Any Colored Pencil Tips for Doing Feathers? (1 Viewer)

timeshadowed

Time is a Shadow

• Dec 7, 2006

• #1

Hi,

I'm very much a beginner to drawing of any kind. I've tried to 'paint' birds in colored penci, but so far it is not going very well. They all look like a five yr old did them. Are there any drawing forums just for beginners, those who have reached adulthood without doing ANY drawing before because they were convinced that they had 'no talent' for this sort of thing?


I already know of these two art forums:
http://www.wetcanvas.com/
http://www.scribbletalk.com/

But everything on them seems way, way too advanced for where I find myself.

Any advice?

 

nickderry

C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.

• Dec 7, 2006

• #2

Don't worry if you're unhappy with your first results, enjoy doing them, the talent in art is for the enjoyment of it, if you enjoy expressing yourself in your pictures you're an artist. Once you are happy picking up a pencil, then you can start to ask yourself "what would I change the next time I draw". Of course there are tips and shortcuts to achieving the results you would like. In drawing birds the best thing to concentrate on is the shape of the bird, then the dark and light areas, then detail is the last thing of all.
Hope these few pointers are useful, would be good if you could post some of your work for us all to see.

happy painting

Nick

 

timeshadowed

Time is a Shadow

• Dec 8, 2006

• #3

Hi Nick,

Thanks for replying. I do enjoy working with colored pencils. I just would like learn how to do it better.

 

nickderry

C'est pas ma faute, je suis anglais.

• Dec 9, 2006

• #4

There is no right or wrong way of producing art, so I suppose the best advice I can give is to practice (sorry, I know that's what everyone says!) but also to be self critical without discouraging yourself. You'll find by accident the techniques that you like, look at other people's work that you like and ask yourself how they did that, you can try and imitate their techniques. One other tip, when using pencil, try and follow the contours of the bird, and the contours of the feathers, by their nature, pencil crayons render feather detail and texture without any effort.

all the best and happy drawing

 

Gill Osborne

Well-known member

• Dec 9, 2006

• #5

I'm a member of the UK Coloured Pencil Society and they are really good and encouraging for beginners.....I mostly draw in 'normal' pencil and occasionally in acrylic paints even though I've been a member of the above society since it began in 2001. I've got coloured pencils but just haven't yet plucked up the courage to get stuck in! :-C

There's an American equivalent of the UKCPS.........the Coloured Pencil Society of America

http://www.cpsa.org/


Perhaps they will be able to offer help and encouragement......everybody was a beginner once

Other than that it's probably just a case of practice, practice, practice o You'll get there in the end! :t:

 

timeshadowed

Time is a Shadow

• Dec 10, 2006

• #6

nickderry said:

. . .also to be self critical without discouraging yourself.

Click to expand...

Thanks Nick. I have been at this for a little over a year now. It still seems more like a learning time for me, which is good. I'm someone who wants to do it 'perfect' so it is really amazing that I have not become discouraged. I think that it is because I had already accepted my limitations when I began this adventure. I just started out drawing trees, mountians or anything else that did not have to be drawn using a specific shape. I have been able to see much improvment in my skills so I think that has helped keep me going.

 

timeshadowed

Time is a Shadow

• Dec 10, 2006

• #7

Gill,

Thanks for the link, I'll check it out. in the meantime, I will continue to read library books and practice. I can see improvement in my drawings, so that keeps me going.