SofiArt

 Hello 😍 Surprisingly enough, last week I finally got TikTok ... I thought I would never say this, but here I am, like every other human, with a TikTok account 😆 So head there to check out the madness of this new world LOL  @sofia_monaci Anyhoooow, my first video there is about improving your hand-free sketching skills  Youtube Video on How to Improve Free-hand sketching skills fast  ... I LOVE sketching more than everything. Every time I start a new project, I am so so looking forward to creating the sketch. Yes, painting, shading and colouring are equally fun, and it's where the true nature of your creation takes form, but I SIMPLY LOVE the first sketching phase... Seeing your white pure paper being spoiled and grey contours appearing more and more vividly it is just too satisfying. Let me know in the comments below if you are obsessed with sketching too 👇 Free-hand sketching is not comparable to any other technique, I believe, because it is so relaxing and calm...

 Painting using only one watercolour pencil and a brush is the BEST WAY to learn how to handle your art equipment and shade and add tones and values correctly. I did a challenge about it on my Youtube channel -  Painting an Elephant Using Only 1 Pencil  - where I go in more details on how I achieved this using a 6B Aquarelle Pencil (Faber-Castell) and a 6 Round Brush (Faber-Castell). The choice of these two elements is critical to achieve a good result; if your pencil is not soft enough, you won't achieve really dark values, but at the same time if it is too soft it would probably be hard to have a variety of different grey values. On the other hand, if the brush is flat, you will be able to cover large areas (the body, the ear of the elephant in this case) but you won't be able to achieve small details. So before attempting this challenge, you should really think about what you've got and what the best choices are. (which will be the first important thing you will learn ...

Do you want to achieve realistic looking drawings? The secret is PATIENCE, especially when using coloured pencils. I have always rushed through them hoping to see results, and guess what? Only when I took my time, I started seeing improvements. I still have a long journey ahead, but I am quite proud of my green realistic eye that I posted on YouTube -  How to Draw a Realistic Green Eye in Coloured Pencils Another important tip that I can give you to improve fast is about BLENDING. There are different ways of doing that - maybe I should post a video on different blending solutions soon - but it is extremely important to build your layers gradually, starting with gentle layers of colours, and applying more and more pressure as you progress. Moreover, in between layers, you can use a bright or a mid tone, such as a white, ivory or grey, to really smooth out the pigments, and avoid the “grainy” look. Remember: if your drawing doesn’t look realistic 99% of the time is because it’s not f...

 Hello hello hello! It has been a while since my first post but I was getting ready to post my first Youtube Video! Which is now live 🙌  If you haven't watched it yet, make sure to check it out.  How to Paint a Lion in Watercolours  is my first real creation... First time I do not use Youtube tutorials as a guide - which, by the way, I think it is one of the best ways to learn and improve at the beginning. Anyway, I am really excited about it and I honestly can't wait to hear what you think ... I know there is still a lot to improve but I feel like I am finally seeing some results. Let me know what your first real creation was, how it went and how far you have improved since then 😊 Also, let me know what your favourite medium/a is, and what subject you prefer painting/drawing