Welcome To Contours and Crosshatch!

Hello and Welcome to "Contours and Crosshatch"!

My name is Kelly Stamblesky and I am a mostly self-taught artist that has been guided along the way by some fabulous teachers. A recipient of the Ohio Women's Club Federation scholarship, I attended Kent State University on an Honors Scholarship and later attended Center for Creative Studies-College of Art and Design. I have always loved drawing and find it to be a very therapeutic pursuit. Currently, I am looking for venues to share my knowledge through teaching skill building art classes. I hope to give back to future artists the support and guidance with which I have been blessed. 

In the meantime, I have started this blog to offer information to budding artists and to help me organize my thoughts for future classes. The first few posts will review necessary supplies.  After we cover that and some basics (like how to hold a pencil for artistic purposes), I will take you on an artistic adventure into building and improving your drawing skills. You may be surprised that much of it ends up having little to do with putting the pencil to paper and everything to do with your ability to accurately see and then translate what you are seeing to your hand. Practice is vital to this process and, with dedicated practice, you will find that your ability to see rightly and your drawing skills will improve in tandem. 

So join me for an artistic adventure, first up will be drawing with pencil on paper(also known as "graphite"). My next post will review the necessary materials you will need. I will give you examples of the materials I use but you can choose any brand you like as long as they have the same qualities. More details on that next time. 

Thank You for taking the time to read this post. I hope you will join me in my drawing adventure! 

💖 Kelly