For anyone who likes to draw or paint or wants to learn how, suggestions from an award-winning artist.

Lesson I: Get To Know Your Media

A former art teacher of mine said I should be an art teacher. I was recently asked if I gave lessons. I remember art in school and how far advanced I was for it. I took "lessons" at a museum, and from two outstanding American wildlife artists. I've been given all sorts of books over the years...but most of what I've learned I've discovered for myself.

I have been winning art awards since the fourth grade, taking numerous ribbons and even a Best In Show plaque home from school shows. I've designed original work for a jazz band, a congressman, a zoo, several restaurants, a furniture store, TV news and commercial work, using electronic media, acrylics, watercolor, oils, fabric paints, pen & ink, charcoals, pastels, pencil, colored pencil, airbrush, theatrical makeup, clay, paper mache,... Basically, if you ask me to try it, I will. I was even handed a citation at the age of twelve by former Maryland Governor Harry Hughes proclaiming me an outstanding young artist from that state. Is that good enough for ya? Cool.

The first thing I want you to do is grab every marker, crayon, colored pencil, or any other art tool you can draw with that you already own, make sure everything's still workable and not dried up beyond repair.

Now go ahead and start doodling. With everything. Explore your gel pens and markers and chalks. Use them tilted, straight up or at a sharp angle. Use paint as is, or thin it. Don't mix your media yet...work with one type of tool at a time.

Whenever I got a fresh package of some paint or markers or what have you, the first thing I would always do was start using every color every way I possibly could. Sometimes I'd draw a fish's almond-shaped body in one color, then add fins in the next color I grabbed. I'd scribble atop marker with another shade of marker, quickly learning which blends worked and which to avoid (such as, don't scribble yellow marker over another color...always lay down your lighter color, then draw atop it with a darker one.) You'll discover that black marker over yellow marker usually makes a dingy grass-stain green. Try drawing a picture with marker, then painting over it with water to bleed and blend the colors. You can also scribble a spot of one color marker, then use it like a blop of paint on a palette, running the bristles of a wet or dampened brush over it, then using the picked up color elsewhere.

I never buy secondary colors in paint. I always blend them myself fresh. Start blending colors yourself to see what shades you can make. Try making a blue line with a brush and paint straight from the container. Add thinner to the next line of blue, and keep in this manner until you have an area of blue that eventually fades into nothing, one stripe of paint at a time. Then try it again, adding white to it, or black, or red, or green, always going from pure initial color to pure thinner or the next color you're blending it into entirely.

I buy cheap watercolors, finding them every bit as good as expensive ones, with the added bonus of "poor" quality. Why is this good? Because paints that lose or change color or seperate or begin to mold can still give some pretty interesting results, if not the expected ones. Chaos is a huge part of my artwork. I often allow unplanned, unexpected things to happen, and then I work with them. Old media is often neat for projects, but you should always test all the colors first so you'll have some idea of what's going to happen with them. (I hate picking up a drying brown marker and forgetting that it now colors a rusty red with blackish stripes). If you haven't used your crayons or what have you in some time, now is the best time to test them all and see what each produces. Streaky cheap crayons are great for drawing fields or reeds or water. Markers changing colors as they dry can add unexpected, yet pleasing "reflections" to a subject, giving it added depth.

Press hard, then go lightly with pencils, pens & crayons. Try using them on different textures of paper. Hold two or more pens, markers, or crayons in your hand at once and draw curlicues and loops. Play with your art supplies. Never take them at face value and expect miracles in art. For more primitive, immature styles, use colors as they are and never experiment with or blend them. For more professional, mature results, have fun with your tools and have fun discovering new ways to apply them.

Draw or paint a vase of flowers where every set of petals is different and every one has a different colored center. I'm not asking for masterpieces here--this is doodle time. Write the name of a loved one or favorite celebrity in every color you have, overlapping some of the letters in each color. Take each color and use it to write about it:

Orange is happy, fun, cheerful, and bright.

Green is crawly and soft and smells like asparagus.

Use your imagination. Use every drawing or painting thing you have. Throw out anything that doesn't work anymore. The first rule of art is: There are no rules in art. This is just an exercise, not a stipulation. I want you to get to know each and every one of your paint tubes or brush pens initimately. Just please don't mix paints with inks and pencils with crayons just yet. That'll be another lesson.

So simple. So do it. Get a friend or child to help you and you'll have twice the fun. Next lesson: Basic drawing.

Check out the site below to see some nice Detetcheverrie artwork (not necessarily mine).