Birds in Bowties (+ other fun stuff!) | Draw & Explore Characters Through Accessories

There is something VERY fun about drawing a bowtie onto a bird, and it doesn't stop there!  Accessories are a great way to start exploring characters, especially when you are just beginning your character-doodling adventure.

As a newbie to creating characters, it can sometimes be tricky to know where to start.  If you sit down with a pencil and think “who do I want to draw?”, the question can hang there, drifting amongst all the possibilities.  With so many choices, it’s easy to feel a bit overwhelmed.

I find thinking about accessories handy, because it helps me to explore a wide range of ideas, but in a more focussed way.  If I start by simply thinking about a Thing, rather than a Character, the process feels simpler…and yet, that Thing can lead me towards emotions and personality if I consider what it might be saying.

Start with what you know, and then branch out.  Once you start thinking of accessories to add to sketches, you realise how far you can go!  You might ponder on items from an historical setting, which would set your character in a certain era, or give them a certain mindset.  Or maybe you think about fantasy items, which would give your character magical powers.

Come explore accessories with me, and see what ideas might spark for you!

In this class we’ll dip into:

• Types of accessories and what they might communicate
• How changing the size, colour and placement of accessories can shift a character’s message
• How to spot some simple shapes in bird references, so we can draw basic skeleton sketches… which we can then add accessories to, to spark our ideas!

This class is about taking the pressure off, and just having fun exploring ideas - and you don’t need finished, detailed character illustrations for that!  If you only sketch out a few accessories in your sketchbook, and note down some thoughts about them, that’s enough. You may return to that page in later days and find it inspires you in ways you never expected!

You can choose whichever art medium you like for this adventure!  I am using colouring pencils in class, but it really is an open pathway.

You might try marker pens, graphite pencil, pastels, ballpoint pen… whatever you feel most comfortable using.  

Also, consider what you are drawing onto.  You could fill some pages of a sketchbook with your accessory doodles and birdie sketches, or you could grab a big piece of paper and brainstorm them onto that, so you can see them all together.  It’s up to you!

RESOURCES

Check out the Resources, under the Project & Resources Tab, to find practise sheets, an ideas list and a bird-sketching guide.  

I’ve also collected a bunch of birdie images together on Pinterest, if you fancy browsing for some birdie-inspirations!

You can also find examples of my sketches from the planning of this class in my Project, in the Project Gallery.

ABOUT YOUR TEACHER

Hi, I’m Gemma!  I am an artist-maker who has a passion for learning new things and sharing creative joy.  Over the years I have tried many creative pathways, and for a while I thought that not sticking to one thing made me lesser somehow - until I realised that being multi-passionate is my creative fuel!

It doesn’t matter that I’m not an expert in each thing I try - it’s about the exploration, the learning, the simple “having-a-go” joy.

My mantra is Nurture Your Curiosity, Fuel Your Creativity - because I know from experience that by allowing ourselves to stay curious, we can become better problem-solvers and, therefore, better creative thinkers.  Creative variety is pure fuel, and fun too!

Come say Hey:

gemmathepen.com

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Credits:

Sound effects obtained from https://www.zapsplat.com

Stock Videos & Reference Images from Pexels.com

Music from Pond5

Confetti Overlay -Video by Abu Pro