IN THE BEGINNING, THERE WAS-

Okay, there just was. For an artist of any kind, all that was needed was something to write on- Cave walls, sand, bark, animal hides, skin, a mother-in-law… it didn’t matter, as long as it was there. Oh yes, and a utensil to disperse the medium- sticks, porcupine quills, bones, rocks, burnt wood/charcoal, a mother-in law… Of course, there wasn’t a Hobby Lobby around, so inks/paints were made of anything our ancestral artists got their grubby little hands on- ground up minerals/flowers, burned woods, sea ink, blood (hopefully NOT the mother-in-law), etc.

Let’s face it- we’ve got it easy nowadays. We get online, hit a link and our supplies magically appear on our doorstep. Yet, we face a bigger challenge- what should we use?

I have a little issue with obsession- I throw myself head-on into a project and ensure I have everything I could ever need/want to succeed. Dumb, yeah- but we all have our vices, right? Which brings us to this point- what do we have around the house that we can use for our art? Everything? Nothing? Somewhere in-between? Whatever you have, let’s start with that.

The exercise below can go for any medium, but I suggest we start simple. Most of my mediums are artist grade (better pigmentation, lightfast which doesn’t fade over time, mixes well…blah, blah, blah). Don’t go buying anything new just yet, okay? You’ll be surprised what you can do with stuff you already have, and add/exchange as you discover what you like.

The only thing I suggest you don’t skimp on too much is paper. As we start, I’m just using cheap mixed media, light yardstick, or bargain watercolor paper or my Visual Journal- but when we begin to produce our Day Seven Masterpieces, you might want to up the game a bit. I’ll show you the differences in paper as we progress, kay?

Ready?

The purpose of this exercise is to warm you up and get you comfortable with the materials you’ll be using. It’s YOUR art- there’s no right or wrong. Give yourself permission to be imperfect and try not to compare/compete with anyone (including yourself.)

We start with a SQUIGGLE. It can be in a circle, a square, triangle– anything your heart (that, too) desires. It’s a symbol of our playground- the safe, secure place where we can explore our passion, experiment with new things, and get as messy as we want without judgement. It’s only paper, right?

What you’ll need:

1. Paper
2. ONE type of pigment carrier (Colored pencils, gel pens, crayons, etc)
3. A pen/graphite pencil
4. Any type of Blender (cotton swab, toilet paper, paper blending stump aka tortillion)
5. Quiet (or a reasonable facsimile of sorts)

 

TO SQUIGGLE:

Draw a shape and, without lifting your pen/pencil, make shapes inside as big or little as you desire. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, so I  squiggled a clover.

Notice that I dated the piece and included the pigment carrier types. Which brings up the next subject:

NO TWO PENCILS ARE THE SAME

Colored pencils only have one thing in common. They carry colored pigments and can be blended.  There are water-soluble (watercolors), oil/wax based (water resistant), and graphite (non-dissolvable). I’ve included a chart in Supplies that show my preferred brands, their substance, and origin.

COLOR:

Pick whatever color fits your mood. This is significant if you doing an art journal because it reflects certain things in our lives- we will work on mood adjustment later. Right now, we’re just going to play without making a big stink!

Not sure? I always make a swatch of color- both dry and wet- to help me decide. In this instance, I chose three ‘happy’ shades of green and a darker one for shading.

Using colored pencils is an art it’s itself. I’ll show you different techniques as we go forward, but for now color to your heart’s content!

In my clover, I used three different dry greens on dry paper (dry to dry)- note the color changes (before blending). These happen with pressure, single shading, and cross hatching. Because the paper is textured, the pigment will skip over ‘valleys’- (red arrows) even if a lot of pressure is applied. Cross hatching allows us to ‘fill’ those valleys.  Basically make an A shape (color angled left, color angled right, and color straight across) to fill those valleys. It also drops A LOT of pigment!

 

BLENDING/SHADING

This is fun because it can give character to your art. Some pencils blend better than others, just as some pencils ‘ink’ more vividly (which is why I chose these two brands). Use whatever material you want, including your fingertip, and push each section of color together and/or underline an edge with a darker shade of a graphite pencil. I’m going to try both and see how it looks!

BEFORE                                                      AFTER

     

Cool beans! Now, remember that a watercolor pencil WILL activate (become paint) in water. This is the swatch test- should we try it on our art? Why not!

The UNVEILING!

Tag! It’s your turn!

Here’s our ‘weekly’ play time-

Definitions:

1. Dry on Dry- just colored pencils on dry paper
2. Wet on Dry- dip pencils in water (must be water-soluable)
3. Dry on Wet- Dampen paper and carefully shade with dry pencil
4. Wet on Wet- Dampen paper/dip pencils and gliiiiide
5. Glaze (we’ll cover that in a few days)
6. Mix/layer (yeah, we’ll cover that, too)
7. Anything goes!