INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Use a hard pencil to create a light sketch of your subject. You can do this directly onto the canvas or onto tracing paper, and transfer it using a carbon copy. When you're drawing your subject, keep in mind the composition and use of negative space. Composition is the placement of items on the canvas. Choose the best placement so that the eye is drawn around the entirety of the canvas, rather than left to linger on a single spot. Negative space is the space around an object. If you are using an item in real life and are drawing it onto your canvas, draw difficult areas by looking at the space around the figure rather than at the figure itself. Consider what you will fill the negative space with once you start the painting in order to make your subject pop. Make note of overlapping figures, as these add depth to your composition. If your subject doesn't have any overlapping shapes, consider rearranging until you do. This will add realism to your painting. To create a realistic painting, you must have obvious patches of light and dark. Look at your subject and determine the angle at which the light is coming from, and where shadows and highlights are located. All light sources cast shadows, but if they are directly above the subject it can be difficult to see them. Try moving your light or your subject so that the shadows and highlights are more obvious. You may not have incredibly dark shadows or incredibly bright highlights. In fact, you likely will have a range of values that are all very near each other. Don't be concerned if your light source isn't creating a strong definition of shadows and highlights. For new painters, it is often very difficult to match the colors of their subject to the colors they mix with their paint. This is because the brain provides an idealized color value; you see the sky is blue, so you mix blue paint, only to realize that your paint is much brighter and colorful than the actual sky. The trick is to get past the symbols of color our brain uses, and examine the actual colors being used. This will change the brightness of your paints. A painting set at night will be darker and richer than one during the day, which is most likely brighter. Check the color of the light source; on a bright sunny day, your subject will have a golden glow. On a gray day, the light is diffused through the clouds giving your subject a gray tint. You may also have actual colored lights - such as neon signs or tinted light bulbs - that affect the colors of your subject. Are you painting a still life with little to no movement? Or is your figure in a field on a windy day, creating a lot of motion? Paying attention to the movement of your subject is important for planning your brush strokes. Realistic paintings have brush strokes that create movement, or a lack thereof.

SUMMARY: Create a rough sketch. Find the light source. Consider your colors. Look at the movement of your subject.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Choose pellets that are formulated for budgies and keep them available at all times. Twice a day, provide a mix of seeds, fresh fruits, and veggies. Always use raw fruits and veggies that are chopped up into small bites for your bird. This will keep your budgie healthy and happy. Great fruits for your budgie include apple, banana, blueberry, grape, guava, kiwi, mango, melon, orange, papaya, peach, pear, pineapple, and strawberries. Good veggie options include broccoli, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, kale, pumpkin, radish, spinach, squash, sweet potatoes, ripe tomatoes, and yams. Your budgies will need more food once their chicks are born, so make sure their feeder is always full. Empty and refill the water bottles every morning and evening to ensure your birds have constant access to fresh water. Your budgies will need more water while they're breeding. To make sure they don't run out, it's best to use two water bottles. Plus, this limits the risk of your budgies fighting over water. Hang the water bottles on different sides of the cage. Most budgies won't eat their eggs, but they may if they feel that they don't have enough food. Unfortunately, some budgies get into the habit of eating their eggs after doing it the first time. Budgies who continue to eat their eggs after you provide more food likely won't be good breeders. If your budgies eat their eggs, add more food to their cage over the next breeding period. If this doesn't stop the behavior, it's best to find a new pair of budgies to breed. These supplements provide vitamins and minerals that your birds need to be healthy, such as calcium. Simply put the supplements into the cage, and the birds will eat them as they desire. You can find these supplements at a pet store or online.

SUMMARY: Fill a large feeder with budgie pellets, seeds, fruits, and veggies. Hang two water bottles on the cage to ensure proper hydration. Provide plenty of food so that the parents won't eat their eggs. Supplement their diet with a mineral block, cuttlebone, and iodine salt spool.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: You don't need to be a master guitar player or drummer, but knowing how to play a few instruments will improve your musical ear and will help you understand what it takes to make an instrument sound good. Take lessons or learn on your own how to play multiple instruments. Learn how to play the drums so you can develop an understanding of how rhythm and beats work. Knowing the basics of an instrument such as a guitar will allow you to better collaborate with professional guitar players because you can make suggestions and get better performance from them. Musical theory refers to the study of composition, rhythm, harmony, and all of the other components that make up music. Earn a degree in musical theory or take a class so you can understand how to compose music, relate to sound engineers, and communicate with artists in their own, musical language. Look for a music theory course that you can take at local colleges or music education schools. Search for an online musical theory course you can sign up for. Study books on musical theory the learn about it on your own. As a producer, you need to be familiar with all of the current trends in music as well as be able to think of new and original compositions. Listening to different genres and styles of music can spark your creative mind and give you unique ideas for your own songs. Have music playing every chance you get! Look for artists and genres that you've never listened to before to inspire your own work and to stay current. If you plan to be a producer in a specific genre, like hip-hop or pop-punk, make sure you're listening to new artists in your own genre so you're up to date with new musical developments in your field. Get a job or an internship at a recording studio in your area so you can watch professional producers work. You can also visit or pay for recording time in a studio so you can see what professional studio looks like and how it operates. Some recording studios may let you hang out if you ask them. You can take tours of larger record label studios to see the best of the best setups. An audio mixer, or soundboard, is a device that allows you to control multiple audio channels, altering the volume and effects of individual sounds to create a cohesive composition. You can take lessons from a music teacher or use video tutorials to learn how to use one so you can learn how to properly balance the layers of sounds that make up a song. Search online for tutorials on how to use an audio mixer. Some audio mixers may come with instructional videos or pamphlets when you purchase them. Buy a book about how to use a mixer that you can keep handy as a reference.

SUMMARY:
Play multiple instruments to understand how they work. Take a musical theory course so you can better understand music. Listen to music constantly to come up with new ideas. Spend time in professional recording studios to learn how they work. Learn how to use an audio mixer.