My first animated character drawing - Woody from Toy Story

After a couple of failed attempts at landscapes, I wanted a change of pace and inexplicably decided that I would draw a cartoon character using coloured pencils. I'd never drawn one so this would be my first. But which one? It didn't take me very long to make my choice actually. My favourite animated series of all time has to be Toy Story. The concept is revolutionary and it's one of the few series where every single installment is pure heart and pure genius.

When the makers announced that they were going to make Toy Story 4, I was enraged. Toy Story 3 ended on such a poignant note and seemed to give closure to the whole series, I was sure they were going to ruin it with Toy Story 4. But I was wrong. I thought I was all cried out after Toy story 3 but Pixar managed to wring out a few more tears from me with Toy Story 4. It's brilliant.

And so, the animated character I chose to draw had to be Woody - everyone's favourite deputy. The reference photo was a Toy Story 4 poster.

I love how this turned out. I wasn't sure it would work since I'd never drawn a cartoon character, but it ended up not being too complicated. I used Faber-Castell Polychromos and Derwent Lightfast coloured pencils. The paper was Clairefontaine Paint On Mix Media in Denim because I thought the blue would make a nice background...and it was, except that I found out it affected the colour output. Everything took on a grey hue. I had to add red to the browns for that reddish brown effect, and the yellows kept giving off a green tinge (yellow and blue makes green, duh).

However, once I got the hang of adjusting the colours, I had a lot of fun with this drawing. This paper works reasonably well for coloured pencils and I like that it's a thick 250gsm card. It's so satisfying seeing Woody come to life. Howdy, howdy, howdy!

To give it even more pop, I went over some of the brightest highlights with a white gel pen. And then, it's done. The best friend a child could have.

"Being there for a child is the most noble thing a toy can do." - Woody