All the Doubts that Fill my Mind

Today I finished another project in Drawing I.

Yeah, you probably didn't know I'm even in Drawing I. It's not like I ever post anything artsty anymore...but then again, it's not like I was ever on time with my Computer Graphics posts.

Well, I figured I wouldn't be able to show you guys my stuff from these real-media classes, because we're not working with computers and image hosting sites. Plus, unlike elementary school, they don't let you take home your projects to put on the refrigerators. I guess they think things like "contests" and "portfolios" and "grades" and "hallway displays" are more important than attempting to get huge projects to fit on a non-magnetic fridge. What punks.

So far, we've done pencil-drawing drills as well as two large projects- the shoes (still-life) and my lighthouse (from photo). After we finished our black-and-white large projects, our next goal was to delve into the realm of colour. I LOVE COLOUR.

however

I didn't know how to color. Really, it seems like it would be intrinsic, for someone who claims to be a budding artist. I can color on the computer, but that's working with controlled opacities, infinite colors to chose from, and best of all- an undo button! Computer art is awesome.

So this project was just to copy a close-up colored image onto an 8x8" board with colored pencils. And Mrs. Thrush didn't really show us "how" to color...so I still wasn't very happy.

She encouraged us to buy Prismacolors, the best colored pencils money can buy! Actually. That's arguable. Some people say Drewent are better, but I have a Drewent graphite pencil and I hate it....so my unexperianced opinion is in favor of Prismacolors. I didn't want to really start the project until I had them, so Michelle (my dear friend who, besides liking Mondays, is also in my Art Class) had to deal with me freaking out about not knowing how to color for a few days.

When Mom and I finally went to buy some, she was lovely enough to invest in the 24 pack of Premier pencils. It's practically $2 a pencil, but....I think it was worth it. While we were there, I flipped through a how-to-color book.

The book raised some lovely points that I decided to try and use...mostly using light colors first, then layering the darker ones...utilizing contrasting colors to their maximum potential, and using lighter colors to blend the wax.

GUYS DID YOU KNOW COLORED PENCILS ARE WAX? I didn't. Until Mrs. Thrush said so. It BLEW MY MIND. They're just grown-up crayons, really! And the funniest part is that the more expensive and soft they are, the more they feel like crayons. hahahhaha

Anyway....so I followed the book's advice and it didn't take me long to get over my fear of inability. And guess what?

I'm actually not that bad. I'm kind of good. I finished today, and while the finished board doesn't look exactly like the original (Michelle says it looks better), it's very saturated and doesn't have many white specks showing through. It looks pretty dang realistic from far away, too. A LOT of that has to do with the lovely pencils we bought, because Prismacolors are softer, which makes them easy to lay-down for high saturation and blendability.

But years ago, when I was still drawing for the Lion King site (If you haven't heard about that...you will...I'm sure) with colored pencils because I didn't have any good computer programs, I found a quote that I remembered today. I was curious if I should invest in some select colors of Prismacolors, so I was reading through comments artists gave people who were posing similar questions.

One lady said, "If you're a bad artist, it doesn't matter if you're drawing with Crayolas or Prismascolors. It's not like switching from Paint to Photoshop; the art tools aren't going to change your abilities at all. If you can't draw with Crayolas, you can't draw with Prismacolors, and if you CAN draw with Prismacolors, you're already pretty good to begin with." Or, a much more concise quote from Ice Princess, "The computer doesn't make the jumps for you." (Regarding Casey's computer that helped her friends chart their progress in skating jumps. What, you don't have the movie memorized? Never even saw it? Blasphemy!)

So, even though I don't have any proof for you...today I just got another ego-boost. :)

Mostly because two weeks ago, I would have told you I couldn't color at all. And now? Dang, I'm ready for the next project ASAP!


"Reach" can be found by Caleigh Peters on the Ice Princess Soundtrack