Hammond - Animals: Drawing in Color

Colored pencil can be a very frustrating and confusing medium. As an art instructor, I see many students struggling in the beginning to learn the various techniques.

As with anything else in life, it just takes some understanding and a lot of practice to become comfortable with something new.

I tell my students to relax when they first begin. Not all artistic attempts need to be wonderful pieces of art which are suitable for framing. Rarely do our first attempts create the results we are striving for. You must not be afraid to experiment.

I've been a professional artist for many years. However, I still struggle at times and throw away projects that just plain do not work out. It's okay. Struggling and experimenting are part of the process and should not be seen as failures. Experiments are just as important as the final pieces. Learn to embrace them both!

I always remind the beginner that I too was a beginner and was once in their shoes. I honestly didn't like colored pencils when I first began working with them. I was too conditioned as a child to use pencils to just fill in color. The process of layering colors, or blending colors, escaped me at first. My projects resembled crayon drawings, and I blamed myself for my lack of talent. However, years later when I matured artistically I figured out my problem. I approached drawing with colored pencil differently and learned to love it.

Unfortunately, back when I was beginning, few books were written on colored pencil. I was forced to learn through trial and error. You now have a wonderful selection of books available by extremely gifted artists. Everything you need to know is at your fingertips. All you really need to do is practice.

Look at the example below. It is the progress of a typical art student. Your progress may appear very similar.

Welcome to the wonderful world of colored pencil!

DRAWING BY A STUDENT, LAURA TIEDT

The first attempt is not necessarily a bad drawing. You can see how the student was hesitant about applying the colored pencil. In the end, the drawing looked incomplete.