Dear Reader,
Today I would like to talk about art materials a bit, more precisely the switching of tools.
Healthy Habits for Artists: Tool Switching
When I’m in a rut and I don’t feel inspired then the most powerful hack for me is to switch to another tool. The brain craves novelty but it doesn’t have to be new. Just something that isn’t quite as familiar.
(Weirdly going to an art store and buying a new art supply for me often has the opposite effect (which doesn’t mean that I don’t do it :P) With new art supplies I often find myself waiting for the RIGHT time to use them.)
I love sketching with my col-erase pencils (Scarlet red, Carmine Red, and blue)
but I could feel myself getting bored with my sketchbook which led to me sketching less frequently. The frequency naturally waxes and wanes but I really want to keep up my nearly daily sketching, since it is so useful to me in many ways.
So up I switched to a pencil ( Polychromos, Red-Violet) that felt different.
This pencil is not as erasable so it made me sketch a bit differently and that instantly was fun again. It is also easier to get more pigment onto the page.
Also switching the topic from my beloved small people just to some random girls inspired by a dress I saw online was good too.
Does switching tools have a similar effect on you?
TUTORIAL: Week 3 from10
When sketching and stylizing things this principle really helps me:
This How Schmoe Draws is from the Artist Principles PDF to share with you this week. This can also be found on my Patreon in the Artist Principles Collection of posts <3
WEEKLY PRACTICE
This week I will try applying straight vs curved to 5 sketches. This weeks references, a bit of a mixed bag of refs for this weekly practice :D
Last weeks shoes, I sketched:
And here are some of your last weeks practices <3
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F9078d6fa-1bd8-488c-89b4-20203f2c8f1f_1080x2160.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F794482c1-a6b6-4805-a00c-1bf935aec31c_1080x2160.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6464db84-b3e9-4619-8fd7-097c6d32b639_1080x2160.jpeg)
![](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_720,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fb50f8258-039c-49ec-a25a-f2f91dacae87_1080x2160.jpeg)
minime.with.heart, shera Owlia Irene Moor, stefaniesleben
Will you join me again this week? :D
If so tag me on Instagram. I will share some in my stories and here <3 #schmoescosyartclub
Love,
Schmoe <3
I did use a ink pen for a while to sketch, but went back to graphite. I think I need to try coloring pencils next. Maybe that is the sweet spot 😊 And your sketches inspiring me to try it.
I actually recently discovered this! Normally I tend to draw really small and with a cheap pen but I then one day I didn't feel like using my pens so I went with charcoal. I ended up drawing much larger than I ever thought I could and it made me realize that I actually like sketching large!