A great
looking color pencil drawing isn't all that hard to
create, if you know the two tips that I'm about to share with
you. Before I go into that, I want to just say that if you
haven't been doing your sketches, now is the time to start
picking up that sketch pad again. Here's why.
The first thing that you need to know is that sketching is
important to your color pencil drawings. I know if you're
looking for color pencil tutorials, you're probably just looking
for some tips on how to create beautiful looking colorful
pictures. Unfortunately, color drawings are not just about
applying a bunch of great looking color on to a surface.
Sure, the colors may look great but if you're not very good at
putting a drawing together, there's a limit to how far you can
go. Sketching is a skill thing. It needs a little time to
develop but it gets easier with practice. Your skills are what
you depend on to help you overcome any problems that you may
come across when you're drawing.
So if you want to jump the gun and jump straight into color
pencil drawing, you can go right ahead but don't say that I
didn't warn you. If you don't believe my point, you can go out
there right now and buy a box of color pencils and a sketch pad
and start drawing. You'll learn the hard way, but you'll still
learn.
You'll learn that your drawing didn't turn out the way you
wanted it to because you didn't know how many layers of color to
apply. You didn't know when you should apply the highlights. You
didn't know why some objects look so fake. You didn't know why
some details are lost in the process of drawing. You'll most
likely run into a wide variety of problems without knowing how
to solve them.
The second thing you need to know about color pencil drawing is
that you need to understand the tools that you're using. Color
pencils are very different from normal graphite or lead pencils
and they behave very differently. If you understand color
pencils, the next time you walk into an art supplies store,
you'll be able to consciously pick out the right color pencils
for your artwork. You'll also be able to pick up the right
drawing paper (yes, drawing paper makes a difference as well).
These are the two basic elements that you need to pay attention
to when learning color pencil drawing. Once you've armed
yourself with the solutions to the problems above, you're ready
to start creating your first beautiful color pencil drawing.
By Darren Chow is the founder and developer of MyArtPassion.com, an
online website that offers free drawing lessons, home study
courses, and other drawing related resources.
