Drawing tutorials

More news I thought I would pass on:

Brush up on your figure drawing skills. Artist Stan Prokopenko (a.k.a. Proko) has a series of drawing tutorials that are worth checking out. He has a fun style of teaching that is easy to understand and will keep you engaged in the lesson.

Start with "How to draw the head from any angle"
Also, his newest series of figure drawing tutorials will begin, today, June 17^th with both free and premium content. Here’s the promo page for that series. 

Or you could simply go to his website, lots of fun stuff, never stop learning.

Mary Mother of Jesus

The Madonna
8X10, Oil on Linen
by Jason Peck

My First Post

Hey Guys,

         My name is Jason Peck, and Im an Artist. Ive been drawing most of my life and painting for about 25 years now. I was diagnosed with one of the many forms of Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 4. I couldn't go outside and play with my friends because of my illness, so I spent most my days drawing, and eventually I turned to painting. I thank God for each and everyday, and for inspiring me to become an artist. 

Here are a few examples of my art.

A Mighty Pen

5X7, Pen and Ink on Paper

 

God So Loved

14X18, Oil on Canvas

 

The Pieta

8X10, Pencil & Watercolor on Paper

God Bless everyone, and thanks for letting me join. There are so many talented artist here on this blog. I really enjoy looking at everyone's art. Very inspiring.

My Art blog;  http://jasons-brush.blogspot.com/

Holy Trinity

This is my first post.  My name is John and I am a Catholic artist in Omaha, NE.  I am part of a group of local artists who show their work at The Sacred Art Show www.SacredArtShow.com.  I started painting a series of watercolor paintings of the Holy Rosary.  My first painting was The Annunciation and that was my 'yes' to sacred art.  I was praying the Rosary and taking bible study classes by Jeff Cavins and by Scott Hahn at Ignatius Press.  The study brought richness and meaning to my Catholic faith an inspired me to read scripture related to each mystery.  I incorporated the scripture studies to build 'threads' for each mystery in the Joyful and Luminous.  You can download the scripture studies and see the paintings (and other Catholic and Christian artists work) at www.TheArtisticVocation.com.  I am seeking Catholic and Christian artists to display their work that is good, true, and beautiful.  I believe people can deepen their faith through Catholic and Christian art.  It begins a conversation about our love for Jesus Christ.

If you are an amateur Catholic artist who is getting serious about your vocation to the arts, I would encourage you to consider attending the art program at Thomas More College of Liberal Arts this summer.  Participants will spend almost two weeks studying academic drawing with artist Paul Ingbretson.  Evenings will be filled with lectures and discussions on Beauty, Art, and Catholicism.  I will be organizing the program this year and would be delighted to see you there.

Read all the details at the following link:

http://www.thomasmorecollege.edu/summerprogram/art-program

Introduction

Another lurker here, who has finally decided to seek admission to the Guild. I am very happy indeed, and honored to be among such artists and illustrators.

This is the frontispiece I did for the first -- and as of this writing, still only -- edition of the Book of Divine Worship, the approved liturgy of the Roman Catholic Anglican Use (now the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter in the United States and Canada).

The influence of Albrecht Dürer is unmistakable, of course; the four main figures are based directly on his originals. I wanted the frontispiece to be evocative of the old prayer manuals that were such an important part of Church life in England, even after the Reformation.

The full image is cropped because my printer is only capable of scanning 8"x10". A complete scan will be added later.

The Bonnie Prince

This painting of Christ the King given the Honours of Scotland was commissioned by Father Michael Mary from the monastery island in Papa Stronsay, the Orkney Isles, in Scotland.  You can visit the blog of the Transalpine Redemptorists here.

The idea was to depict the Royal Child emerging from the darkness, the mystery and the mist of the Highlands in all His beauty.  As you can see in the painting, the Christ Child wears the Royal Stuart Tartan, and on His head is the crown of Scotland.  He sits on the coronation stone (The Stone of Scone) which was used for centuries in the coronation of the monarchs of Scotland.  His hand is raised in blessing and as in the style of the Most Holy Redeemer, He holds the Cross on His left side.  His Sacred Heart is visible - the high point of the manifestation of His Kingship.  He bears the marks of His crucifixion.  Around Him are the Highlands of Scotland known for its grey skies and mist, and towards the edge of the painting the Royal Scottish Standard is visible.

Below is the text to the hymn canonically approved by the Bishop of Aberdeen:

Hymn to the Bonnie Prince
(Tune:  Auld Lang Syne –Robert Burns)

1. Let folly praise that fancy loves,
    I praise and love that Child
Whose heart no thought, whose tongue no word,
    Whose hand no deed defiled.
I praise Him most, I love Him best,
    All praise and love is His;
While Him I love, in Him I live,
    And cannot live amiss.

2. Love's sweetest mark, land's highest theme,
    Man's most desired light,
To love Him life, to leave Him death,
    To live in Him delight.
He mine by gift, I His by debt,
    Thus each to other due,
First Friend He was, best Friend He is,
    All times will try Him true.

3. Though young yet wise, though small yet strong,
    Thou man yet God He is;
As wise He knows, as strong He can,
    As God He loves to bless:
His knowledge rules, His strength defends,
    His love doth cherish all;
His birth our joy, His life our light,
    His death our end of thrall.

4. Alas, He weeps, He sighs, He pants!
    Yet do His angels sing;
Out of His tears, His sighs and throbs,
    Doth bud a joyful spring.
O Bonnie Prince, whose tender arms  
    Can force all foes to fly,
Correct my faults, protect my life,
    Direct me when I die.

[Slight adaptation of the hymn: Let Folly Praise What Fancy Loves
by St Robert Southwell, S.J. martyred at Tyburn, 21 February, 1595.]

Apple Orchard Paintings by Jason Tako

The area not far from my Pennsylvania home is nicknamed "Apple Country." The fruit orchards go on for miles; their perfect rows and patterns emphasize the smooth contour of the rolling hills and mountains. Nestled within these hills are farms occupied by the orchard workers and Mennonite families. It is such a beautiful area to drive through. Each orchard has a store that sells apples, homemade jellies, candy, wildflower honey and other assorted fruits.
These three paintings below are the first available from the apple orchard series that I'm currently working on. See more at www.jasontako.com. Thanks and God bless!

The Apocalypse Art Prize

I thought this might be of interest to some of the members. It is a contest for art based on the Book of Revelation of Saint John. The Orthodox Art Journal has a good overview here.
If you want to go directly to the site for the competition click here.

Pentecost

Pentecost.

I am trying for a harmonious junction of Illustration with the sort of stiff iconic image full of symbolism that is usual in Catholic iconography.  I like that style of work, but it's not really what I do, and I am trying to see if what I do works in that setting.  So this is a composite: not really an illustration of the Pentecost event (the one from John 20:19--23 that is in this year's lectionary), but more an illustration than an icon.  

Mother Breastfeeding Her Baby

Happy [belated] Mother's Day!

Here's a drawing I did recently on the universal subject of motherly love. At first I wanted to do another Madonna and Child image (can't get enough of them!) but then I thought of making a similar image with less religious tone. So here goes.

This is a study of Zurbaran's "Agnus Dei" I just finished.  It is oil on panel 12 x 16."  It was only after attempting the study that I truly appreciated the genius of the original!

Saint Joseph

gospel for April 28

Gospel for May 5

I did these drawings in an ongoing plan to make one for every Sunday of the three year cycle, so that they could theoretically be used for the covers of the orders of worship at our church.  (So far, only three are actually complete, though there are a couple more smaller ones.)  Our music director uses the beautiful drawings of Brother Martin Erspamer, OSB, and I don't mean to compete with those, but it seems that an in-house source of cover drawings would be nice.  

An Introduction

I can't remember exactly how I first found this blog-- I think it was because the amazing author Regina Doman linked to Ben Hatke who linked to this blog-- but I've been reading it for years. (I've followed many of the individual artists' blogs, too, but because I'm one of those silly people who constantly haunts blogs without ever commenting, you probably couldn't tell).

Basically, I was so overawed by all the wonderful artists that I never got up the gumption to join the Guild. That is, until one day when I realized that I was yet again being completely silly. Everyone has to start somewhere, right? And it's always best to start in the company of people who are talented, knowledgeable and faithful.

So, yes, HI EVERYONE! My name is Shaylynn Rackers. I am 18 years old, the eldest of six-soon-to-be-seven kids in an amazing family of engineers and mathematicians. My family always teases me and says that I am their little mutant because I love art so much. They are all very creative thinkers, but because they can only draw stick figures I've had to learn about artwork from books and obsessively analyzing everything I see. I can't wait for this fall, when I will be studying graphic design and illustration at college.

I don't have a favorite art technique or art "genre" because I love experimenting too much. I think that I am the most comfortable using pencil and charcoal, though.

This is a drawing I did in October for Treasures of Middle Earth: The Hobbit Design Contest. I wound up winning first place in the Weapons category and got seven prop replicas from LotR and the Hobbit! My siblings and I are huge Tolkien fans and we are still "geeking out" about this!

Recently I've been falling in love with pen drawings and attempting to learn watercolors. I did some sketching the day that Pope Francis was elected. It's very Catholic (obviously) so I'll share some here. The rest of this sketch series is on my blog.

I love calligraphy, painting, drawing-- you name it. Most of my art is inspired by my favorite fairytales and myths, but I do love to draw everything. There simply isn't enough time to draw all the ideas floating around inside my head!

(This quote by the wonderful G.K. Chesterton is one of the reasons why fairytales are so inspiring to me: "Fairytales are more than true, not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.")

watercolor, "The Birth of the Phoenix"

Another one of my favorite pastimes is making jewelry, which I sell online. I also do all the graphics for Ink and Fairydust, an online magazine "encouraging faith and creativity." We're on a bit of a slump right now but will hopefully release a new issue soon.

copper grecian-style headpiece

If you want to see more of my artwork, I do have a DeviantArt account which is sadly abandoned at the moment. I'm still trying to get the hang of it as I have time and would love to add fellow Catholic artists to my watch list-- just let me know your username! :)

My main site is my blog, Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe. I post some of my artwork, lots of craft tutorials, and many random, geeky, artsy things. I also have facebook and twitter.

 I'm thrilled to be a part of the Guild. Thanks for letting me introduce myself!