An excellent article for Hints and Tips, many thanks Bonny Snowdon, you are an inspiration!


Tips for success

I created my first drawing in May 2016 - it seemed a natural progression from colouring books, a hobby I'd really become engrossed in since Christmas 2015. 

Moving from colouring books to creating my own coloured pencil pieces was a real learning curve. I wanted the smooth paper that I'd been used to, but soon discovered that I much preferred a paper that took many layers. I experimented with a few papers and found I really loved Stonehenge, so many of my pieces were created on the white and toned papers until I found Clairefontaine Pastelmat which very quickly become my go to paper. 

My goal was to create realistic animal drawings which meant I had to learn how to draw fur. I used YouTube a lot to try and find the techniques I needed. There are loads of videos, some more useful than others and I very quickly found my own style that I've been honing ever since. 

I do think practice is the key, but having a passion and a want to succeed and improve are also key factors. The more you draw the better you'll get as long as you are continually reflecting on your work. 

Without being detrimental to development, reflecting on and critiquing your own work, I feel, is incredibly important but not to the point where you're giving yourself a hard time. If you want to improve you've got to know where your strengths are and what you need to work on. Asking for critique from other artists is a great way to improve, but it's important to understand the value of critique and using it to your advantage rather than becoming upset and feeling your work isn't good enough. I've found this to be one of the major factors in my improvement - being open minded and self critical means I can work on the areas i find challenging. 

Each piece I draw I learn something new, whether it's a quicker way to draw short fur or that's it's important to really know the subjects anatomy - photos aren't always accurate!

Advice I'd give to those new to coloured pencils: be patient, it can be a long process, use feather light pressure and don't be scared to use colour - I draw a lot of horses and dogs - bright oranges in brown fur and blues, purples and pinks in black fur might sound odd but it really helps bring the pieces to life. Find your paper - just because another artist raves about the paper they use, it doesn't mean you'll love it. You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince 😉

I'm sure I am not the only one waiting for Christmas to finally get my hands on some Derwent Procolour! I decided now was a good time to seek advice from someone who has had a lot of experience using Procolour. Judith Selcuk has very kindly shared her experience.

Judith first explains that it takes a couple of days getting used to using Procolour. Sounds like it is time to get out the sketchbook or scraps of our favourite papers and start playing! Judith also says it is important to keep the pencils super sharp and use lots of light layers. Procolour layer better than burnish as they are quite hard. Judith uses lots of light layers like glazes. Good news for those like me who love layering colour over colour!

As a pencil Procolour come closest to Polychromos, both being quite hard. Judith tells me that they are extremely pigmented, so like the intensity of pigmentation of Prismacolor but with the consistency of Polychromos. Procolour come with a colour chart that is very well matched to the pencils. A very useful tool to tape to your desk as you learn the new colours.

Procolour are suitable for a variety of surfaces. They work particularly well on drafting film, hot pressed paper, smooth and vellum,uart 800, Pastelmat and regular laid Ingress paper.

I am sure that has whetted everyone's appetitie! Bring on Christmas!

Head over to www.ukcps.co.uk to see our first ever online exhibition. This is a taster of the winners and highly commended. As well as these superb paintings there are lots and lots of other equally wonderful paintings to view!

UKCPS 1st Online Exhibition 2017- Entry Form

Closing date for entries 5th November 2017

UKCPS 1st Online Exhibition 2017- Entry Form

UKCPS 1st Online Exhibition 2017- Entry Form

UKCPS 1st Online Exhibition 2017- Entry Form

Submission is open to all members of the UK Coloured Pencil Society. The work must be original (concept, design and execution by the artist), at least 50% coloured pencil, demonstrate compositional and drawing skills, and ability to use coloured pencil. Entries must not have been shown in a previous UKCPS annual exhibition, nor been an award winner at our Regional or Keswick exhibitions.

 

All pictures entered, subject to complying with the rules, will be displayed on an Online Exhibition from 30th November 2017.

 

If you are not a member of the society and would like to take part you need to first join the society via our membership page.

 

To Enter

 

1. Ensure you have read and understood the rules.

2. You will need the following information ready when you complete the entry form:

 

• Image file(s) in jpg format, max size 5MB.
• File name of image to include your surname and title of picture
• Title of picture
• Unframed size - height x width in cm

 

Note there is a fee of £6 per picture submitted, maximum of 3 pictures per artist. Payment instructions are given on the entry form. Fees are to be used for the prize money.

The Pencil Box is a section in Ann Kullberg's COLOR magazine dedicated in featuring artists and artworks from our Facebook partner groups. Selected artworks will be featured in the Art Showcase video or in COLOR magazine.  — Call for entry will be posted every month in participating FB groups — Only members of our partner groups are allowed to join — Open to advanced, advanced-intermediate, and expert skill levels  Please read the guidelines for more details https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1y7UQ3-ZLBpdnZPOE1xMHZCTUE/view  Links to the blog and videos https://annkullberg.com/blogs/ann-muses/the-pencil-box-featured-artists-august-2017 https://www.facebook.com/COLORmag/videos/1385354694894597/ https://www.facebook.com/COLORmag/videos/1385362608227139/

The Pencil Box is a section in Ann Kullberg's COLOR magazine dedicated in featuring artists and artworks from our Facebook partner groups. Selected artworks will be featured in the Art Showcase video or in COLOR magazine.  — Call for entry will be posted every month in participating FB groups — Only members of our partner groups are allowed to join — Open to advanced, advanced-intermediate, and expert skill levels  Please read the guidelines for more details https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1y7UQ3-ZLBpdnZPOE1xMHZCTUE/view  Links to the blog and videos https://annkullberg.com/blogs/ann-muses/the-pencil-box-featured-artists-august-2017 https://www.facebook.com/COLORmag/videos/1385354694894597/ https://www.facebook.com/COLORmag/videos/1385362608227139/