The Colored Pencil Magazine posts a colored pencil competition each month, this month's
challenge was a photo of a snow leopard gecko. I have already entered one drawing and came up with another variation on the same subject matter.
With this version I challenged myself on vibrancy, intensity of color
and shadowing. Every night when I have finished working on a piece
for the day, I place it into a plastic sleeve and place it on an easel
on our coffee table. Then I sit back, listen to the news and other
entertaining shows, and I constantly look at and critique the current
piece. A lot of times I find something I want to jump up and amend
but I just leave it there, let it mull in my mind over night.
This morning I woke up and went "It is totally dull ... ".
Something was missing. Finally realized the something that was
missing was Me! I was so worried about using the right techniques,
not ruining the paper, not ruining the drawing, that I was holding
myself back. So I threw up my hands, said to myself .. "It's
only a piece of paper ... go for it and be happy when you are doing
it!".
I know I have made a lot of mistakes in this drawing (like too much
pencil pressure, scratches from the pencil are showing, wasn't blended
subtly) but I was sure happy at the end of the day when I sat back and
relaxed enough to see what I had done. I think art is not so much
about doing it right but putting your twist and yourself into what you
are doing and being happy with what you have created. I win again! I
am finding myself revealed in my art!
Prints of this piece are available in My Etsy Shop..... in ACEO format as well as various Art Print sizes.
Below is a copy of the CPM challenge photo....
Happy Day!
