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When I stumbled onto this short article about Chinese trash collectors the other day, I immediately found myself wanting to draw the makeshift vehicles featured in the story. (See illustration above.) I've always enjoyed drawing vehicles, but my recent Sketchbook Skool experience has whet my appetite for drawing anything and everything. If nothing else, I think I'm more inclined now to at least attempt to draw things I wouldn't have drawn in the past, if that makes sense. I guess maybe that means it's given me some confidence, which is always a good thing. |
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My final Sketchbook Skool teacher was Felix Scheinberger – who also happens to be one of my favorite illustrators. (Okay, well maybe it's not that much of a coincidence — the chance to take a drawing class from him was one of the reasons I signed up for Sketchbook Skool in the first place.)
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Felix Scheinberger is a German illustrator, artist, designer and the author of three books on watercolors, including the bestselling Urban Watercolor Sketching. He has illustrated over fifty books, and he's one of those rare artists who make other artists jealous — not only because of his talent, but because his drawing style is extraordinarily unique and his artistic ability appears to come to him so effortlessly.
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Felix is a professor of illustration at the University of Applied Sciences in Munster and lives in Berlin, Germany. Felix's website.
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Felix is a firm believer in the concept of blind contour drawing, and says that in many cases, he begins by looking primarily at the subject while he's drawing (as opposed to the sheet of paper he's drawing on.)
I don't know about most people, but when I try to draw without looking at my paper, I tend to end up with a sheet full of unintelligible scribbles. So I… for lack of a better word… cheat a little, and sneak random peeks at what I've drawn to keep me on course. Here is a page of random faces with mixed results…
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I added some watercolor—here's a composite so you can see some of the color work in more detail…
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I then tried three quick self portraits with rather horrifying results…
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(They reminded me of that old line by comedian Jim Gaffigan, "You ever see a photo of yourself… and it kinda ruins your day?")
I had an interesting epiphany during this lecture: I realized that many of my drawings originate from my imagination, as opposed to my drawing something I'm actually looking at.
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In other words, typically when I draw, I may or may not look at a reference photo, and do most of the drawing from memory. So the whole 'sketch what you see' and 'focus on what you're looking at' is a different approach for me.
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Anyway, I enjoyed the exercise and have tried to implement the lessons I learned from Felix in other drawings.
Felix's second assignment centered around composition and constructing scenes. He asked us to find several small objects, such as a toy or figurine, and work them into a scene, almost like one would do while creating a storyboard for a movie.
I did some quick sketches of a wooden Don Quixote figurine my grandparents gave me and a clay frog my son made in a grade school art class years ago…
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…and used them to compose the story of 'Frog Quixote'…
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I'm sad this was my final Sketchbook Skool 'klass.' I learned a lot and enjoyed every minute. What a great group of people (students and teachers alike).
To learn more about Sketchbook Skool, visit their website.
I have no affiliation with the school, by the way. I just really enjoyed the experience and would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to either brush up on their existing drawing skills, or develop new skills altogether.
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“Making art will show you how much you already have. Your real treasures. A brand-new Maserati is a lot less beautiful to draw than a rusty old pickup.”
–Danny Gregory, Art Before Breakfast
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1. Can't think of anything to draw? Try this drawing prompt generator, or one of these: 100 Sketchbook Prompts your students will love; 100 Silly Drawing Prompts.
2. This artist paints tiny masterpieces in empty Altoids tins.
3. I doubt you've ever seen a paper airplane like this: A 1:60-Scale Boeing 777 Built Entirely from Paper Manilla Folders by Luca Iaconi-Stewart.
4. The Sketchbook Project is a global interactive art library that's collected over 36,000 sketchbooks from people in over 100 different countries. Read more about it here, or by clicking the photo below. View random sketchbooks from the collection.
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“Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
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Welcome new subscribers to The Happiness of Art! Click here, or on the image below, to see past issues.
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If you enjoy The Happiness of Art, please share it with friends. It's easy: just click one of the buttons below. Thanks!
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Each month I give away one hand-signed, limited edition Giclée fine art print to a lucky newsletter subscriber. These small 'heart' prints are both matted and framed. Winners are notified via email at the beginning of each month.
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“...for hope is always born at the same time as love...”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote
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Previous Newsletter Issues
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Are you unable to see the images in this email?
I'm more of an illustrator than I am a writer, so if your email client blocks the images in The Happiness of Art—you're missing out. This quick tutorial tells you how to enable images in most of the popular email clients, including AOL, Yahoo and Gmail. |
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About Me
Hi. I’m D.E.Uhlig. I’m an artist, author, husband and father.
For as long as I can remember, I have loved to draw. Years ago I gave my wife a hand-drawn card for our anniversary, and she loved it so much she made me promise to ALWAYS hand-draw her cards. Then our three kids made me promise to do the same with their birthday cards. And when I posted some of my drawings online, people began asking how they could purchase my work—so I created this newsletter. I believe in something I like to call “The Happiness of Art” and I hope it makes you smile.
Official Bio
D.E.Uhlig is an award-winning illustrator whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the Kansas City Star, Christian Science Monitor, University Daily Kansan, Editorial Humor Magazine, and World Policy Journal. Commercial illustration and design clients over the years have included Samsung, Sprint, and the Los Angeles Times Syndicate, among others—and his Starbucks RedCup illustrations have been featured on the company's Pinterest and Facebook pages. In 1989, Mr. Uhlig co-founded Uhlig LLC, a leading provider of cross-media publishing and communication services in industries ranging from residential housing to book publishing to cancer care. Mr. Uhlig is married with three children and resides in Kansas City. He is currently working on children’s books, ebooks and apps.
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