Learning how to draw hands and feet is one of the main areas artists get stuck on. Fingers, thumbs and toes can be a major headache for us all, so wouldn’t it be great if you could find a way of getting them right time after time? Read on, as we deal with those digits and lend a hand… We’ve all been there. You’ve worked for what seems a lifetime on a painting only to discover your subject’s hands and feet look like a group of microwaved Corn Dogs or the subhuman claws of some monster from the deep. As any artist will tell you, people will always ignore the good parts of your...

Everyone loves eye candy, but have you ever wondered how to draw or paint a perfect pin-up? This can be a great way of getting your art seen by millions, so read on for some tried and tested techniques from the pin-up pros! Ever since prehistoric man picked up a piece of slate and drew an attractive girl on the wall of his cave, pin-ups have played an enduring part in popular culture. From the posters of Betty Grable on every GI’s locker during World War II, through to Marilyn Monroe and latter-day eye candy such as Megan Fox, Justin Bieber and Taylor Swift, the power of the pin-up...

Are you wondering where your creative side has gone? Do you feel guilty about those boxes of pencils and art materials sitting gathering dust in a drawer? Don’t let your talent become a distant memory – we’ve got some handy hints that’ll have you dusting off your drawing skills and enjoying your artistic talent in no time! Picking up a pencil is one of the first things any child does. The desire to create is with us from an early age and drawing and painting are an essential part of everyone’s development. However, as we get older, those pencils and paints sit gathering dust as...

It’s been a while since our last regular update, but it’s not because we haven’t been busy! We thought that since we’re a video site, why not make a video newsletter, especially since there’s been a lot of cool updates to the site that we hope you love and makes it easier to find and use Pencil Kings.   Loading the player… Click Here to Check out the Pencil Kings Facebook Page   Here’s a list of all of the new series that we’ve uploaded since the last update: How to Paint a Caricature How to Draw a Caricature How to Paint a...

Ever Wondered How to Become a Professional Artist? Pencil Kings recently spoke with Art Directors, Animation Supervisors, Layout Designers, etc. from the most notable studios in the world. Pixar, Walt Disney, Sony Imageworks and Blue Sky Studios were all represented and some of their top artists provide insight and share their story on what it took to reach the top of their profession. This is a “must watch” video for anyone who wishes to someday reach the top of their craft. These artists generously share tips from their own personal experience about how to become a...

Loading the player…   Which Drawing Software and Drawing Tablet do you use? These are two questions that we’ve been asked a lot, so – here’s our look at the essential drawing tools that we use for our cartoons both on paper and on the computer. You’ll find everything here that you need to get started as well as recommendations on which tool, software or hardware you should be looking at. Wherever possible we’ve tried to list the exact tool that we use along with a link to where you can find it online, and we’ve also tried to go and find the...

Mitch’s latest post ‘Step By Step Lessons Are Dead‘ brought out some amazing responses! That was really impressive to see the strong opinions and to hear so many different sides to that subject. Well, you have spoken and your views are really valuable to us so maybe the next best step is to get your input on what you want to see and what methods we should provide. I am of the belief that a variety of styles may be best as different people learn different ways. Not only that, but there are different stages we go through as artists that become more effective at a specific...

I’m going to go out on a limb here and say some things that are contrary to what I’ve said in the past… Step by Step Drawing Lessons are not the Best Way to Learn How to Draw. And Here’s Why… I’ve taken some heat over the years for using step by step to teach drawing, and the reason why they aren’t that good is because they teach you how to copy but they don’t really teach you how to draw. The reality of the situation is that actually drawing, and just copying are completely different. There’s a lot of thought that goes into a good...

Tim and I have both had great careers as digital artists by any way that you can measure it, but we both started from humble beginnings in small towns in Manitoba, Canada. We both went to local art colleges in the city near where we grew up… …but when we were getting started there wasn’t much information out there about being a digital artist, and there certainly weren’t any decent (or affordable) courses that we could take. Even after college which cost over $15,000/year we still had to seek out specialized books and dvds (which themselves were rare) and have to...

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