• Drawing is a skill you can learn. You may need some talent to create Art, but drawing is a skill – and you already did a load of practice and learning about it when you were a kid!

    Like learning the piano or a sport, you need to practice, but it can sometimes be hard to get started.

    Make things easy on yourself by always having a sketchbook and pencil ready and make a window template like I show you how in this video. That way you only need to do mini-drawings – far less intimidating than having to fill the whole page!

    Use the template for pattern practice, thumbnail sketches and story or idea plans. Click the image below to download the A6 Thumbnail Template.

  • Would you like to improve your drawing skills by drawing less each day?

    Would you like to speed up your drawing abilities?

    Well, you can – and you can do it one inch at a time! An inch?!

    In my last video you will have seen me talking to professional illustrator, John Shelly.
    I noticed recently, in my Instagram stream, that he was doing 1 inch drawings every single day. They are witty and beautifully executed black-and-white drawings that are only 1 inch square.

    In this video I showed you how to make a template for drawing practice sketches in your sketchbook. You can make a template for one inch drawings to make it easier to start drawing.

    1 inch drawings are a brilliant way of starting and finishing a drawing. Often, a blank page is so intimidating that we never actually start drawing, or if we do, we get so tired filling a whole page that we never finish the drawing. By drawing just a 1 inch, square drawing you are committing to something small that won’t take too long, something you can probably finish in your tea break – something, even, that you could do every day to post to your social media stream.

  • Meet illustrator John Shelley and learn about his experience drawing for children’s books and advertising both in the UK, USA and Japan and learn how his love of Japanese culture and art has inspired his work.

    John Shelley studied at Bournville School of Art, in the UK, amidst the aroma of chocolate from the nearby Cadbury’s works, then in Manchester under Tony Ross, before debuting as a children’s book illustrator in London. A fascination with Japanese art then took him to Tokyo, where he lived for many years, seeking the connection between Ukiyo-e and Ultraman.

    In Japan, John illustrated for a wide variety of clients from advertising to editorial, and children’s books for publishers in East and West.

    He now divided his time between Japan and the UK, writing, drawing, and annoying his cat.

    John talks about his career as an illustrator, his influences and the lure of Japan which has influenced his style in a way that Japanese art has been influencing British art for a couple of hundred years, The influence then returning to Japan in a regular cycle. Being island nations, the British and the Japanese actually have quite a lot in common and hold a mutual fascination for each others cultures and arts.

    John is on instagram @studionibs and Twitter @studioNIB

    In this video:
    00:00 introduction
    00:36 Background and training
    02:03 The lure of Japan
    06:03 making posters in Japan
    11:29 self promotion
    13:02 Manga and Anime
    17:53 Manga covers
    20:44 Arthur Rackham influence
    22:58 One Inch Drawings
    28:00 Talking about Sketchbooks
    33:00 More about one inch drawings