Wednesday, March 6, 2013

COLORED PENCILS


I like colored pencils and it seems I need to have lots and lots of them in my possession for me to feel I have enough of them. Because I had never counted them and had no idea of how many there were in that box where I keep them I was content.  I knew there were a lot of pencils and all was fine in my little corner of the world and life was good.
I have soft leaded pencils that go on smoothly and blend with one another beautifully. I have pencils with harder lead that play nicely with one another and I now have a fair number of water color pencils that I can use with or without water with great results either way.
I have pencils that were very inexpensive and pencils that I bought one at a time because they were that expensive. Some of my pencils have been with me for a very long time and some were purchased only recently. The ones I like best are my Faber Castell Design Spectracolor pencils. They go on so smoothly and shading and blending with these pencils makes working with them a pleasure. Those may be my favorites but I like all of my other pencils too.
One day last week I decided to make color charts of my pencils. This is the type of project that a person does when she is bored or is having a problem with a project and needs to take a break and do something that doesn’t require any brain work so an idea for solving said problem might formulate in those little gray cells.
Anyway, back to the pencils and the color charts. Once the charts were filled in I went a step further and for some reason I cannot explain I counted the pencils. Big mistake!!
I shouldn’t have done that because once counted they had a number and now I have to decide if I really need that set of 72 pencils that I have been thinking about buying. How do you know if what you have is enough? Right now I have 254 colored pencils. Is that enough? Maybe there are colors out there that I could really use and if I had them perhaps my drawings would look so much better than they do now. Perhaps I’ll find some pencils that I like even better than my beloved Faber Castell Design Spectracolor pencils. 254 pencils don’t sound like all that many pencils now, does it?  Have I been deluding myself into thinking I have a lot of pencils? I’ll bet everyone else who works in colored pencil has twice that many. I really do need to buy that set of 72 pencils.....don’t I?
When the color charts and the counting was finished and I still hadn’t come up with a solution to the problem with the other thing I was working on I devised another way to waste spend my time. I decided to do a drawing using only one type of colored pencil for the whole drawing rather than mixing different types together the way I usually do. I decided that I’d do this with each type of pencils. That should keep my mind of the weather and give it time to work out that solution to the aforementioned problem with the project that is at a dead end and needs to be completed for a very important event that is coming up on the 15th of this month.
So……………………. here’s the first drawing. I had to take photos because the scanner doesn’t work well with the drawings still in the tablet. It might help if you click on the photos to enlarge them. Then again it may be no help at all.



I used my Martha Stewart colored pencils for this one and it’s the first time I’ve used these pencils. I really enjoyed working with these pencils and can see myself using them often. I love the names of some of the colors. Leave it to Martha to come up with a color called rhubarb. The photo does not do justice to the colors.



For this one I used my Prismacolor or Eagle Verithins. The paper I’m working on is a vellum surface mixed media paper and not the paper I would normally use when working with these pencils but the results are okay if not spectacular. Again I must apologise for the photography and  tell you that the colors are not this washed out on the actual drawing.



 This last one was done using my favorite Faber Castell Design Spectracolor pencils. The one problem I see with using them alone is they have a softer lead that does not come to a fine point when sharpened so fine line detail is a bit of a problem and again, I would normally use these pencils on another type of paper.
I still have 5 more pencil brands or types and the solution to the problem with that dumb project still hasn’t resolved itself so I may make this into a series of mother and child mermaids. If I buy those other pencils I may end up with a series of 9 drawings….or not.
I do hope you are having a good day and as always, thanks for stopping by.

18 comments:

Kays Kids said...

Have fun with all your pencils. I agree you have a lot although if you truly want those others go for it.
Hugs

Jan Conwell said...

You totally cracked me up. I'm a color-holic too, only with paints. I have oil, acrylic, water, gouache, and house paint collections. :~) Love the mermaids!

The Bear's Blog said...

Bee-u-tee-ful drawings.

Hi Miss Maddyrose,

Oh, just go for it and buy the pencil set. You never know what color or colors you may need for future projects. I bet Bellamine is telling you the same thing, isn't she?

By the way, where have they been?

Heaps of Hugs,
Prudence ♥

Bren Graham Thebeau said...

LOL, is every artist addicted to building their stash of supplies?!
I have to tell you, those drawings of yours are beautiful, when are you going to crack out the canvas and put one up there! Love them

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

Darling girl, you are a stitch and a half.....I would have stopped counting at 200. It's great that you have many....and you deserve many more. Go for it.
Now as to the mermaids, oh my stars, they are so beautiful. I do see the difference in the detail of the varying pencils. But the heart behind each on is so dear. Mommy and baby merfolk....sigh.
Wishing you a super day. S&S Oma Linda

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

Oh...pretty mermaids! I love mermaids...I AM a mermaid! heehee! I love colored pencils too and I'm very afraid you don't have enough. The set would give you more colors! heehee! Have fun!

Julie said...

You are such an amazing artist! J

IrelandBrady said...

I really like your Mermaid Mother and Child themes! Looks like you are having a lot of fun experimenting with your different types of colored pencils.

I have come up with a way to scan pieces while still in a ringed binder. Place the piece on your scanner screen then take a large piece of heavy dark material all folded up to cover the entire screen and over lap (so as not let in any room light) then scan as usual, works great for me!

With regards to 254 colored pencils as being enough? Heck, that is just a drop in the bucket .... if working with colored pencils is something you really like and want to pursue ... another set of 72 will just enhance your budding collection!

Happy coloring Maddie Rose!

Hill Top Post said...

My vote says go for the series of 9 drawings. You really have a great theme going with the mother and baby mermaids...beautiful drawings! I found your post thoroughly entertaining; could surely show you a few of my obessions! Enjoy the new set of 72!

Katy Cameron said...

I'll tell you something right now, I'm not counting my fabric ;o)

Anonymous said...

LOL! Can a girl really ever have enough art supplies? I think not!

Maddy, your mermaids are breathtaking and their sweet babies just steal my heart. You are a magnificent artist and for someone who was at first procrastinating, you had beautiful results. Warmest hugs my friend, Mina

Magic Love Crow said...

I think you like pencils, as much as I love paint ;o) I made a promise to myself, that I wasn't buying any paint this year! That's how much I have! LOL! If you feel the need to buy more, go for it ;o) Your drawings are simply beautiful! I love the mother and child merfolk ;o)

Jan said...

I Love your drawings! They are very well done and would make great cards if you wanted to do something more with them. As to the pencils...can you afford them without going into debt? It seems obvious that you would use them. Of course you have enough already but that doesn't mean you can't have more if you want them. How many pleasures do you allow yourself? I don't know you all that well but I suspect you are frugal and don't indulge in purchases too extravagantly. One of your other commentors said something abouther fabric. I have so much fabric I'll never be able to use it all up! At least pencils don't take up much room. It seems unanimous, buy the pencils! Have fun shopping for a bargain on your desired brand. Most of us do this same thing, it is half the fun of being an artist.

Cobblestone Creations said...

Who knew there were so many different types?!!! And, no, you do not have too many. I find when you work in a certain medium, you really do need to try them all and find what is best for each project. How's that for an attempt to justify all my fabrics and trims? ;) Love the subject matter you chose ~ they are simply lovely. xxx

Crystal said...

You can never have enough pencils...a rule to live by. I love your mermaids and I'm still looking for some Venus paradise pencils (no longer made from my childhood)

Ascension said...

Hola Maddy
Esos dibujos son tan bonitos, son magicos.
Me encanta tu faceta de dibujante!!!!
besitos ascension

orchid0324 said...

Hi, dearest Maddy.
Beautiful color pencils♡♡♡ 
I just have to be heading to my father and no time to read your post now.

Promise to visit you again after reading, my dearest bs. Haha, quicker than mail(^^;)

orchid0324 said...

Good evening; my dearest Maddy, orchid again

Wow, beautiful mermaid and her bay♡♡♡ These works are filled with LOVE and AFFECTION; warmed my heart a lot♬♬♬ I could see how sweet you are.
OMG, don't we all have something we don't posses enough...? I adored your marvelous collection of pencils, they are really beautiful (v^_^v)~*

To tell the truth, my bed room has a big shelf(which my husband made for me) where so many VHS collection are stocked. They are old movies and American dramas. I just cannot throw them away p;) bilingual ones.

Please share your wonderful work with us through blog. I wonder what the big project will be(*^_^*)

Sending you lots of love and hugs from Japan to my dear bs in America, xoxo Miyako*