm tree My ocean I want some sand So I put that waves coming in and then the sand And then you want to think about what time of day it is or if you're making a real Realistic drawing is it day? Is it night? And so I as I mentioned earlier, I'm doing a morning sunrise Beach kind of scenery background so I'm putting my Sun coming out and then I'm going to put my brace some breeze and then the Reflection of the Sun in the ocean and so then I have my My base my basic sketch of my scenery and then And then I want I want some clouds So you want to think about is it a sunny day cloudy day? What kind of days a? Weather wise and then reflect that in your if you're making a realistic realistic drawing so If I have my clouds Okay, so you have your basic sketch and then you're gonna start Killing it in with with different colors textures Shading so this is like where you have as an artist the creative ability to create your Your drawing based on your own Individuality as a creative being so it doesn't so you so in this component is your creative freedom So you you can explore and also experiment with colors with textures So there's different types of art forms like this one is mostly like a real list of realistic type of drawing but also if your style is more kind of like More abstract that's completely fine The purpose of what we're working up right now is developing our drawing skills and how we can observe around us to be developing Multiple skills to create artworks. So So that's mostly what the intent of you working on this is so So I grabbed a micro pen So micro pens are great because they're water resistant so But if you don't have a micro pen just any water-resistant marker works perfectly And so with this you're gonna go over the areas that you want to bring out And your drawing or see how I'm kind of starting to bring out my Promptries and then my ocean so I have a basic sketch and then now With the pen I've been able to highlight and bring out The areas that I want to paint So so with this you can be experimental. So I have Some watercolor brushes so usually The watercolor brushes will have a little brush on next to the side. So that's how you'll know their water You can use them with water and blend with water So so if you go if you go to the store and you see color markers, and then you see water color markers It's the water base that that I'm using for these tools because then I can blend with Other water colors. So I'm kind of going to do an abstract real with some piece so The plants the trees and everything's not going to be the actual color of like what you would think the tree looks like but That's like where I'm gonna allow myself to be creative and Experiment so you could do the same. It's up to you Kind of so I'm gonna color it in and you want to make sure You take your time with with Coloring in and filling it in As an artist we spend a lot of time drawing so It can literally take 30 minutes to like hours So I could be drawing for 12 hours the most to five hours a day and for me it's like Time doesn't exist and though and like that continue your moment and a lot of artists are the same We just like kind of this track of time when we're Doing our artwork. So So so take your time you can always set aside your piece and then take a break and go back to your artwork So don't always feel like you need to finish your artwork in one take especially if you're doing an observational piece You want to be very mindful of like the details So take your time It's okay, there's no good or bad art there's just art and so So even if you don't feel your artwork is like how you want it to be it's all part of the process It's all part of the learning process of developing those skills So sometimes I look at my drawings from even like a year ago, and I'm like, oh, no Like this and that you know, but that's like we're as artists are biggest critics And and it's always good to like be mindful of that that like art is always gonna be like contributed different by every every artist so So so we're developing our our Our observational skills and this process as we're thinking of the textures in our Tree like this palm tree you want to think of the shading and the like The silhouette of your tree in comparison to like the colors in the background like the background of the sky the ocean and the sand so and And so I'm using watercolor pencils in this and so I'm blending with water So if you in case you were wondering so this is water And then I I went over a little bit with Pencil watercolor pencil and then I'm spreading it out with a brush and water and then you can You can continue Highlighting as you go. So that's the cool thing about watercolor pencils is you can continue Coloring on top of your artwork and it blends easier So take your time don't feel you need to Like Rush through your artwork And that's like one of the that's actually the reason why we're practicing Observational skills because it helps us take our time to observe what we're creating and what we're looking at to Create an artwork versus just wanting to like brush through it and get it done. So that's what we're really focusing on is like taking time Reflecting on what we're seeing what we're working with and what we're trying to visually Share with others So art art visual arts is a very interactive art form. So we're always like Interacting like as creative people like I did with other artists or just like with the materials We're working with and so it's okay to experiment like with different colors to see kind of like what Emerges out of it. So I always encourage my students like to Mix and match colors and see how they look like just cuz It's cool to see like the chemistry of art like when you mix different colors what comes out of it So you can always use watercolor brushes So they're just kind of like a little brushes, but they're water based you can always blend with all the other watercolor materials And so these you can start Creating that texture for your ocean This one I gotta replace the light blue one So you can see and then I'm gonna spread it out and then bend it in with Watercolor pencil and then I'll use some liquid watercolor Water color to continue texturizing so you can get experimental with different materials you have If you have crayons that works perfectly if you have markers also like that works perfect to so it's up to You so this one kind of already jumped out on me. So I'm just gonna spread it out So usually I just do like droplets at the top of my brush and then start blending it in so and I always tell my students there's no good or bad art like I mentioned earlier. There's And if you feel you made a mistake what I always think of mistakes or when you make an accident It's like learning process. So it's not really a mistake. It's like you're just learning Something and then you're gonna learn to do something differently next time So so those are kind of like what I tell myself so I don't like feel negative about like what I'm creating. So like always Encourage people to talk positively to yourself when you're making art because it's a very vulnerable space to like be with yourself And then when you share it with others, it's incredibly like a Vulnerable space because then you're open to like people's interpretations of your artwork So that's why like when you're creating always be gentle with yourself and don't don't like Don't feed into like that negative artist talk that we as artists often tell ourselves like that we This isn't good enough or like don't don't tell yourself that when you're creating Because it's not gonna help your life learn your lifelong creative learning process Because everybody in every field in every art form makes mistakes We all do all the time and it's part of human nature. So so why beat ourselves up for that or When we can just enjoy the process and then when we're done We can just reflect how we felt about it. So So those are things to keep in mind when you're observing is like How am I treating myself in this process? Am I drinking a lot of water? Am I? Am I like Giving myself breaks to rest my hands because you're just pretty much working with your hands a lot as visual artists So remember your hands also need to rest and they also need to take time to to like To rest so that you can have energy the next day to continue creating So be mindful of your body too like if you're exhausted don't brush yourself through the process just Yeah, and I have some artwork that I made like in 30 minutes Then I have some artwork that's taken me like months to create so it's there's no timeline for this It's up to you So always check in with yourself. How am I doing? Am I can I take a break today and go back to it? So right now I'm gonna take a small little break from this so that the colors can set in and then I'll fill it in and then I'll finish it. So It will probably take me like hours to finish. So I'm not gonna attempt to finish it for you in this video But I will show you some other artwork that I have made Prepared for you. So so this is kind of like a background I made for like a garden scenery and so you can see the different the different shading for the flowers I made like a sky like a Kind of like a cloudy But like a summer sky Kind of day cuz flowers bring time summers what comes to mind. So I wanted to create like a very vibrant peace and then I made like a This kind of like a universe like looking at the moon like I'm observing that I saw myself as like I'm in the moon and I'm looking at the earth kind of background. So this that that's like my creative interpretation of like Being like a creative astronaut as an artist. So always use your imagination It's like the best thing as an artist is when we are imaginative and we're like use our words To also like convey our imagination visually too So don't be afraid to like create your own words for the artwork that you're making because it's your space It's your creative self Expressing itself. So so you can see here like I use like different patterns like for like the stars and then the skies and then Yeah, so the so the most important thing about this lesson is not so much the art itself it's about the process and so what you're working on is developing a skill which is drawing that could be used for a lifelong journey of learning and Creative stuff and creativity and remember each artist has their own drawing style and technique. So I Encourage you to continue developing those And then hopefully when I'm old I can see this amazing artist from Seattle that watched this video Made this incredible artwork. So thank you for your time and my name is Maria. I hope you have fun