Tear Drops

I've watch a Fabatv lesson on tear drops.. They are quickly becoming my nemesis.

Who does them by pressing the brush down and dragging out to the tail
Who does them by pressing and flicking
and who does them by starting with the tail and pressing the drop and the end of the stroke?

The last one...

I do them all ways...best to practice them all, you can't tun that face upside down !

Thats what i've been doing so far.. if you look in my photo album there are some pics of my legs FULL of attemtps lol

I prefer the drag and push. Then I can control the direction of the tail better as well as the size of the drop

In the beginning...
They were ALL ploppy blobs.
Now, I have practiced and practiced both blop & drag into a thin tail AND thin to drop, I do them from left to right and from right to left. Whatever was my weakest, I practiced almost every night while watching "The Walking Dead" "The Big C" "Face Off".

I prefer drag and plop

All of the above. Whichever method is easiest for the angle I am working at.

I prefer dropping my tip down then dragging the tail out. I do it both ways, but this is my favorite method.

I do it differently for pedals on a flower.

Practice practice practice. It really is all about practice

I create the "head" of the teardrop first and then drag/flick the tail, but I can do all methods depending on the angle.
If you have access to a webcam or can record your attempts and upload it to youtube or vimeo, we can give you some detailed feedback.

I've tried every method and I'm still struggling but, practicing everyday

First, create the head. Then, drag the tail. Except for my petals.

I always press and flick!

leapinglizards wrote:I prefer drag and plop

That describes me perfectly when getting home from an event!!!

What brushes are you using?

It's like golf, you have to have the right club for the job

I was just going to say that CKC...it helps when you have good brushes but also every brush has a different type of tear drop that it does better. Like Mark Reid brushes are softer but hold a lot of paint so he twists to maintain the point as he's painting. If you have a stiffer brush, then holding it high and flicking works.

Like everyone else the direction depends on the angle and the effect I want. Like when I'm doing women's eye designs I'll start with the long tail and then press to a drop. When I'm doing masks it's start fat and drag and lift to the focal point.

I still have to really concentrate not to leave a fat tail. I use a #3, which means I load a lot, but it's easier for me to get a sharp tail.

I prefer drag and drop but will move to drop and drag it depends what is better for what I am doing. I can do a drag and drop faster- but I find niether method is appropriate for all situations so I have to do both. e.g. for a fairy mask with lots of tear drops I drag and drop about 80%, the other 20% is drop and drag - I can do it all one way but it takes a lot longer.

for me: drag and drop is thin line to the big tear drop head, drop and drag head of tear drop to thin tail

I practice doing them all ways....and my arms are covered most nights..i try to practice with the colors I don't use often, so I can save my black when working

When I first started I couldn't do the plop and drag to save my life. I always started thin....then thick. Then, after watching Mark Reid's linework class I finally "got it"!! Since then, I use the Plop and drag method more often, and I do seem to have better success that way. The key was really pushing down in the beginning.

I find that drag and plop makes more of a round end and the skinny tip tends to turn into a fat, round dot faster if that makes sense. So, I like the shape of the press and drag better (more evenly tapered), but it is a good idea to practice all of them. I think certain situations work with certain methods better.

It just depends what I'm doing really, and which brush I'm holding... If I'm using my Da Vinci brushes, I'll drag and drop... Any other brush is drop and drag...

I practice both, but when I am working I almost always do the press and flick (aka drop and drag, blob and tail, etc).

It is good to be able to do both though to help when working around the angles of the face.

All 3... it just depends on the angle I'm working at and what look I want to achieve.

Kewl..
I have been practicing them over and over and over..
I sit on the couch in short shorts, do the front of my thighs and when they are dry, i cross a leg over my knee and start with the inside of my calfs..
I find that the drag n plop method, i can get near perfect ones most of the time. well tapered ect..
the plop first, although getting better is still a hot mess. it seems to depend on the angle too.. i can get them better, left to right.. but the top down ones O_o not so much.
Different brushes have been tried.. 2,3,4 rounds .. .. i have some snaz brushes, silly farm stuff.. and i just bought a cheap little brush set at michaels, to try them out.. I think i am having issues with getting the proper paint consistency and stuff too.. Gettin there
The cheap brushes don't seem to hold much paint, and i may need to trim them a bit.. i figure if i can get good with those.. it should be a joke, when i have all kickass brushes

Nope, cheap brushes are usually the problem.

Practice with watery paint. The more watery the paint will make better tear drops. Although, watery means possible drips or having to go over it again. Now that I have been doing this for 3 1/2- 4 yrs, I can get a tear drop near perfect with almost a dried up goopy brush.

Oh, I could not do a tear drop with a crappy brush no matter how long I've been in this biz