My project for course: Sketchbook Illustration with Colored Pencils

I started this course just over a year ago as I was starting a new sketchbook. It had been several years since I'd really drawn on a regular basis, and a few months before I'd produced a set of sketches illustrating my summer vacations in colored pencil. I love this medium, but the more I drew, the more I realized how little I had mastered it. So I was looking for a course that would allow me to explore while starting from a good base.

So it began with the color swatches with mixed color pencils and time-limited exercises. These two activities were, I think, the ones that helped me progress the most! They had a huge impact on the sketches I did afterwards.

After this unit, I made a break on the course. I wanted to see other things and experiment on my own, like with this sketch below. I also spent a LOT of time doing time limited exercises but of human anatomy and portraits (I filled two entire sketchbooks with those !!).

A month or two ago, I came back to the course : I've been doing line drawing for a long time now, and I wanted to get better at working directly with colors.

So I started the third unit, with drawing object, perspective and again human bodies.
The grid really helped with the objects ! I loved how the line weight depending on the light direction had such an impact on the sketch.

Perspective! The most difficult exercise for me.

I had to try several times before I was satisfied with the result. My perspectives were okay, but as soon as I started adding color, it always ended up ruining the sketch. The most difficult aspect was working with a very limited color palette. I felt that architectural drawings looked better with neutral palettes than with very colorful ones.

I intend to continue with this exercise, especially as I haven't included any human figures.

Last exercises: drawing the human body and face!

This is really where I felt most at ease. I had a blank page left over from sketching the previous objects, so I filled it in. I really like the end result! The two worked well together! My human figures are still a little too detailed, so I plan to draw more abstract ones next time.

These drawings are the ones I'll be posting on my social networks, I really feel like they're the result of everything I've learned during this course, and the closest to my current style!

Thank you Zoe Barker for this course!