ColourFun

Colour schemes

Build a printable worksheet of colour wheel schemes: complementary, analogous, triadic and more.

Colour interaction

Josef Albers-style studies: one colour made to look like two, two colours made to look like one, and more.

Paint mixing

Mix virtual paint, then see tints, tones and shades, and value and saturation. Print mixing charts to fill in.

3D shape shading

Turn 3D shapes in a playbox, see them from every side, and learn to draw and shade them with a pencil.

Ellipses

How circles turn into ellipses in perspective, and how their width changes with eye level. For cylinders, bowls, cups and wheels.

Lamp views

Draw a lamp in seven views (top, bottom, two sides, front, back and one-point perspective): five simple lamps, adjustable proportions and step-by-step guides.

Perspective

Learn one-, two- and three-point perspective, move vanishing points around, find them in practice pictures, and print a practice sheet.

3D letter

Turn any block letter into a solid 3D letter in one-point perspective: move the vanishing point, set a thickness of 2 cm or more, follow six steps and shade it with the light from the right.

Atmospheric perspective

How distance fades contrast, detail and saturation, and pushes colours towards blue. Build a layered landscape.

Value & notan

Turn a reference photo into greyscale, a 2- or 3-value notan, or a 5-value study to plan lights and darks.

Grid & proportion

Put a grid over a reference photo and print a matching grid for your paper, with tools for measuring angles and proportions.

Composition

Put the rule of thirds, golden ratio, golden spiral or dynamic symmetry lines over your own images, and try out crops.

Design principles

Balance, contrast and hierarchy: the brief, example ideas that regenerate, a box timer, and a printable A4 sheet of six rectangles.

Black square problem

Four black squares, four words (bold, explosion, doubt, compression): eight regenerating ideas per word, a drag-and-rotate playground, and printable worksheets and templates.

The course design matrix filled with 120 images for chaos (art, animation, nature, space, science and chemistry), two per element and principle. Click any image for the reasons; pick 18 and print them at 6 cm

Perfume bottle compositions

The same two cuboid perfume bottles in 15 different arrangements, drawn in perspective and shaded: regenerate ideas, turn the view, and print a reference sheet.

Chaos drawing ideas

12 drawing ideas for chaos (3 pencil, 3 fineliner, 3 colour pencil, 3 markers) with techniques, elements and principles; regenerate and lock ideas, then print 10 cm drawing boxes.

Chaos: 27 boxes

27 chaos boxes from your 18 Visual Research images: pencil, ink, coloured pencil, markers, collage, construction paper and mixed media, each with an example that builds up step by step.

Gesture timer

Timed gesture drawing sessions with your own reference images: 30 seconds to 10 minutes, with breaks and a session log.

Mark-making & media

A reference for pencil grades, charcoal, ink, pastel and paper, with printable swatch sheets to fill in.