Lucy Lee, Reporter
@lucyleecourant
Art is one of my favorite ways to keep myself busy, and over the quarantine period, it has been my all-time favorite creative outlook. I’ve been doing art since I was a little girl, and it’s always been a massive part of my life. But that’s not the case for some people. So I thought I’d share with you a few simple art projects to try out over the summer while social distancing is still in place:
- Drawing: From doodling on the corner of your homework to creating a masterpiece on a canvas, drawing is one of the most diverse types of art. My preferred method of drawing is sketching in my sketchbook. I’ve had years of practice, so here are a few tips for artists just starting their drawing journey.
- Doodles: Doodles seem like the most useless form of art, but in reality, they can create something magical. Everyone has a signature doodle that they scribble on paper while zoning out in their least favorite class. Mine is a bunch of vines swirling in different directions, and to this day, I still incorporate it into my drawings.
- Tracing: A lot of people say this is cheating. It’s not cheating unless you claim it as your own work. Printer paper works fine to hold up to your computer and trace images you find online. This will help your muscle memory learn how to draw certain things. Always remember to credit the original photo though!
- The next step is using reference images. I typically use Redbubble to find doodles I like and use them as reference images to create little doodles in my sketchbook pictured below:
- And finally, once you get more comfortable making these sketches, you can make them bigger and bigger until you have full scale drawings. You should also try and add your own personal touches and incorporate your own art style into these pictures. Here’s a drawing I made of Stitch from Lilo and Stitch:
- Digital Art: One of the most underrated art forms is digital art, which is extremely difficult for a beginner to get going with. Some may think that you need a bunch of fancy software or an iPad Pro to start doing digital art, but one of the ways I do digital art is online collaging.
- Open up a Google Slide presentation and make the background your preferred color of choice. Then choose a range of images with similar vibes or color schemes and put them in an order that makes most sense to you. Below is an example of a commission I did for a friend, she wanted a mood board with a nature aesthetic.
- Once you’ve grown sick of using google images, for a challenge start to use png images (or images with a clear background). You can find a lot of cute png’s for moodboards through google search. Below is a png moodboard I made for another friend
- Interior Design: Some may not realize, but interior design is a form of art. There are so many ways you can improve your room and create something beautiful. Here are some of the projects I’ve worked on during quarantine
- Album Cover Art: I selected some of my favorite album covers and printed them all out, cut them up and hung them up. Surprisingly, the most difficult part wasn’t sitting and cutting the albums all out, nor was it selecting album covers that went with the theme of my room. Organizing the covers in the order that I wanted them to be in was an incredibly challenging task. But it was extremely rewarding when I got them in the perfect order and hung them up.
- Vinyl and CD decor: I have a record player in my room, but a few of the vinyl’s I had I didn’t listen to anymore. So, using push pins, I hung up my unused vinyl by putting the pin in the hole in the middle of the vinyl to hang them up. I’ve also seen people hang up old CD’s, creating a cool rainbow effect in their room when the light hits them.
I hope you guys try out some of these projects! They are super simple and super fun. And remember we still are in the middle of the pandemic. Keep social distancing and try out some of these projects to stay productive. Happy summer!
