More than one of something
Why not add more of something when we create a new character? Most characters have two…
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Tips on: all drawing tips
Christmas Eve in Scrooge’s Counting-house
At length the hour of shutting up the counting-house arrived. With an ill-will Scrooge dismounted from…
More...Seeing ghosts
Do not forget that you may might like to include a ghost in one of your stories,…
More...The Parable of the Taoist Farmer
There are two tips here. The first is: illustrators can practice on stories that someone else…
More...The character of magic
When we imagine magical characters, we want to go out beyond their fingertips, out beyond even…
More...The other mermaids
Sometimes, when we are traveling out at sea, we catch a glimpse of a mermaid. She…
More...Symmetry between worlds
We created artwork for a Writing tip (Looking-Into-A-New-Year) and artwork can, of course, tell more than…
More...The mischievous character
When we are creating characters for a story, sometimes we think first of the good characters…
More...Decisions one by one
Zobelia and I wanted to make a Writing tip about the fact that creating a story…
More...How to make something look olde
Sometimes finding something old in a story feels more exciting than finding something new. But how…
More...The colors of snow
In a meeting, big and small elves sat debating what sort of storytelling tip we might…
More...A troll at the egg hunt
The scene above was quickly captured by an illustrator elf out for a walk: forest animals…
More...Creating with a single crayon
The elves have only one copy of a human book called Harold and the Purple Crayon. …
More...Change your point of view
As you work on your skills as an illustrator, you want to think about all of…
More...Secret worlds and scale
Magical worlds often occur inside of everyday things. You may be aware that the small elves…
More...An elven Thanksgiving
In the Fall, elves celebrate a holiday. We celebrate by taking stock of all of the…
More...Taking light into dark places
When choosing a setting for a story, do not be afraid to head into dark places…
More...A mermaid with poisonous spines
You can create some absolutely amazing characters when you combine different life forms. Take mermaids, for…
More...How to get into a Winter mood—Early
In the workshop, we have to be well organized and prepared! This means we sometimes have…
More...Falling off a unicorn 100 times and still smiling
Can you imagine smiling at every stage of your practice when you draw something new? This…
More...Another kind of storytelling: illustration
The human fairy tale Rapunzel has many characters: a king and queen, an enchantress, a beautiful daughter,…
More...How to draw hair that does not look like a haystack
Hair is always a tricky thing to draw because it comes in so many different shapes…
More...Big beautiful hair
Characters often wonder what their hair is going to look like. In the previous drawing tip,…
More...How to solve the puzzle of a new mythical creature
The workshop secretary, Dorothea, recently brought us a letter from a storyteller named April. April needed…
More...Painting characters in water
This tip is not about painting under water. That might be difficult without the help of…
More...Pumpkins as heads
Elves love pumpkins! While we were busy decorating the workshop recently, with Jack-o’-lanterns, we thought of…
More...How to draw small hands
Sarah from Northport sent a question to the elves: how do you draw hands on a…
More...Eye and pupil placement!
In a previous tip, we learned about the-importance-of-a-characters-eyes. The appearance of the eyes defines a lot…
More...Let’s talk scenery!
Scenery and backgrounds are essential parts of a story. These drawings really make the world you…
More...It doesn’t look like I imagined
I see something beautiful in my head, something so perfect, and yet what I actually draw…
More...Invent your own mythical creature!
One of my favorite things to draw growing up in the woods were the creatures I…
More...Creating a creature for your story’s setting
Drawing mythical creatures is so much fun because you can let your imagination run wild. (If…
More...Leave the eraser behind
Erasers are a tool that more experienced illustrator elves use. The elf elders encourage younger elves…
More...The pencil is a mighty tool!
Pencils are perhaps the most important drawing tool because of their versatility. If pencils aren’t already,…
More...Chameleons not cars (for Betsy)
Elves love to draw things from the human world. However, I have always loved chameleons more…
More...Your sketchbook is YOUR playground
In the previous tip (pack-a-sketchbook), I talked about keeping a sketchbook. This tip is about thinking…
More...Great artists are the ones who… practice
This may surprise you. Elf elders firmly believe that natural talent can help you draw more…
More...Erasers and the art of erasing
It is wise to practice drawing without using an eraser, as this tip explains leave-the-eraser-behind. However,…
More...How to draw a horse using simple shapes
I’m excited to share one of the best secrets to drawing. It is about finding simple…
More...Seeing and simplifying
Elves draw animals as we would draw anything else: by seeing and simplifying. Seeing means we…
More...From Mistale the cat to elephant (and baby aardvark)
Mistale the cat was simple enough (seeing-simplifying), but what about a more complex animal, like an…
More...Walk before you run
When you draw, it is important to learn the basics. For example, it might be hard…
More...Tracing with your eyes
I learned to draw hands and other things by practicing something elves call tracing with your…
More...How hands are built
Observation will always be our most valuable tool when drawing. However, learning a bit about the…
More...Practice pays off
We have been drawing hands and the point of all of this practice is that now…
More...The gesture of humans
In the previous Drawing tip, we looked at the gesture in some animals and in a…
More...Gesture in cartoons
Now we have the basic skills to find and draw gesture—in animals, trees and humans. We…
More...Where things actually go on a face
This tip is about how to draw a whole face. It will take some patience. You…
More...Adding hair and ears
In the previous tip, we created a very basic face. Now it’s time to add hair…
More...Doodle Duel
Illustrator elves play a game against each other. Doodle Duel. The goal is very simple. Challenge…
More...Witches from head to toe
To finish the look of the three witches that I began in the previous tip, I…
More...My own warren of witches
I developed the look of three different kinds of witches in these tips: Witches For The…
More...Creating a character using simple shapes
When designing a character for a story, it is important to stay consistent so that the…
More...How do you turn a character sideways?
In the prior tip, we practiced how to draw a simple story character from the front. …
More...Do you recognize this character?
This is the character we have been working on (creating-a-character-using-simple-shapes). Changing little details will suddenly change…
More...Characters in motion!
It is one thing to draw a character standing still but you face a whole different…
More...Your dog in motion
We often want to tell stories about our pets and, just as human story characters need…
More...Backgrounds: the power of suggestion!
We have worked on how to put story characters in motion—both human characters and canine characters!…
More...Creating a cat for All Hallow’s Eve
In both the elven world and the human world, black cats are commonly associated with this…
More...Young Elf, Part I
In December, elves exchange handmade cards. I want to draw a young elf and I asked…
More...Young Elf, Part II (shading)
We have sketched an elf portrait (if you haven’t, see the previous Drawing tip!). Now, we…
More...Character head shapes
When trying to draw a character, often times we find that we can get hung up…
More...Get ready for the 3/4 pose!
I want to show you what is called a 3/4 pose looking to the left, so…
More...Stick figures are perfect for practice
Young illustrator elves learn how to draw a figure in proper proportions by practicing the art…
More...Elven forest recipe!
In other tips, I have mentioned finding big shapes when drawing. In this tip, we will…
More...Gothic Elves
Did you know that the word Gothic has more than one meaning? Goths were Germanic humans…
More...A Thanksgiving Portrait
Painting a portrait is very fun to do. It is an art form that some artists…
More...Drawing Christmas trees
When I first began to draw, I always had difficulties drawing a Christmas tree because of…
More...An irresistible Easter bunny
How about an Easter bunny! This drawing may be a little more complicated than some of…
More...Seeing eyes, noses and mouths all over again!
Before we get into how to draw a whole face, let me repeat that drawings turn…
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