Arts & Crafts Saturday: An Introduction with @Steemph

_{Post cover image by @olaivart}





As an artist myself, it is both a pleasure and privilege to know every nook and cranny of your process and thoughts when making your craft, that's why becoming a curator for @steemph is something I value in hopes of sharing and inspiring fellow artists to make quality content for the benefit of many.

My name is Allyssa and I am your Arts & Crafts curator every Saturday. I blog over at @olaivart where I share processes of different medium of arts in images, photo narrative of my life, and personal musings in form of poetry and prose.

(If you are curious about my works, you can check these links: 1, 2, 3.)

Standards are made to ensure quality content amongst creators and I will strictly comply with it to only deliver the best to all of you.

• Minimum 300 words. Check your number of words at Work Counter.
• Minimum 5 pictures. Show me your art space, art materials, photo reference (must be credited if not your own), art process, etc.
• 100% Original content preferred. If you are presenting a case study about a certain art movement or artist, you must credit it properly. I will be thorough in checking everything.
• Kindly use #steemph tag for eligibility. I also encourage you to use #artguildph in one fo your tags.
• Post must not be more than 4 days old.
  
  

DAY	TOPIC	WRITER/CURATOR
Sunday	Travel	@rye05
Monday	Short Stories & Poetry	@johnpd
Tuesday	Community Competitions	@romeskie
Wednesday	Finance	@prettydead24
Thursday	Community Outreach	@escuetapamela
Friday	Food	@iyanpol
Saturday	Arts & Crafts	@olaivart

Check out @steemp's introdruction to the curation and its writers:
Please welcome our new writers and curators for @SteemPh



I will be sharing to you a personal work along with descriptions in order to hit the 300 minimum words standard along with other tips to get curated.





<sub>Tip: It is very important to have a concise title that will best describe your content. For my post, I am copying a master after the said artist thus my brief yet clear heading.

A work in progress #mastercopy after Mikhail Mikhailovich Devatov (R. 1928) by @olaivart.</sub>


One of the practices you can do in order to step up your game is by copying drawings and paintings of master artists or artists of the past. It is a well-known exercise and successful artists know copying is a good thing. After all, drawing is a way of seeing, so by copying you will learn certain ways of the old masters in terms of proportion, value, and strokes.

I have only learned of Mikhail Mikhailovich Devatov just recently after discovering a post from an online friend who somewhat curates artworks in his Facebook profile. Needless to say, I instantly fell in love with his works, and right away copy one of his drawings.

<sub>Tip: Learned how to introduce your subject and your process to start off your post. It is essential for your readers to understand what and why you are making it.





Tip: Talk about your art space and art materials. Believe me that this is something your fellow artists enjoy reading and knowing. I am specially thrilled to see art spaces because I think it allows me to know more about the artist. And of course the good ol' listing down of art materials because beginner artists always ask about, "What materials do you use?" just like how noob photographers ask professionals which type of camera one uses.</sub>





This is where the magic happens.

My work space is just an old table, probably as old as I am, and a cabinet on my right where I store all of my art materials and favorite books. And since I am just drawing from online references, my laptop is always in front of me while I occasionally watch my favorite Korean drama series. Weirdly enough, it gets the job done. And there is always coffee to get me through the day. It is my life saver.

If you are curious about the series I am watching, it is called Reply which has 3 installment already: 1997, 1994, and 1988. Definitely my go-to series when I'm drawing. Recently I have downloaded 2 other Korean dramas called My Ahjussi and Go Back Couple which I am excited to binge-watch again and again.

_{(By now, I have already written 250 words in total.)}





For my art materials, I am not actually very picky except for the quality of paper I am using. I currently draw on my sketchbook that is 150gsm cartridge paper by the brand Daler & Rowney in their Ebony range. This is actually my first sketchbook which I got in 2016 in Dubai but was only able to use last year around June.

As for my pencils, I currently use 2 brands: Staedtler and Colleen. The former is globally available and is well-received among artists, while the latter I only discovered a few years ago in National Bookstore. Colleen is cheap but is alright in my opinion. I specially like their soft pencils in layering my darker values, while I only use Staedtler in building my lighter areas.

What I am very fond of using are my mechanical pencils which I bought in Daiso. Despite having limited range of lead, it is still very convenient and it works wonders to my portraits because of their very pointed end. I am currently saving up to buy myself a Rotring brand because of its good reviews.

I also have my kneaded eraser and smudger pencil from Conte, hard eraser from Staedtler, a Sinoart filbert brush at #14 for softening values and lines, a regular cutter, and my Gallery soft pastel in graytone in case I want to use them in my portrait.



Now that I have shared to you the things I normally do and materials I use, let's get right into my process presented in photographs. Please note that these are my own experimentation, and while it works for me it may not work for you.

All photos are straight out of camera (SOOC) using my Huawei P20 mobile phone. No adjustments were made to enhance the quality of the drawing.

_{Tip: Let your process speak for you. I usually take images of the crucial stages like the block-in, building of values, detailing, and the likes to make sure it gives enough information to the readers.}

Since this is still a work in progress, I do not have the final piece yet, so let me share some detail shots as well as the current state of the drawing.

_{Tip: You can put description on each stages explaining the process and thought in making them. More words to count. Personally, I like the pictures to speak to the reader, although I still occasionally put description when needed. And you will never regret putting close-up pictures as well, they add substance to your presentation.}

_{Tip: And to finally conclude your post, ask for feedback. It is a great way to communicate among your readers and also to get constructive criticisms that will benefit you eventually.}


And that concludes my progress.

I am currently adding white soft pastel in the lighter parts of my drawing to make it more three dimensional. It also reminded me the joy of working with soft pastel in building values.

What do you guys think so far? I welcome feedback and constructive criticism to further my drawing study. Comment them down below. Until the next mastercopy study!

Cheers & Namaste,
@olaivart


(Tags to use: #art #artguildph #steemph #drawing #philippines)

655 words in total, 13 images including the cover image, 100% original content, #steemph tags, and freshly from the oven.

If you hit the criteria, I will surely include you in my first curation post next Saturday. Today is just all about introduction and post sample made by me. I am very, very excited to curate and read amazing contents from all of you. I always believe in Filipino artists, specially the ones I met here in steemit, so I highly encourage everyone to draw and write by heart.

See you next Saturday!