This advice comes from my personal experiences as a Colored Pencil beginner and this is what I would tell my past self.
To come up with this list, I spent some time looking back at my earliest drawings and notes that I made in an effort to remember what I struggled with and what questions I had.
Hopefully, it will help you!
Just do it! Great artists do it! It is not cheating.😊
Creating a outline at the start of your drawings is the foundation for the rest of your piece. It can make a really big difference in the ease and enjoyment of your process and the outcome of your drawing. If you trace your outline, you will save yourself hours of stress and frustration, and, in most cases, your finished drawing will look so much better!
I honestly believe I would have given up on drawing as a beginner if I hadn’t started tracing my outlines. I simply couldn’t have done it otherwise. Thank goodness I had so many generous instructors who gave me ‘permission’ to trace. Who were brave enough to admit to tracing themselves. Now, I am offering that to you.
At this point, I have no interest in spending hours perfecting a free-hand line drawing that I can trace in 30 minutes. That outline is .01% of my finished drawing and yet it has to be close to perfect in order for my finished piece to be beautiful.
Just because you are tracing, doesn’t mean you should rush through this step. Take your time to get it right. This will set you up for success in your drawing.
If you are following my tutorials on Patreon, I always offer a reference image and an outline. If you are working from your own reference, there are several ways to trace. I review everything I know about tracing in this journal post if you are ready to give it a try.