"Draw with Me (From Blank Page to Finished Masterpiece) (Ha!)" by Richard F. Yates

Hey folks, today we're going to draw a new "Nothing to Report" image starting with just a piece of reclaimed cardboard (formally part of a frozen dinner box) and a big, fat Sharpie.

My drawing style is probably best described as "high nonsense spontaneity," and most of the time I don't have much of a "plan" in mind. This time, I knew I wanted to make a "Nothing to Report," but that's all I had for a concept going into this project...

The TRICK, though, is to have fun. Embrace mistakes, don't sweat the stuff that looks kinda funky, (there will always be another drawing, and maybe the next one will be better,) and don't be afraid to get weird. Unless you are specifically working on a commission piece that NEEDS to be focused and perfect, there's no reaon not to let yourself just PLAY. That was the plan here...

Like American artist and jazz aficionado, Stuart Davis, I like to make my signature (my mirrored "RY") a big part of most of my drawings. Call it ego, call it narcissism---it's my drawing, and I like making the "YR" parts...

(The sausages, for those who might be interested in such things, were chicken, not pork. I don't feel good eating cows or pigs, so I try to stick to birds... Has nothing to do with the drawing, but I thought I'd mention it.)

Next we add the CREATURES. Here's where the fun really gets rolling...

Once the drawing is "done," I usually photograph it with my phone and crop the image.

Then, using a photo filter, (called "Cartoon,") I pump up the contrast, bleaching the whites and strengthening the dark areas. This causes some weird "artifacting" and dirties things a bit, which I like.

The next step is to open a free program I use, called Sketch, and import my drawing. I then use a thin black line to outline the major elements (to protect against image disintegration), and I start adding colors.

Again, I rarely have much of a plan for my color palette, and I'll experiment---add a color, erase it, add a different color, until I like the look.

Coloring takes a long time, and I'll sometimes end up with two or three different versions, which I'll send to my email and keep as alternates, and I'll post the "winner" on Steemit or turn it into a piece of crypto-art... But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's finish THIS one. Just needs some detail work...

There! Done!

Any questions? (Feel free to ask. My life is an open book...or page, at least.)

Okay, that was a step-by-step trek through my process for creating a piece of digital art. Hope you had fun! I know I'm no Bob Ross, but I'm as close as an old punk with no art training can get---and I'm TRYING to have a good time!

That's it! Now go draw something better than what I made! (Shouldn't be too tough!!!)

---Richard F. Yates (Holy Fool)

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