Exercise: Mark making (Patreon)

Hello everyone! This very first art practice post is going to be about mark-making. Using pencils and brush pens to make marks is a fun way

Hello everyone! This very first art practice post is going to be about mark-making. Using pencils and brush pens to make marks is a fun way

Hello everyone! This very first art practice post is going to be about mark-making. Using pencils and brush pens to make marks is a fun way

Hello everyone! ☀️

This very first art practice post is going to be about mark-making. Using pencils and brush pens to make marks is a fun way to explore textures and shapes. Pencils give you fine lines for detailed work and shading, while brush pens make bold strokes that show contrast.

Each tool has its own way of working. Pencils are good for careful, precise drawing, while brush pens let you be more spontaneous and fluid. Trying out both enables you to be more experimenting when creating an illustration. 🤗

Making marks is how artists show feelings, movement, and mood in their pictures. Whether you're sketching, doodling, or creating illustrations, using pencils and brush pens or other mediums together makes your art more interesting and expressive.

The fun thing is that you can do this exercise with every material you want to use. Feel free to explore and experiment with various mediums besides pencils and brush pens. Through this exploration, you'll get insights into the possibilities and limitations of your chosen materials.

✨ Exercise 1 - Brush pen marks

We will start with exploring the marks you can create with a brush pen, as demonstrated in the first part of the video. Begin by creating a grid on your paper, with as many boxes as you'd like. Then, allow yourself to loosen up and experiment with various marks. I used my 126 (light olive) Tombow brush pen in this exercise. However, feel free to select any colour that you'd like.

Tip: Explore different ways of holding your brush pen to expand the range of marks you can create. Additionally, experiment with varying pressures on the paper to see its effect on your marks.

✨ Exercise 2 - Coloured pencil marks

Next, let's explore mark-making with coloured pencils. Choose one colour and create another grid similar to the one you made with the brush pen. Experiment with different pressures, angles, and techniques to see how the coloured pencils interact with the paper. You'll discover that coloured pencils offer a different texture and depth compared to brush pens. Coloured pencils allow you to create details and subtle variations in tones.

✨ Exercise 3 - Mixed media marks

For the final exercise, let's combine both mediums – brush pens and coloured pencils. Use the marks you've explored in the previous exercises to create a mixed-media artwork. You can start by laying down a base of bold brush pen strokes and then layering coloured pencil details on top. Play with layering, blending, and mixing the two mediums to create interesting textures and visual effects. This exercise encourages you to experiment with combining different mark-making techniques to create dynamic and expressive artwork.

Lastly, share your exercise in the 'Creative Practice Boost' group chat to show what you created, get feedback, and inspire each other! 🤗 ➡️ Go to the group chat

If you have any questions about these exercises, please let me know!

Love, Celyn 🌸

For this video, I used the app Inshot

Music: SUITE ROOM, Remastered

Musician: Guitar_Obsession

Site: https://pixabay.com/music/suite-room-119798/ , https://pixabay.com/music/melody-remastered-116741/