Coloured pencil trio

Over one weekend, I drew 3 still life pieces to practise using coloured pencils. I'd watched a bunch of Youtube tutorials but didn't really expect much. One of the main tips of using coloured pencils was to use many light layers instead of a few dense ones. When I coloured the first ballet shoe, I was shocked and super excited by the result. Like what? That actually works??

I love how the picture pops and looks 3D.

After that piece, I drew one of maple leaves. Got pretty sick of colouring maple leaves after a while so I stopped at five 😆 

Got some smudges on the side of the paper. Have to remember to use a piece of paper or tissue underneath my hand when colouring.


Finally, I drew an English breakfast picture which was fun and I'm so happy with. I'd previously looked at that photo and thought no way I can do that. A few weeks on, I looked at the same pic and thought it might be doable - and it was. Feel like I've conquered a personal Everest (ok, maybe Mount Faber!)

What I like about these pieces is that the shading techniques I followed gave them a 3D effect (which is more apparent from certain angles). I've never been big on realism in art, but somehow there's a satisfaction in knowing I can do it, to some extent. The hues are especially gorgeous on toned paper.

Using coloured pencils is terribly laborious and takes about 3x as long as using markers. Somewhere in the mid mark, everything will look like mud and I always think the picture is ruined, but magically, everything comes together in the end. Certainly teaches me patience ☺️