Perspective drawing really isn't that scary. The main thing is to start simple - don't leap straight into a three-point drawing of the Leaning Tower of Pizza if you've never even constructed perspective before, ok? Start with a simple box in one-point perspective. When you've got that squared away, try boxes in two-point perspective. You'll need to learn how to divide space. A useful technique is the 'crossed diagonals' method of finding the center of a quadrilateral. And then go ahead and try your hand at three point perspective.

Drawing with white chalk on black paper can look really effective and dramatic. But handled badly, it can also look really 'wrong'! The biggest problem is the temptation to outline in white, where we would normally be using a graphite pencil. The trick is to reverse the way we look at things. With graphite or ink, we draw the darks and shadows, and sometimes don't give the highlights much attention. When drawing with white on black, we need to pay lots of attention to the lights, as well as shading the darker and mid tones lightly to bring them into the correct value range. It's a fantastic mental exercise, even if you prefer to work on white paper, as it will challenge you to really think about what you are drawing and develop your sensitivity to light and shade. If you are a pastelist, working with pure white on black is a useful way to improve your awareness of value without the complication of color.
Try the White Chalk on Black Paper drawing exercise.

It's generally better to draw from life than to draw from a photograph, but sometimes having a subject sit for hours isn't possible. Kids are particularly challenging sitters - they just won't sit still for a moment! If you're going to draw from a photograph, you really need it to be a good one. A well-lit picture with a natural subject is so much easier to draw and will give you really great results. It's particularly important when drawing animals, so I put together a tutorial on photographing your pet for drawing and painting. For more quick, expert advice on taking great photos, head over to About.com's Photography GuideSite and check out some of the great articles from Liz Masoner. 5 Ways to Get Great Kid Photos is a good place to start - the examples are so full of color and life that you wont' know what to grab first, your camera or your colored pencils!
Photo (c) Liz Masoner / About.com

Hot off the press, here's a wallpaper of Van Gogh's 'Starry Night' drawing in ink, with an inspirational quote revealing how Vincent felt about the importance of drawing. There are two versions, one for iPad and one for a small computer desktop. More coming soon! Check out the Starry Night Wallpaper