Art student learning about painting and drawing techniques.
Art is a subjective, creative field to begin with; however, there are many kinds of unusual painting and drawing techniques to make art experiences even more enjoyable and challenging. Try drawing without looking at your paper, for example, or paint on something besides paper or canvas such as rock, a piece of wood or an old metal object.
Decorative Painting Smoking Technique
Use acrylic paints to create an unusual background for your next work of art. Paint a light-colored base coat on your canvas or paper. Add water to the paint color of your choice for the background so that it is watery like ink. Paint a second coat on your paper or canvas. Before it dries, position a spoon into a candle flame until you see sooty-looking smoke rising from the spoon. Place the painted background above the gray smoke coming from underneath the spoon. Move the surface of the background around to develop smoky swirls on its surface. Allow to dry completely. Use a clear matte finish to spray the surface of your background. Spray several coats of the finish while allowing the background to dry in between coatings. You now have a unique background to further develop your painting.
Rock Painting Technique
Paint images on rocks or pebbles. Use medium flat brushes and small or medium round paint brushes to paint animals, landscapes or whatever you choose to make a lasting and unusual work of art. Choose stones with a flat bottom that are fairly smooth. When it is a dark stone, paint a base coat of white over it. Using a pencil, sketch your image on the stone and then paint the subject. Use a script liner brush for fine details. Spray the stone with clear gloss acrylic once the paint is completely dry.
Blind Contour Art Technique
Try drawing without looking at what you are doing on the paper. This is an unusual technique to learn draw what you really see as opposed to what you think you see. Select an item to draw such as a window, a book, glove, flowers, a clock, or anything of interest to you. Choose a point on the subject where your eye can begin tracing the object onto your paper with a pencil. Your hand should move as your eye moves. Ensure that you do not look at your hand that is doing the drawing. If necessary, hold a flat object above your drawing so that you cannot see what you are doing on the paper. It's best to draw the entire outline without taking your pencil off the paper. This drawing technique takes practice so be patient with yourself and enjoy the progress you make. Experiment by using crayons, charcoal or pastels.
Draw What You Hear Technique
With this technique in an art class, each piece of art will look entirely unique even though everyone receives the same instructions. Use markers, pencils, pastels or pencil crayons on white paper or light-colored construction paper. Provide instructions such as, "Draw four straight lines from one side of the paper to the other," or "Draw six circles, draw one curved line that ends in a corner, color three of the circles, and color in four areas using a solid color or a design pattern."
