How to Draw a Faerie

This is the last of the handouts I made for my Manga workshop that was held last week at the Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga, California. I am overly critical of the way I draw sometimes, but I think this was one of the drawings I liked most. I will be posting more manga as well as other how to draw items on my blog very soon.

Enjoy.

How to draw a Manga Boy's face.

Drawing every day seems to be coming more natural for me. Sometimes when you are getting back into a routine after having been out for a while, it can be a little awkward. That is why it is important to draw something every day. In my first workshop, teaching kids how to draw Manga, it was important for me to let the kids know that drawing every day for a certain amount of time is critical for becoming a better artist. Like a pianist who plays piano really well, their ability to play well did not happen over night. Some times as artists we have to work hard at doing well. I think if I did not work hard at drawing sometimes, I would begin to worry that something might be wrong with me. So, my point is, to be a good artist you need to practice drawing regularly, but have fun drawing.

Here are two samples I gave to the kids after the workshop on May 4th at the Biane Library at Victoria Gardens: They are very basic, and rudimentary, but served the purpose of having something for the children to have a reference to learn drawing. I am happy with them. I may come back and revise these in the near future with a more shot-by-shot approach.

Here is the second drawing I gave as a handout to the participants of the Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage night:

Here are some pictures I have drawn in the manga style and are from my own personal art:

 Manga-ka is the title of this piece. I drew this as sort of an experiment. I was playing around with faces and eyes. This drawing is simple, and one way to know I did this is I use circular backgrounds often in my drawings. Also, I have a certain way of drawing hair contrary to what books might teach. I hope you like it. (Manga-Ka means "whimsical drawing artist" )

Muscles is the title of this piece. I drew this from an image I saw in a Christopher Hart book, but did some of my own tweeking of the image to make my own drawing. It is one of my favorites. (5"x8" Color Pencil on note card paper)

This was originally some angelic character, but I liked the idea of a pirate, so this is what you see. It is still unfinished, but I will likely do an inked and color version here very soon. I have a couple of other projects I am preparing to work on.

This is a note card I drew of a self portrait of me as manga. I have a crazy cat on the shirt which is probably why I like this drawing so much. I used to wear T-shirts with Bill The Cat many years ago which is sort of an inspiration for this little drawing. I made this primarily to use as an avatar on Facebook. This little piece is called "Crazy Cat" (c)2012 kmc


I hope that you have enjoyed this little how to draw session. I know that it is very basic right now. I am learning the ins and outs of creating a good blog, so stay tuned. Until next time, keep drawing.

How to draw a manga girl's face

Hi. This is entry is about learning to draw a girl's face, specifically from Manga. Recently I taught a workshop for an Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Night at the Biane Library located in the Victoria Gardens. My message to the children was simple and that was to have a good attitude about drawing, using one's imagination, believing one can do something and to know one has to start somewhere when he or she draws. So here is one of four drawings I did as a handout for the kids at the end of the workshop. Overall, I felt the time was well spent and a huge success.
(You can click on any picture to see a larger image)

Also, here are some samples of other pieces I drew based on Christopher Hart, a popular children's artist of how to draw books, but with a twist:

This is a elf mother and child I drew. I have manipulated it some in a photo program that I frequently use. My original is in color, but I liked the monochromatic feel with this drawing.

This is an elf princess. In the how to draw books it looks slightly different, but i managed to tweek it to look the way that I want. I think it is okay to imitate someone's art if you are learning to draw or just want to be inspired as a fan. It is said that "imitation is the highest form of flattery." But, there also comes a time when you have to break away from imitating others and yourself develop your own ideas. 

I had been out of touch with the art world for a while, so for me, looking at books has helped me reacquaint myself to basic techniques and principles of drawing. It is a good way to get reconnected.

This is also another elf princess with a little critter. She was simple to draw. One thing I mentioned in my workshop was to use basic shapes, letters and numbers to create a picture. I also mentioned how it is important to pay attention to details. Sometimes the fewer details makes it easier to draw. This picture would be at a beginner-easy level.












Thank you for taking time to read my blog, and learning how to draw. I hope you have enjoyed your visit. Please come back for more lessons and see pictures posted. Until next time....

How to Draw: Boba Fett

Hi. Welcome to another "How to Draw" session with yours truly. In this session we will learn how to draw a picture of Boba Fett, the bounty hunter from Star Wars. I do not think this will be too difficult, but it will require some patience. Make sure your pencils are sharpened, have an eraser ready and some clean sheets of drawing paper ready. I hope that you will have fun drawing this character. When I drew this picture I used an action figure as my model reference. When you draw it is important to have a photographic reference. Overall, I felt pretty good about the final drawing. So here we go.... (click on a picture to see larger image.)

Step Zero:
 In this step you need to draw out your basic pose. First create your action line. That is the line that goes down the center showing you the direction of motion.  Remember to draw really lightly. I used colored pencils to show the different steps. Some comic book artists use a non-photo blue pencil to sketch their layout, then pencil in the drawing with a mechanical pencil or a 2B pencil. We will cover that more another time.

Step 1

In this step use your basic shapes to fill out the stick figure you have drawn. what shapes do you see shown here? Remember to keep your drawing simple, and avoid drawing very hard with your pencil. You will need to erase your lines later after you ink your drawing. In this picture I worked from the top down to the toes. 

There are different art books that can help you draw. The one's I like to reference are by Christopher Hart. He is pretty easy to understand. I also refer to Marvel's: How to Draw Comics the Marvel Way by Stan Lee and John Buscema. I think the only way to become good at drawing is to draw every day, and do it for at least a few hours a day no matter what.

Step 2

Here you will likely need to look at an action figure or a photograph. I will admit, I was pretty loose with my details, but I have drawn it as close as I am able to getting Boba Fett's likeness. For some strange reason, he has been one of my favorite anti-heroes ever since I was a young boy.

Okay, back on topic...As you draw this picture your lines are going to change. Look at the shapes of the helmet, the chest plates, his gun, etc. Are you getting it? I hope so. This was my first drawing of Boba Fett in a long time. I still have trouble areas too. Don't worry if you make a mistake, that is why there are erasers.  One way to improve is to study people and make sketches of their poses. I like to sit at parks or in malls and take my sketchbook along. I am easily entertained. The more you draw the easier it will become to identify how things should look when you create a picture.

Step 3

You are getting close to being finished. How does your picture look? Are you satisfied? That is important. You are the one who has to be happy with your drawing. Don't worry too much about what others think. Notice that I added a circular shape in the background so as to bring Boba Fett forward to the foreground. It gives the illusion that he is actually up close. How you draw your lines is completely up to you. As I drew this I tried to keep a medium weight line. This is the point where you start adding final details, erasing lines, correcting lines, looking at how your light source will look with shadow, and writing down what colors to use for your drawing. 

There are different ways you can color this. You can use marker, water color, color pencil. It all depends on how you want it to look. You can even digitally color your picture in a paint program or Photoshop. It is your drawing, you make it look the way that your want. I like simple back grounds but you could add his ship or other characters or scenery if you'd like.

 Step 4

Here is your drawing in black and white. The picture on the left is not great. I copied this before I was finished but you can see that the picture is more detailed and ready to color. You have another option too, and you could leave it as black and white and color it grey using different values of black and white. This is known as a monochromatic scale. -just a little FYI.

Here is where I am my own critic, but since this is a how to draw session and not a pageant, I am not going to worry about small mistakes. By now you ought to have a basic idea of how to draw Boba Fett. One good thing about drawing characters is there is almost always an opportunity to make a better picture, to improve on what you drew previous. I will likely make another picture of this, and will post my improvements here as an extended feature. 

 I hope you have enjoyed this lesson. Please let me know what you think. Make sure you sign your drawing.

Until next time, keep drawing.

How to Draw Faces: Luke Skywalker

Promotional Drawing-How to Draw Luke Skywalker by Kirk McConnell, 2012

This is from my first promotional poster I did for the City of Ontario Library, California. It is a basic layout of drawing the face. In this case I had selected Luke Skywalker from his early years before he became a Jedi. 

On this basic layout, the person who would like to learn how to draw Luke will first have to understand the basic composition of the head. Having looked at other art books, most if not all, use a circle with a simple cross-hair formation to begin the structure of the face (See step 1).
During this process remember to draw lightly. It is important to do this so you can erase your pencil marks later.  In step 2, I have added some more lines. When drawing the face it is very important to see and understand the distance of the eyes, nose, mouth and ears. Even the hair requires a little bit of attention. No worries, though, I will definitely have more "how to draw faces" samples for practice and future lessons. This one is just a sample.


I noted on the picture that one can draw realistically or in a cartoon manner. I tend to draw more cartoon like in my pictures, but I also possess a thorough knowledge and experience drawing portraits in pastels, charcoal, and other mediums. One way to become good at drawing faces is to practice drawing your own face while looking in the mirror. As you draw, you will begin to familiarize yourself with your own facial geometry and have a better understanding of how something ought to look.


Another way to practice is by looking at pictures in magazines and trying to copy them realistically. This can take some time, and occasionally be frustrating, but rewarding when you complete a drawing you know you made. I look forward to sharing more about how to draw pictures step-by-step with you. 

Until next time, keep drawing.

How to Draw a "Clone Trooper"

I have wanted to have a "how to draw" blog for sometime. I cannot say that all of my drawings will be perfect. But my desire is to make the drawings step-by-step with enough clarity that anyone who wants to learn how to draw will not be afraid to learn how to draw. It is my hope that you will become more confident as you practice drawing each day and grow in the knowledge you will acquire. (Click on the picture to see larger.)

Sometimes when you draw, you have to learn how to "see" and not just look. One thing that is very important when you draw is being able to see shapes in relation to the lines and other elements that go into composing a picture. The drawing below is a very basic step-by-step. At the time I made this picture, I was looking at an issue of Star Wars Insider magazine, and examining how the "Clone Trooper" looked from the animated series. I attempted to keep the image looking as close as possible to the original. When you draw a likeness, it is important to remember details. Yet, do not get so caught up in every single detail that you get discouraged and stop drawing. I know my character drawing for this picture is good, but it could be better, and I will tell you this, as I improve, I will post my improvements too. Even good artists make mistakes. Do not be afraid to make mistakes. Sometimes that is how one learns.

As you try to draw from this image, take your time. Draw lightly. Be sure to erase your pencil marks after you ink your picture. It is your choice to leave it as-is, or color the drawing. Good luck as you begin learning to draw.

Until next time, keep drawing.