You have probably heard this saying about eating an elephant many times before it is especially true for our topic today. We set big goals for ourselves then procrastinate in working at them. Maybe they are too overwhelming, or scary, or seem unachievable. But they don't have to be.
Big goals or goals that take time are necessary to challenge ourselves to grow as human beings. Without these challenges, we stagnate as humans. The same goes for creativity. If you don't continue to learn and push outside your comfort zone, you will never become a better artist, writer, sculptor, or poet. Or engineer for that matter.
But these big goals are scary, and they can cause us to become paralyzed in our journey towards achieving them. Although I have been drawing and painting actively for seven years, portraits scare me. And one medium in particular: coloured pencil portraits. I have done ink, graphite, and watercolour portraits without (too much) fear. But something about coloured pencil portraits twists my stomach into knots. So I decided it was time to tackle this goal this year. (There is a deadline attached to this goal, in case you are wondering.)
Since I have some experience in drawing other subjects with coloured pencils (in fact I love them), I had an inkling of where to start. So I made a todo list if you like.
The bitesize steps
Caran D'Ache Luminance pencils on
PrimeArt 265gsm paper
PrimeArt 265gsm paper
Last week I did step 1 - swatching the set of coloured pencils I want to use. It may sound like a trivial activity, but knowing what the medium looks like on paper, is an important step. But also for me, it helps me to get a feel for the medium. Unlike paints, a dry medium like coloured pencils has direct feedback to your hand from the paper.
Step 2 (planned for the next few days) is to choose the colours and practice with them (applications and blending) on the actual paper I want to draw the portrait. This step is also necessary since I have different types of pencils, each interacting differently with the various paper surfaces.
There are a few more steps in this process to learn to draw a portrait in coloured pencil. My journey towards that big goal is not the same as yours, even if we have the same goal. I suggest that you take a few minutes and plan the steps to achieve that goal, because, in the end, you are going to be ecstatic when you achieve it.
Remember to stay healthy, and live creatively until Monday!
●︙● Linzé 🇿🇦💜
