Hot Fine Art How-Tos

How To: Convert a halogen lamp into a makeshift ring light

In this tutorial, we learn how to convert a halogen lamp into a makeshift ring light. Instead of pointing this light straight at the person you are photographing, you can use a ring light to make the halogen light less harsh. The prices for ring lights are very expensive, so making this yourself can save you a lot of money. First, go out and buy a round metal mesh object wherever you can find one. You will also need tin foil, a plastic cup, and wire cutters. First, set the metal bowl on top o...

How To: Make a duct tape iPod holder

Alex shows us how to make a duct tape iPod holder in this tutorial. This will prevent damage and is also waterproof! You will first wrap four piece of duct tape around your iPod with the non-sticky side first. Stick one piece on top of each other so it covers the iPod completely. Don't make it to tight. Next, use the sticky side to tape the last two pieces onto the other pieces of tape. When finished, you will have a unique iPod holder that protects your iPod and is a cheap alternative to cos...

How To: Draw big pouty lips

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw lips. Begin by drawing a horizontal line for the mouth and draw a Mickey Mouse shape in between the line. Then sketch the upper lip with the 2 smaller circles on top and draw the lower lip with the large circle as guidelines. Now users may draw the rest of the face. Then darken and define the upper and lower lips. Now lightly sketch some lines on the lips to show depth. Then darken and shade the lips. This video will benefit those viewers who ...

How To: Understand artist tools for painting

In this tutorial, we learn how to understand artist tools for painting. The first tool is plastic, which can be use for great textures on the painting. Cheap brushes are great for painting in big spaces and fan brushes are great for painting wider widths. A badger hair brush will be best for painting tails on canvas and different types of papers. A synthetic brush is very easy to clean and perfect for oil or acrylic paint. A hair dryer is a tool that is great to speed up the drying time of pa...

How To: Draw a rose garden with Michael Weisner

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to draw a rose garden. Begin by marking the locations of the objects. Then draw the rose bushes around the garden pathway. Draw the lines with some cross hatching. This will give the bushes some form and feel. Add some circular boxes in the bushes to represent the roses. On the pathway, add some grass on the edges and stones on the path. In the center, draw a center piece and draw an arch over it. Finish by adding details to the roses. This video will...

How To: Fire a kiln

In order to fire a kiln, you will need the following: you will need to have a damper. There will also need to be a means of checking the fire, looking in to see the flame. Each stage will have to be closely monitored. Let it fire until it reaches an adequate temperature. It will transition through phases of heat. As it reaches reduction, you'll need to monitor the rate of rise. This stage, the reduction phase, is a slow stage of rise. It will take many hours to reach reduction phase. It will ...

How To: Draw a fun bunny doodle

In this tutorial, we learn how to draw a fun bunny doodle. To begin, draw an upside down triangle with two straight lines coming out of the top middle. Next, draw a half circle over the eyes, then draw two large bunny ears on top of the half circle. Then, connect the curls on the end of the ear to the bottom of the head. Now, do an additional line to make the inside of the ear. After this, draw another circle around the bottom of the face, then draw a line with two humps at the bottom of the ...

How To: Make a hat out of felt

This video tutorial is in the Fine Art category where you will learn how to make a hat out of felt. You will need glue, silver wrap, a plastic bowl, pins, felt and a mold of the head. Take a red felt and cut out a big square piece, a small triangular piece and four curved shapes as shown in the video. Now cut four curved strips from each of pink, light green and dark green felt. Pour glue in the plastic bowl, add equal quantity of water and mix well. Take the square piece of felt and dip it i...

How To: Make a cat-ear fleece hat

In this tutorial, we learn how to make a cat-ear fleece hat. First, take fleece and combine two edges together to make two cat ears. Sew these together and then turn them inside out so you have the ears you like. Next, take a piece of fleece and sew it together so it becomes a hat. Turn it inside out so you can't see the marks on it. When you are finished, you will have a cute fleece hate perfect for anyone in the winter! You can jazz this up by using any type of material you would like and p...

How To: Paint believable rocks

Wilson Bickford teaches us how to paint believable rocks in this tutorial. To begin, you will first start with an easel and several paints. Wet your small paint brush with a mixture of brown and black and paint a rock shape on the paper. You will do this by drawing many lumps and bumps to make it look like a natural rock. Use white paint on the side of the rock to give it a light glare where the sun would naturally hit it. To finish the rock, paint on browns to it, to add a dirt color and mak...

How To: Write in lowercase calligraphy letters

In this tutorial, we learn how to write in lowercase calligraphy letters. To begin, you will write in lower case letters just use a more find edge then you do when writing normally. The letters will all have a twist to the edge of them to make them look more fancy than normal. There are no straight lines, all the lines have a slight curve or curl at the end of them. Practice doing each letter on a piece of paper with a calligraphy pen or marker. The letters will look very similar to the usual...

How To: Make your own cookie cutters with Threadbanger

Had enough of cookie-cutter cookie cutters? Make your own! It's easier than you'd think. So easy, in fact, that this DIY guide from Threadbanger can present a complete overview of the process in about three minutes' time. For complete instructions, and to get started a-makin' your own cookie cutters, watch this video guide.

How To: Design and draw a female comic character

Fancy comic books, but don't have the skills to make them yourself? Comic book artists do nothing but draw all day, so it's no wonder they're good at it. But you may need a little more help, and this five-part series will help you along your journey into developing comic characters, specifically the female variety. Photoshop is used in the videos, but you don't need a fancy drawing application to get started. Just pull out the old paper and pencil and follow along. There's a ton of great info...

How To: Draw a black and white male zombie in MS Paint

Though it's not typical for idrawgirls to focus on the male gender, don't count this tutorial out if you're looking for good instructions on how to draw a zombie. This male zombie is being drawn in MS Paint, and you can watch the drawing take place while listening to the commentary on what's being done and what needs to be done to create the living dead. But don't fret, there is a wonderfully drawn woman right next to the horrific zombie, so it's not that far of a departure for drawgirls.

How To: Draw matching cartoon eyes and eyebrows

Drawing eyes is often the most difficult part of nailing down a comic book or manga character, but also the most vital part. Eyes really animate a face, so it's important to master all types of eyes if you wish to become a good artist. This tutorial will teach you how you can contain the eyes and eyebrows in the same plane, or basic shape, to make sure they align evenly. When this sort of method isn't used, often people will draw eyebrows that are disconnected from the rest of the eye.

How To: Tag like a real graffiti artist

Graffiti— do you have the guts to get out there and tag some property? There's a whole lot more than just spray paint involved. To be great, you'll need things like a sketchbook, pencils, pens, markers, spray can tips, latex gloves, legal (or illegal) wall, and most importantly… creativity. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be an urban graffiti artist, follow these steps to become da ’hood’s next da Vinci.

HowTo: DIY Home Photo Booth

We love the photo booth. Inevitably the best pictures from any wedding come from, not the professional photographer, but the photo booth stationed in the far corner where tipsy guests act very very silly. Brett Ratner, director of Rush Hour and X-men, has a photo booth installed in his house. After several years of parties...he decided to publish a book of all the candids. Jay-Z, Paris Hilton, Justin Timberlake and many others mug for the camera without the aid of fancy lighting or make up ar...

How To: Organize comic book panels

When you are organizing the panels of your comic, you should keep in mind the way you want eyes to follow it. With multiple panels on a page, your spacing between them will determine where the eyes will go. If you want the reader to read up and down and from left to right, then you should create columns, by leaving more space in the middle.

How To: Draw a deer from a triangle

This video tutorial is in the Fine Art category which will show you how to draw a deer from a triangle. First you draw an inverted triangle which will make up the face of the deer. Then you draw two small curves starting at the two top corners of the triangle to make the horns of the deer. You can also draw more short curves or straight lines starting from these curves to make up the complete horns. Then you draw the ears starting just below the horns. Draw the eyes and color in the ears and ...

How To: Photograph with a point & shoot camera

In this tutorial, we learn how to photograph with a point and shoot camera. If you have dark light on the face, make sure you turn flash on your light and make sure it turns on to even out the lighting that's on the face. One of the easiest ways to shoot outside without using flash is to put someone in the shade. If the light source is coming from straight ahead, you will have the best lighting available. This will isolate where your light is coming from, and will work out better if it's not ...

How To: Draw martial artist Bruce Lee (face, body and shading)

When you think of martial arts, only one name comes to mind, and no… we're not talking about Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris. We're talking about Bruce Lee, the epitome of martial arts. Not only was he the best martial artist known to man, he was also an accomplished actor, instructor, director, producer, screenwriter, and philosopher. But there was one thing he wasn't. An artist. Okay, he was a "martial artist", but he wasn't a visual artist, master of the pencil, kind of the drawing world… bu...