Colored Pencil

I had colored pencils growing up. Colorific was the name brand if I remember correctly. They were limited in color choice, broke if you pressed too hard, and did not blend well. Mostly used for school projects like coloring the map and key in social studies, or the diagram of the heart in science class. It wasn’t until much later in life that I discovered colored pencils could be so much more.

Broken Fences

This was my first time using Prismacolor pencils. They have a nice feel to them, and the fact that I was able to purchase the colors I wanted individually was a plus. I am sure that it took me much longer than necessary to complete this picture. I was timid with the process of layering color at first, it took many layers before I started seeing results. Layering the color had a nice effect, especially on the tree trunk. Once I was more comfortable with how the colors worked, things moved along faster. It was an interesting process. In this illustration, I was going for realism.

Colored Pencil - Broken Fences
Broken Fences – Colored Pencil

Map to School

This particular art piece started with pen & ink. The drawing depicts all the stop signs, street lights, construction, and slow-pokes I encountered on the way to school. In contrast with the softness and layering I did on the first image, I used a more coloring book style on this one. The brightness of color and contrast of objects was more important in this piece.

Mixed Media - Map to School
Map to School – Mixed Media