I Haven’t Got a Clue!

Today’s been a fun day in the studio, and the result is this drawing: Pear Study #9 – Colored Pencil.

My venture into the world of art began with colored pencils — a lovely, complete set of Prismacolor Premiers. This box of colored pencils is still among my most cherished art supplies, simply because they represent my point of departure as I set off to learn to draw.

The colored pencils, however, are among my least-used art supplies. Oh, I’ve done some work with them. For a time, I used them on a regular basis. When I accompanied my husband to his appointments with the retinologist, I often took along a number of colored pencils so that while I waited I could work on a drawing.

Those days are far in the past, though. I honestly can’t recall the last colored pencil drawing I did. I’m thinking it might have been a bee, drawn and colored in June 2020.

I loved getting out my Prismacolor Premiers today and once again looking at such a gorgeous display of colors, but how to use them? I truly didn’t have a clue. I vaguely remember something about blending and something about burnishing, but really, I was at a complete loss as to how to work with colored pencil.

So why was I doing it? Anticipation, really. The next lesson coming up in the drawing class I’m re-visiting focuses on colored pencils. Today’s lesson was simply about color theory. Tomorrow I’ll go through the techniques involved in colored pencil drawing, but I was too eager to get out all those colors and play. I just jumped right in and did the best I could.

I started with my 4H pencil, but then my lines were so light that I had to go over them with an H pencil. Then, of course, once I’d started applying the colored pencil, my contour lines were too dark, too noticeable, so I attempted to remove — or at least, to lighten — them with a new kneaded eraser. It helped.

Even though I couldn’t recall the “proper” techniques for using colored pencils, I still did have fun with this project, and I’ll have fun tomorrow, too, I’m sure. I’m pleased with today’s study because the drawing looks fairly accurate, and even though I didn’t have a clue what I was doing, I managed to complete this little study.

I like this colored pencil drawing. I like the subject. I even like the colors. This is a key aspect in creating art, for sure. Sometimes it can be more satisfying to complete an imperfect sketch with uncertain techniques than to work diigently on a drawing that looks good but which never really interested us.

So I guess the moral of today’s story is just this: Draw what you enjoy. Even if you’re not sure what to do or how to do it, just give it a try!

DO YOU HAVE FAVORITE DRAWING SUBJECTS?

ARE THERE SUBJECTS YOU DON’T LIKE DRAWING?

DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE MEDIUM?