Fearless Friday is early this week because tomorrow my fellow Tales of the Traveling Tote group & I will be sharing our Spring travels.
We are also having a giveaway, it’s a Mackenzie-Childs hand painted globe vase so be sure to stop by for that!
Since I’ve done hydrangeas in acrylic and water color, I decided to try one in colored pencil
I used the Drawing by Shapes method we discussed last week, and drew an ink drawing from a painting by another artist, source unknown
After the outline drawing was finished I chose my colors
Usually I color with markers and just use colored pencils for subtle shading and other small touches, and haven’t done a complete colored pencil drawing in probably decades!
I decided it would be fun to try colored pencil only and at this point I realized I didn’t have a color chart for my pencils 😱
You have to know what each color can do, so I immediately got busy making a reference chart
It spans 4 pages of my sketch book, but I plan on laminating the pages together on one page
Now I can begin!
I quickly realized I needed more oranges and purples
The petals were confusing me so I decided to work on the leaves and background
Using a darker color over a lighter color can produce subtle shading
I did use markers to lay in the large dark background areas
Once the background was finished I focused on the leaf details and coloring the petals
If you look really closely, a single bloom is made up of many colors
Coloring with pencil does take longer than other mediums, but it is quite relaxing
I use a jar to corral the pencils I’ve chosen
Hydrangea in colored pencil, 6″ x 9.5″
Juicy Details
My colored pencils are not new, they have been accumulated over the years and I have several different kinds. My favorite seems to be the Prismacolors, they blend beautifully and come in a zillion colors and color sets. The pricier top of the line Faber-Castell are touted as the best but they actually are reported to be less vibrant than Prismacolors. Stay away from student grade or lower priced pencils such as Prang, they can be dull and don’t blend well.
You can get a good basic set of 24 Prismacolor pencils for under $15 here
You can also get colored pencils that can work like watercolor when water is added, see choices here
As always, have fun and Be Fearless!!
🎨 🎨 🎨
I will be joining these fabulous parties and blogs:
Dishing it & Digging it, Between Naps on the Porch, Make it Pretty Monday
Cooking and Crafting with J&J, Celebrate and Decorate,
Delicious Dishes Recipe Party Oh My Heartsie Girl Full Plate Thursday