My kids and I like to draw. We sometimes go to the weekly figure drawings sessions at the Art Directors Guild in LA, or we just sit at the dining room table and draw. As an amateur sketcher, I'm in awe of illustrator Mark Crilley's skill with a pencil, and with his instructional books and videos.  His videos are enjoyable and useful -- he explains what he is doing with a calm, soothing voice, and the tips he offers are often just what I need to gain new understanding about drawing. In his latest video, Mark shows how to add shading to faces.

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I keep a pack of Crayola colored pencils in my bag.

This is a good deal the 36 pack for about the price of the 10. I keep a pack in my travel carry-on, incase I am overcome by the urge to sketch something.

My ability to draw anything is very limited, but not by the pencils.

I also love the watercolor colored pencils.

Crayola Colored Pencils, 36 Premium Quality via Amazon Read the rest

As a high school student, I would have enjoyed learning to use ruled paper to draw anamorphic illusions instead of (not) taking notes. (via The Kid Should See This)

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This is as thrilling as when I learned to draw a dog face in third grade! (via r/intereatingasfuck)

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Around 73,000 years ago, humans used a chunk of pigment to draw a pattern on a rock in a South African cave. The recently discovered fragment of the rock is now considered to be the oldest known drawing in history. From Science News:

The faded pattern consists of six upward-oriented lines crossed at an angle by three slightly curved lines, the researchers report online September 12 in Nature. Microscopic and chemical analyses showed that the lines were composed of a reddish, earthy pigment known as ocher.

The lines end abruptly at the rock’s edges, indicating that a larger and possibly more complex version of the drawing originally appeared on a bigger stone, the researchers say. Tiny pigment particles dotted the rock’s drawing surface, which had been ground smooth. Henshilwood suspects the chunk of rock was part of a large grinding stone on which people scraped pieces of pigment into crayonlike shapes.

Crosshatched designs similar to the drawing have been found engraved on shells at the site, Henshilwood says. So the patterns may have held some sort of meaning for their makers. But it’s hard to know whether the crossed lines represent an abstract idea or a real-life concern.

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Circle Line Art School explains how to draw this simple but effective anamorphic illusion of cubes falling into a hole in the page.

(via The Kid Should See This)

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Shin Shinrashinge created a meticulous setup of his two-dimensional drawings, then guided his phone through his 3D creation to create this one-take story of a boy daydreaming about fighting monsters. Read the rest

Artist Kathleen Darby takes viewers through her step-by-step process of drawing a colorful bird on black paper. Start at the beginning for more details. It's interesting as well as relaxing, as there are some important differences when starting from negative space. Read the rest

Hungarian illustrator Sándor Vámos is a master of anamorphic illusions, 3D drawings that emerge from the paper. Don't miss his time-lapse videos either.

(via Laughing Squid)

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While wearing eye tracking glasses, seven young people and three professional artists each donned eye tracking glasses and drew the same scene, and some interesting patterns emerged. Read the rest

Spend an hour relaxing as Peter Deligdisch aka Peter Draws experiments with cool glass inkwell pens and glowing ink. Read the rest

If drawing stairsteps on an Etch A Sketch seems like the pinnacle of achievement, these masterworks by Kyle Fleming may inspire you to new heights. They may also inspire you to shake yours clean and permanently donate it to the nearest toddler. Read the rest

Zaria Forman was inspired to create large-scale pastel drawings of icebergs and glaciers after going on a scientific expedition. She created this one earlier this year while she was artist in residence at the Mountainside Northstar resort. Read the rest

Wellington, New Zealand artist Kirsty Lillico won the annual $20,000 Parkin Drawing Prize for her piece seen here, titled "State Block." The work consists of a carpet scrap hanging over a string.

"First of all, I've sort of re-represented a drawing made by someone else," Lillico said."Drawing, to me, it's not just about a pencil and paper. I'm using a knife and carpet and hanging it in a space to achieve the same ends."

According to Lillico, State Block was inspired by someone else's architectural floor plan for a state-owned apartment.

"It's looking at the architectural (drawings) – positive, being black (drawn lines of an architectural design), and the negative being the spaces we occupy," she said.

(Stuff.co.nz via Weird Universe) Read the rest

Faye Halliday recently started making variants of her intricate animal drawings with cut-out sections. She then held them up in beautiful locales to create a delightful effect. Read the rest

YouTuber Peter Draws accepted a viewer challenge and created two lovely sketches using basic school supplies: a standard No. 2 Pencil, a wide ruled composition book, and a manual pencil sharpener. Read the rest

What starts as a live action hand extrapolating a line along a grid gets real trippy real fast, but the fanciful hand-drawn extrapolations follow a discernible mathematical pattern. Read the rest