I am so excited to announce a new project I have been working on for my members on Patreon.
This is a series of videos I have hand-picked to serve as a roadmap for you to navigate your way through the abundance of videos I currently have available. Think of it as a self-directed course of sorts that you can work through at your own pace.
One of the great things about my Patreon membership is that it is available to you at any time. Once you join, you can watch any video in any order as many times as you want. And, you can leave and come back to the membership as you please. No pressure of ‘doors closing soon!’
And, while this is all amazing, the number of videos to choose from can potentially be overwhelming. This is especially true for beginners who have no idea where to start. I have a personal knowledge of each video listed on Patreon because I have created and carefully curated them over the years. And, I learned from watching videos, so I know what you need to see and hear in order to make progress. This puts me in the perfect position to make recommendations.
I am so proud of this sequence of videos! I feel like it will teach you exactly what you need to know to create some colored pencil artwork that you will love.
Additionally, I have created a printable Guided Sequence Checklist to accompany this series. I don’t know about you but I love to check things off a list! Have fun!
As exciting as it is, learning a new skill can feel overwhelming at times! I like to encourage new colored pencil artists to jump in and experiment. Create swatches with your new colored pencils, practice different blending techniques, including solvent, and test out a few papers. Starting to work with the supplies you have can help build confidence before you begin your first drawing.
Now that you have your supplies, you are probably really eager to get started! So at this point, I am going to recommend a few easy tutorials for beginners.
This is just for fun! Don’t be discouraged if your initial attempts don’t meet your expectations. But, I do think the technique videos will make more sense to you after you have experimented and worked on a drawing or two.
I am a photorealistic artist which means I work from a reference image. You can find inspiration from a lot of different places but, due to copyright restrictions, you can’t just copy any photograph you happen to find online.
I get reference images from a few different places. I take images and edit them myself, I license images from paid sites like AdobeStock and I find free references from sites like Pixabay. Lately, I have been creating my images on Midjourney. Of course, you can always just use the reference images that I provide with each tutorial or try one of the free reference images available through your membership.
The following videos and blog posts should help you figure out how to find reference images that will work for you.
There are so many different ways to create an outline for your drawings. However, this was a real pain point for me when I was learning.
At that time, nobody seemed willing to admit to tracing, and most tutorials I watched online bypassed this step completely- as if the outline had magically appeared. Now, more artists seem willing to talk about tracing, using tools like projectors and grids and the topic isn’t nearly so taboo.
Keep in mind that a good outline is essential to the ultimate success of your drawing, so take this step seriously and I hope these resources help.
Getting started is one of the hardest things to do! Many people who can easily follow one of my tutorials begin to struggle when they attempt a drawing on their own. They ask things like…
Where should I start?
What should I do first?
What now?
What color should I start with?
I tried to answer these questions here.
To work in a smooth, painterly style of colored pencil drawing, it is essential to learn how to layer, blend, and transition between colors.
Another really important concept to understand is value and how to create dark shadows and bright highlights where needed.
Ready to try another tutorial? It can be easy to get caught up in the ‘gathering information’ stage and put off the actual practice that will help you make progress. While I find the Tip Videos particularly helpful, there is no substitute for hands-on learning.
At this point, you might be ready for one of the more challenging beginner-level drawings. Any of the beginner-level drawings could work for you but here are a few that I recommend.
Now that you have a few drawings completed, you will probably want to dig a little deeper into some of the more advanced techniques you have been watching me use in the videos.
Keep in mind that just because I call something an advanced technique does not mean that it is difficult! Some of these techniques are surprisingly simple.
What can be a challenge is to know when and where to incorporate these techniques into your drawings. This will come with time and practice as your process and style develop.
Be sure to practice what you are learning!
This might be a good place to attempt a more challenging drawing. Maybe one of the more difficult beginner tutorials or even an intermediate drawing depending on your comfort level. Here are some of my favorites:
As you begin to progress, it is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed or burnt out with the process. Trust me, anyone who has attempted to master a new skill feels this way from time to time.
If you don’t manage your negative feelings you might eventually quit. I don’t want this to happen! So, I have created some resources to help you move past these struggles.
After you have worked on several of the beginner drawings, you might be ready to attempt one of the more intermediate or advanced tutorials. There are so many to choose from as a part of my Patreon Membership but I do have some that I think are better than others. Here are a few of my favorites.
If you have made it this far, you have consumed the best I have to offer to help you learn to draw with colored pencils. Remember that while you have learned a lot and are seeing significant progress, it might take many years of practice to reach the point where your skills align with your high expectations. Remember the Taste Gap? Here are a few extra resources to help you along the way.