Jane Davenport - Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces: A Mixed-Media Portrait Workshop

Use whatever drawing tools you have access to.

When do I use what? is a common question about art supplies, and its my intention to help you with those decisions throughout this book. But I have a confession to make first: I am an art supply junkie. I love art supplies so much I created an online workshop all about them and I opened an art supply store. No one knows better than I, that with all that amazing choices, deciding what to use can be overwhelminglet alone deciding how to use it.

Back to that question, When to use what? Well, the answer many artists give is intuition. But what is intuition? Its the result of experience, experimentation, and practice. The important thing to realize is there are no wrong choices. There are no mistakes, no rules. Even when the result is an unexpected muddy mess, you have learned a valuable lesson about your materials.

Getting in touch with your supplies, and learning the things that make your heart sing, develops your artistic intuition. Whenever you play with your supplies, you are building your creative confidence.

I think its important to set your supplies free from the boxes they came in and, if possible, have them arranged around you where you create. That way you can unfetter your intuition and grab whatever color appeals to you at the time!

I always have my most trusted supplies nearby to lean on, but I like trying new things, rediscovering old favorites, and experimenting to discover new ways to use what I have. Sometimes I place an ignored art supply right in front of me to encourage its use. I am not curating an art supply museumalthough it certainly would be fun! I want my stuff to be paint splattered, emptied, and taken to its limits.

I call my compulsion to arrange art supplies in color-wheel order Rainbowitis. My feeling is that the creative process is chaotic enough, so I like to surround myself with organized color while the art is happening. That way I can always (well, usually) find what I need.

In this chapter we take a closer look at the materials I use in my artwork.

Making art is a physical experience. So much inspiration comes from the way it actually feels to put our tools to a surface we like. I, for one, go crazy over great paper! So although this books exercises can be created on canvas, wood, panels, or the walls, I encourage you to consider dedicating a sketchbook to them.