Archive for August, 2008

Tip on Pencil Portrait Drawing - Clothing

Monday, August 11th, 2008

Drawing clothing can be quite challenging. The challenge usually centers on Girlsdesignerclothes4820 drawing of the folds. There is Benchfleecejackets5576 lot of reflected light, lots of darks, and many lights. But Brandnamebabyboyclothes2653 is exactly this variety of values that makes the drawing of clothes very attractive but also challenging. Learning to draw fabric well requires a concerted effort and a good deal of practice.

Here are a few tips to memorize:

* Folds There are five types of folds we must recognize when drawing clothing:

1. The column fold

2. The drape fold

3. The inert fold

4. The coil fold

5. The interlocking fold

Of course, Throwblanket3196 a typical situation, more than one of these Runescapemoney7139 types are present. Here are the definitions:

* Column Fold This type of fold is the most common and is typified by its cylindrical shape suspended or originating from one point. The value pattern is that of a cylinder which involves a hard edge followed by a parallel line of reflected light, a shadow edge and a soft edge. The column fold also shows highlights here and there depending on the location of the light source. You can find such folds frequently in scarves, curtains, and skirts.

* Drape Fold This fold comes about when a piece of fabric is suspended from two opposing points. The fabric in between the two points is long enough so that it can Applebottomjeans6002 freely and form a somewhat semi-circular shape. The picture is that of a series of alternating narrow dark and light semi-circular strips that begin and end at the two points. This type of fold is often found in blouses.

* Inert Fold This type of fold occurs in a piece of fabric that is not suspended but lies on a surface without being stretched. Here, the folds can go in many different directions. However, each fold relates to its neighbors in a particular manner. You should study these patterns and render them in a consistent way although the whole thing seems at first to be a mess. You can observe this type of fold when a woman’s dress is partially resting on the surface she is seated on.

* Coil Fold A piece of fabric that is wrapped around a circular rod will invariably show this sort of fold. It has a spiral-like appearance and it can be found in sleeves and pant legs when the sleeve or pant leg is somewhat twisted around the arm or the leg.

* Interlocking Fold - Fabric that is piled on a couch or is wrapped around someone’s neck will often show folds within folds or on top of each other. With this sort of fold it becomes imperative that you trace how each fold works itself into the other and apply the appropriate cast shadows.

As mentioned above, in a typical pencil portrait involving fabrics, you will find combinations of these different types of folds. It is important that you recognize each type instantly and that you have practiced drawing them.

You should identify the areas where the fabric is in tension and where it is not and see where the darks and lights are. In addition, there will always be hard edges and soft edges that must be rendered faithfully for your drawing to look realistic.

Finally, there is also something called: “lost and found” edge. A lost and found edge is an edge that, at first, can easily be seen, but then peters out and becomes invisible, only to reappear a little further down the line. Although the edge consists of two disconnected lines, the eye through the brain recognizes that the two disjointed line pieces belong together and form one edge.

As you can see, drawing clothes is not all that simple. Sometimes clothes are dismissed and often underestimated in their difficulty to draw. But, if you know that they are not so easy, you should not feel Urbanclothes2510 if, at first, your clothes drawings do not look very realistic. Sorry to say, but learning the art of drawing clothes requires much practice and careful observation.

Remi Engels, Ph.D., is a pencil portrait artist and oil painter. Samples of Remi’s pencil portraits and other articles can be found at Remi’s Art and Remi’s Pencil Portraits.

Ouch! My Puppy Dog is Biting My Hands and Clothes

Friday, August 1st, 2008

This article explains in plain English the fastest way to stop your puppy dog biting at your clothing, hands or Namebrandbabyclothing6811 body parts. If you have “tried everything” or simply have no idea what to do, the answers are all here and made easy. Methods are humane and pet-friendly, utilizing positive reinforcement and ‘time-outs’ instead of spanking or scolding.

All puppies will bite and chew your body parts or clothing. It Nikeoutletstores5818 just what puppies do. Their sharp, needle-like teeth can cause quite a lot of pain, and clothing can easily be damaged. It makes sense Designerclothingformen1132 we want to teach puppy Ouranhighschoolhostclub41759 this is unacceptable as quickly as possible. What’s more, if puppies are allowed to continue this behavior, by the time they are adolescents or adults they could cause some serious damage!

That’s not to say that having a puppy’s mouth on you is necessarily a ‘bad’ thing. Puppies need to learn what we call ‘bite inhibition’, which is a soft, inhibited bite. Why? All dogs will bite under certain circumstances, particularly if taken by surprise. The dog that learns bite inhibition can bite without Benchclothingformen1565 any real damage.

First, some theory. Don’t worry, it’s not long and boring!

If you have read my earlier article “Secrets of Dog Training Professionals - Operant Conditioning” then you will be familiar with the term ‘Negative Punishment’. Sounds awful, doesn’t it? But don’t worry, Negative Punishment simply means that Cutting4728 is decreased Cheaphost9475 we took something away as a consequence of that behavior.

A ‘time out’ is a Negative Punisher when the target behavior is decreased. Time outs are one of the most humane and pet-friendly punishments we can use, when used with thought and care.

Puppies bite at our hands and clothing because that is the way that puppies like to play. It is fun, and they enjoy our attention. They particularly like it if we try to fight them off of us. Have you ever seen two or more puppies playing? They like to fight each other with their mouths and paws.

Normally, other puppies teach our puppy not to bite too hard by squealing in pain. When we take our puppy from the litter, these other puppies aren’t around to teach proper bite inhibition any more. Some people advise trying to emulate a ‘puppy squeal’ to discourage biting too hard.

I don’t know why, but people just don’t seem to be very convincing with their squeals, so I don’t recommend it as a training technique. What’s more, some puppies seem to enjoy it when their human squeals and will get more excited, resulting in more biting. This is obviously not what we want puppy to do! If you can squeal and your puppy immediately stops biting, then this is an acceptable technique. Monitor the behavior long-term, though, to make sure biting too hard is decreasing.

A different, yet highly effective aproach is to say ‘ouch’ in a neutral tone of voice (not loud, not high-pitched and not angry) then walk out of the room, shutting the door behind you for 30 seconds. This marks the exact behavior you are trying to punish, then gives a time-out as a consequence.

It may take puppy a little while to figure out the link between his biting and the time-out, but the marker will make it clearer. It is important to say ‘ouch’ in a neutral tone of voice, and say it exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard.

Notice that I said “exactly at the moment that puppy bites too hard“? We don’t want to discourage young puppies from biting altogether, this would be bite prohibition. We want to teach puppies to inhibit their bite.

Time-outs should not be excessive. A long time-out can be stressful and lead to other unwanted behaviors. 30 seconds is more than enough and seems to be quite effective. Don’t look back at puppy or try to push puppy away when you say ‘ouch’. Simply get up and leave, closing the door behind you.

If you have family or friends in the room then it might be easier to lead puppy out of the room and shut him out for his time-out. However, this doesn’t seem to be as effective to me.

Remember, it is only punishment if the behavior decreases. Continuing with a punishment which is unclear or ineffective is a waste of time and borders on abuse (although, it would be hard to do damage with a 30 second time-out). Consider your timing, consistency and whether or not there is anyone else in puppy’s life who is not following through with this protocol consistently. It is important that you explain the rules to anyone who plays with puppy.

If all else fails, seek professional advice. Most vet clinics are now offering puppy kinder classes using humane and pet-friendly techniques.

Aidan Bindoff is Editor of http://www.positivepetzine.com your helpful on-line resource for free positive dog training advice that works fast and that anyone can apply today!