Why We Create

Marks and shapes can be created accidentally or spontaneously as the result of process. An event or action results in shapes being formed. For example,

Read »

10 Tips For Design Students

Proven tips not only so you can get the most from your student experience (whether you’re in a design program or learning on your own) but also to enter the creative professions prepared to compete.

Read »
Add Life To Your Drawings Focus on Gesture by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Add Life To Your Drawings

Make your drawings life-like by focusing on what adds life. Learning to draw… it isn’t easy, is it? I’ve been drawing all my life. I was

Read »
Introduction to the Basic Forms: Prisms and Cylinders by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Primary Forms: Prisms and Cylinders

Form is the visual appearance of something. Everything we see has form. We understand what a form is by how it’s shaped. So we need

Read »
Introduction to the basic forms in drawing for beginners by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Draw the Basic Forms

As with any discipline there are fundamentals that are often overlooked but which are absolutely necessary to draw and paint with accuracy. If you’re a beginner,

Read »
Don't Let Drawing Mistakes Hold You Back by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Don’t Let Drawing Mistakes Hold You Back

I respond to a reader’s and viewers’ questions about how to avoid making drawing mistakes, and explain two ways to shift your mindset about mistakes

Read »
Capture Attention With Visual Hierarchy by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Capture Attention With Visual Hierarchy

As a designer or artist, if you understand some basic psychology and human visual perception, you can create compelling work that attracts attention, communicates clearly,

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Portrait Drawing Tutorial: JT With Hat

A beginning to end video demonstration of a portrait sketch using a photograph as reference. I start by setting up the drawing, identifying the relationships

Read »
How To Form A Daily Drawing Habit by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How to Form a Daily Drawing Habit

How to you get into the groove of drawing every day, especially when you have a full schedule? You know that improving anything requires practice.

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Use Graphite Paper To Transfer Drawings

Graphite transfer is a simple, traditional method used by illustrators, designers and artists to transfer same-sized drawings from a preliminary surface to a final working

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Color Mixing for Skin Tones

How to mix skin tones is one of the most common questions I’m asked by students and emerging artists. While there is no one single

Read »
How To Draw The Head Front View by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Draw The Head — Front View

Beginning with the basic structure and proportions, here’s one approach to draw the head in a front view. You can apply these principles and steps

Read »
three-point-perspective essentials
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Draw Three-Point Perspective

This is Part Three of my series of instructional articles about linear perspective. Three-Point perspective is used to depict objects and structures that are significantly

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Design A Drawing

An Eye Level reader wrote: What would be the forward steps to draw realistically, in correct proportions, from imagination? Especially imaginary (though “realistic”) human figures

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Portrait Sketch Tutorial: Bonita at 102

Older people provide a varied facial landscape to draw. In many ways, it’s easier to describe the external contours when there are more landmarks.  But

Read »
How to draw a hand A sketchbook session with Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How To Draw A Hand

In this Sketchbook Session I demonstrate my approach to drawing a hand. I start by sketching the general structure and overall shape, and pay attention

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Color Basics: 10 Absolute Truths About Color

Color is fundamental to life. We not only see color, we experience it. To apply color appropriately in art and design, you need foundational knowledge

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Using Visual Planes in Design and Art

Planes are probably one of the least known formal elements of design outside of the classroom, but understanding what they are and how they’re used is

Read »
This Is A Pencil — Choosing and Using Your Drawing Pencils by Alvalyn Lundgren
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

This Is A Pencil

https://youtu.be/0MowEmVwHRI Pencils are so common that we use them without thinking much about them. When it comes to drawing, we become much more aware of the pencil

Read »
color zones in portraiture
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Using Color Zones In Portraits

A color zone is an area where one color influences all colors in that area. This is known as color dominance, and it occurs constantly. It

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Light and Shadow in Skin Tones

In this tutorial I begin with some color theory about skin tones and how we perceive light and shadow. Then I move into how to

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Decoding Hexadecimal Color Notation

My color theory students have asked me to explain hexadecimal color notation. Their most often-asked question is “What is it?” I will break it down for

Read »
How to Draw Hands Using basic Shapes
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How to Draw Hands Using Basic Shapes

[themeone_drop_cap letter=”I” color=”accent-color1″ /]n addition to the face, a person’s hands are the most expressive part of the human anatomy. Movements, positions and gestures help us to

Read »
How To Create A Color Scheme
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

How to Create a Color Scheme

With all the options we have available to us for selecting colors, how to create the right color scheme for a situation is still a

Read »
gesture-contour-drawing
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Gesture and Contour in Drawing

What is the difference between gesture and contour? In drawing, there are essentially 2 ways we use line: as gesture, and as contour. Gesture line

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

2 Ways To Mix Color

There are two ways in which we mix color: Additively, using direct light from an original source, and Subtractively, using light reflected from substances and surfaces.

Read »

7 Tips for Qualifying a Printer

How do you choose a printer? Your choice will depend on the design project itself, but wouldn’t it be great to have several pre-qualified, dependable printers

Read »

From My Sketchbook: Lucien Bernhard

Lucien Bernhard was an illustrator, type designer and painter in the early 20th Century  and was known for stark, hand-lettered advertising posters with minimal graphic

Read »
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Seeing Red

Since color is a fundamental design element, designers should have a well-rounded knowledge of color theory that addresses color perception, psychology and symbolism in order to make intelligent design decisions.

Read »
11 tips for design students from Alvalyn Lundgren, designer and educator
Eye Level – Design + Illustration Theory & Tutorials

Advice for Design Students

The computer is a tool. Use a pencil instead and you’re still a designer. Having a computer, even if it’s a Macintosh, does not make you a designer.

Read »