Inspirations for painting and drawing ideas can come from anywhere an artist looks. Some ideas are designed to hone techniques, while other ideas are designed to expand imaginative possibilities. Each of the painting and drawing ideas listed can be used to practice, enhance or hone artistic skills whether you are a student, teacher or professional artist.
Drawing: Figure and Line
Grab a sketch pad and find a populated place where you can sketch people. Figure drawing is a good way to learn form, perspective, movement and shape. All of these elements come through the sketch as the artist controls the pencil on the paper. Different line techniques can be used also for the practice sketches. Contiguous lines, contour lines and other lines can all be practiced with figure sketching, as can shading and contrast. These can show dimension of the figures, folds of clothing, and where the direction of light is coming from.
Drawing: Out-of-the-Ordinary Still-Lifes
Still-life sketches are sketches of inanimate objects like fruit baskets, table settings and bottles of wine. Sketches of this nature offer the practice of learning where light comes from and how to shade the objects accordingly. Instead of common objects, sketch objects that are not common among still-lifes. Cell phones, purses, coins, paper piles or a combination of other out-of-the-ordinary objects can make great still-life practice. This type of sketch can also broaden the imagination of the artist since it is up to the artist to convey an idea, feeling or thought in the way the objects are presented in the sketch.
Painting: Make Fantasy a Reality
Inspiration for great paintings can come from just about anywhere. A great place to look for inspiration is fantasy books. Characters, places, and time periods come alive through an author's written word. An artist can take those words and form them into what he thinks the person, place or time looked like. This painting idea used the fantasy world provided by the author to give inspiration to the artist. Fantasy books are a great place to start, but other books and novel genre's can also be used as inspiration for painting.
Painting: One-Color Painting
One-color painting is a great way to learn about mixing colors, as well as learn about contrast, tone and shade. Any kind of painting whether a portrait, still-life or landscape scene can be done with this painting idea. Choose what type of painting will be done and what color will be used. Practice making the color go from light to dark with every shade in between. There will be several different tones of color that can be made with by using the one color of paint. The painting will be done like a gray scale painting except with color.
Combining Painting and Drawing Ideas
Combine a drawing and painting idea for a brand new idea. Drawings can easily be transferred to canvas by using transfer paper or by using a free-hand sketch. Figure drawings can be painted in a one-color painting scheme, and so can out-of-the-ordinary still-life ideas. Blending the ideas to make abstract drawings and paintings can also be done.
