Yikes!

Judith

Sometimes we make bad drawings. It happens. We don’t intend to, of course, but sometimes bad drawings happen all the same. I’ve learned to laugh at my bad drawings. It doesn’t make them better, but it makes them bearable. My motto has always been — for everything — “If you can laugh at it, you can live with it.”

What happened here? What went wrong? In a word… everything. This, as you might be able to guess, was another attempt at a colored pencil drawing. This time, however, unlike with my other recent attempt, I thought I did have some idea of what I was doing, or at least, what I was supposed to be doing.

There are a few basic guidelines for using colored pencils:

  • Applications should be heavy
  • Colors should be mixed
  • We should work in layers
  • We can finish our drawings off by “burnishing” with cream, white, or with a colorless burnishing tool.

Well, folks, I tried doing all of those things — along with also trying to use cross contour lines, and it all added up to a dismal failure, a trio of very sorry-looking pears.

Here was my original reference photo:

I chose the photo specifically because these pears had a variety of colors. I thought it would provide good opportunities for mixing, layering, and blending. And maybe so — in the right hands. In my hands, nope. It merely provided an opportunity to make a mess and create a drawing that’s so bad it’s worthy of a few good laughs.

I can blame this disaster, in part, on my impaired vision. One question the retinologist posed during my recent visit was, “As an artist, are you still able to see colors?” Oh, yes, I assured him. Well, it turns out that I do have some problems there. But that’s no excuse, really.

The drawing went wrong from the start. I just couldn’t get my initial line drawing — also done in colored pencil — correct. My shapes were off; my proportions were wrong. And, you know something? Colored pencil is hard to erase! I tried with both a kneaded eraser and a vinyl eraser, finally gave up and tried to work with some of the misshapen lines I’d made.

I ended up with wobbly pears in ridiculous colors. Oh, well. Indeed, bad drawings happen, and that’s good in a way. Bad drawings like this make us much more appreciative of the good ones. Now I can look back at the colored pencil drawing I did a few days ago and think, “Hey, it’s really not so bad!”

Art is comparative, you know. One day’s disappointment may later appear to be a moment of artistic triump when compared to another day’s truly awful attempt.

Of course, there are other “take-aways” here. I’m realizing that colored pencil art isn’t really something I’m interested in pursuing. It’s fun to occasionally do little projects with colored pencils, but it’s just not a favorite medium. More and more, I’m realizing that “doing art” means “doing art that I truly enjoy”. While it’s good to experiment, and it’s helpful to have some knowledge of different media, we’re happiest when we’re doing the sort of art we truly love. For me, colored pencils just don’t fit into that category.

Someday I will use this reference photo again, either for a black-and-white graphite drawing, or maybe for a still life painting with oils. As a colored pencil project, it just didn’t work out, and that’s all right. Every art experience — even the bad ones — help us learn and grow.

17 Comments

    1. I think you’re right. For me, it’s been very helpful to “categorize” different media and genres. Although it’s good for us to explore different areas — portraits, landscapes, figure drawing, etc. — at some point it’s all right to say “Yes, I like this” or “No, this just isn’t me.” So I’m finding my “likes”, my “loves” and my “nope, don’t like doing this at all!”

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    1. Not exactly. More of what I refer to as “realistic representation”. In other words, I want to draw pears that look like pears, in a somewhat realistic way, but not to “realistic extremes”, if that makes any sense. I want my drawings to be recognizable as drawings yet represent actual form — correct proportions, colors, shadows. I’m just not sure how to define the level of “realism” I’m eventually hoping to achieve.

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      1. Well, their not terrible is what I’m saying. But maybe you are better off using a different tool for drawing and strictly using the colored pencils for coloring.

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      2. Colored pencils are definitely NOT my thing, I’ve decided. When I first learned to draw, I played with them and had fun, but now that I’m “re-learning”, I can see that I really don’t have any interest in colored pencil — except for occasional “just for fun” little things, I’m spending mostof my time now working with graphite and trying to rebuild/improve my skills there, with an eye toward that “realistic representation” (the vision I have in my head).

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      3. Ok. Cool. I look forward to sharing in your journey. I am an artist myself dabling in fine art/photography/music/film/poetry/digital/comics/flash fiction…honestly whatever tickles my fancy..i think i will tackle these pears. I rarely if ever have drawn fruit 😄

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      4. I visited your blog. I tried to subscribe, but for some weird reason WP doesn’t let me add any new subscriptions (even if I delete old ones). I will be sure to visit from time to time to see what you’re up to. Just from my first visit I can see you have an eclectic approach to art — and I appreciate that!

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      9. Weird… I didn’t see the email sign-up, but the “comment/subscribe” pop-up appeared, and it let me “subscribe” — and it looks like it worked. If I pull your site address up through comments, however, it still doesn’t show that I’m subscribed, and if I try — well, nope, it doesn’t do it. So, yeah, it’s weird.

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    2. Word Press can be crazy at times. I did find the email button, so I am now subscribed through email… one way or the other I should get updates, although I’m still not sure if your posts will show up in my Reader.

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  3. I never thought about my eyesight being an issue with my art on paper, digitally, or cakes. Maybe because I’m just all-around hard on myself about every single thing. I wear glasses, and one eye is weaker than the other. I have an eye appointment next week, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they told me my sight has gotten worse. I still like your wobbly pears. In crafting, I find them very useful. I’d fussy cut those and put them on a journal page or something else, depending on how big they are. Note: colored pencils are hard to work with, but I love them.

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    1. I have a “Retinal Vein Occlusion” — basically a blood clot in left eye, so my vision is really screwy right now. But I’ve always drawn “wonky-looking” fruits. I guess I just always see the world in a lop-sided way. I was frustrated, though, that I did have so much trouble getting the colors right. It’s been a couple years since I’ve done any drawing, and probably four years, at least, since I’ve used colored pencils. I think it’s one of the more difficult media in art. Part of my problem is that I just don’t have the patience required for colored pencils!

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