Week 35 // Making Art Everyday • Bardot Brush

Week Thirty-Five

One of the definitions of illustration is, “an example serving to clarify or prove something.” Illustration has the ability to illuminate the viewer. To convey an emotion, or explain a concept, or tell a story.

I recently shared an illustration of two ducks on my instagram that got me thinking more about story-telling in my art. Early in your development as an artist, you draw a lot of “things”. You are developing your ability to SEE how something looks and produce that on paper or in pixels. This is incredibly valuable practice, but those drawings probably don’t have the ability to cause and emotional reaction within the viewer.

Eventually, you’ll start to visualize something new, beyond the way something simply looks. You’ll start to see the relationship between things, the connections, the emotions, the symbolism. You’ll reach the stage as an artist where you’ll start to imagine stories behind those “things”, AND you’ll have the skills to reproduce what you visualize. This is when your artwork becomes powerful and has the ability to make the viewer think or feel something.

What to Do

The next time you draw a “thing” think about what extra element you could add to it to begin to show a narrative or convey an emotion. You could draw just a duck, or you could draw a duck that is sad. See how there could be a story behind that? A window is a thing. A broken window is a story. A teddy bear is a thing. A teddy bear underwater is a story.
This week’s prompts are all about incorporating a bit of story telling in your drawings, use the concept here to inspire you!

August Prompts

Buildings

It’s a 5-week month, so for our last week of drawing buildings, I thought it would be fun to get a little fantastical! This week you’ll be drawing objects as houses. What does this mean? You’ll be taking everyday objects and re-imagining them as houses for imaginary tiny people or creatures.

Step 1: sketch the object itself using references.
Step 2: add windows and doors plus any other details you’d like (walkway, porch light, shutters, a roof, flower pots, chimney, etc. It’s up to you!)
Step 3: color and render to finish the piece!
Step 4: (optional) you can even add the tiny home-owner if you wish! Is it a itty-bitty human? Or an animal or insect? Or something imaginary?

The idea here is to use your imagination and inject a teeny bit of storytelling into your work. Don’t overthink it, make it whimsical, and have fun!

Week 34 | Aug 26-31

Objects as Houses

Mon: soda can house
Tue: fruit house
Wed: hat house
Thu: book house
Fri: shoe house
Sat: seashell house
Sun: teapot house

And if you are really enjoying turning things into houses this week, here are some more objects that I think would be fun to draw as a house! Handbag, cake, shoe box, tooth, pumpkin, flower pot, barrel, alarm clock, suitcase, acorn, fire hydrant, gemstone, flashlight, birthday present.

You can access each week’s prompts at makingarteveryday.com

Week 35 progress Tracker

Track your Making Art Everyday progress! See at-a-glance all you’ve accomplished, and reflect on the work you’ve done at the end of the week. Visit bardotbrush.com/progress to download the monthly tracker and weekly reflection sheet. There are also instructions about how to use them.

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