I’ve recently discovered a different way to make art. It’s sketching with colored pencils.
Actually, I’ve known about this for a long time, so maybe a better way to put it is that I’ve re-discovered sketching with colored pencils.
The neat thing is that this time around, I sometimes mix other media with my pencils for more interesting results. I’ll tell you about them in a moment.
Sketching With Colored Pencils
I never used to sketch very much. That’s because I had a full time job to keep the bills paid, and used art time for painting portraits. There just never seemed to be time to draw for fun. That’s a problem all by itself (but a post for another time).
Back in 2016 and 2017, I hosted an Autumn Plein Sketching challenge on the blog. It got me out of the house to sketch and I certainly enjoyed being outside and sketching. But it was also a lot of work when I had portraits to paint, so the challenge lasted only two years. This is just one of the dozens of sketches I made outdoors in those two years.
But sketching is always a good idea. Here are a few reasons why.
Practical Reasons for Sketching
I’m not doing a plein air challenge now. I’m just sketching. One reason is practical. I can sketch on little bits of paper anywhere I happen to be as long as I have drawing tools and paper. I’ve sketched with a pigment marker in my personal journal (a 6″ x 9″ steno pad). I’ve used a roller ball pen in 3″ x 5″ notebook, and I’ve used colored pencils, markers and sometimes both on Bristol Vellum and Stonehenge.
In other words, it’s convenient to sketch and I can use tools I’d not be able to use for more “finished” pieces of art. Why throw them away when I can sketch with them?
I already mentioned that I can sketch anywhere I am, didn’t I? I’ve sketched while waiting in the car while my husband ran into a store. I’ve sketched while the choir practices, and I’ve sketched after the house gets quiet late at night.
Another practical reason for sketching is that it’s quick. Unless I’m doing something big, I can usually finish something in less than an hour. Remember that tiny little notebook? The sketch I finished in it probably took less than twenty minutes, and that was only because I was finessing the shadows. Take a look at those shadows in the image above.
Another Reason for Sketching
This reason is also practical, but in a more indirect way.
You see, sketching is fun. I don’t have to follow a reference photo or worry about getting the drawing just right. Most of the time, I’m sketching from my imagination. Lately, that means mostly either tree trunks and branches or mountains. Here’s a sample of a tree sketch.
As you can see, there’s a lot of movement in sketches like this, so they’re not stagnant. I can also play with strokes, combining different strokes to achieve different values and lighting effects.
But it’s the fun part that keeps me doing these things. No matter where I am, what tools I have with me, or how much time I have, there’s time to sketch.
Yes, sometimes I do draw something from life and that’s fun, too, but I get the most benefit from just making marks and letting a sketch develop.
Sketching with Colored Pencils and Other Tools Can Reap Rewards
If nothing else, it keeps you drawing when you don’t have the time for more involved artwork. That’s been my situation lately.
But it’s also a good way to let your creativity run wild. Not only have I been sketching trees and mountains; I’ve been playing with neurologic art. Like making abstracts (which I found to be more fun than expected last year), I’m finding a degree of creativity in this art form, especially when I use only one color and make the art all about values.
So it doesn’t matter what you sketch, as I’m learning. It doesn’t even matter whether you use just colored pencils or mix a media or two.
What does matter is that you’re being creative and, hopefully, learning something new in the process!
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I agree, when my mind is really on something else, or I am hurrying to just get drawing time in, I never get as good as results nor enjoy it as much as when I have time to be totally focused. But lovely little tree. You really captured the gesture of it.
Patty,
Thanks. The interesting thing is that I’d never noticed that little tree before.
I admit it. I’m a studio artist. My preferred method of drawing is to put a grid on a photo and do a detailed line drawing. Drawing from life or drawing outside is not new to me, but it’s something I have to work at.
But having said that, I already have a subject picked out for week 2!
Carrie
I was going to hop aboard and do your Autumn challenge…I thought I had signed on . Will I continue to get an email like this? How do we post own work if we wish , like was described in the challenge?
Patty,
You did request an invitation. I sent an email to you through Pinterest. All you need to do is respond to that email and you’ll become part of the Autumn Plein Air Challenge board. Once you become a member, you’ll be able to publish your drawings to that board.
If you didn’t get the email, check your spam folder.
If you don’t have it there, either, let me know and I’ll resend the invitation.
Carrie