Coloring Without Limits

This week, I want to talk about colored pencils and coloring without limits. You can color without a preconceived idea, without outlines, and without sketching.

You only need to feel drawn to one color first. Recently, purple-blue has called me.

What to Draw?

Have you ever been thinking about what to draw when everything in the world seems to be drawn already? Maybe you too have wondered whether you draw a face, a bird, or a flower, and if so why. But there is always a secret path in art – the possibility to deviate from the traditional path at the very beginning and see what appears on paper freely.

I have a small colored pencil journal where it’s easy to make a spread now and then.

This was a quick and fun little project.

Choosing Paper with Colors

The smoothness of the paper affects the coloring experience. Single strokes are better visible on smooth paper.

My colored pencil journal has very smooth paper, and I find it less effortless to color than a rougher one.

But when I want the colors to shine more and achieve a little blurrier and thus a softer result, the paper is better when it has some tooth.

I currently have a pad of Fabriano Accademia drawing paper and it’s very nice with colored pencils.

I keep my pencils organized by color. All brands are mixed in one box. Some are watercolor pencils, some are regular, and all of them are in the same mix.

Just Start! – Two Tips

Bring the pencils to a place where you can see them often. And then …”Just start!”

Sometimes it’s easier said than done. When getting started feels like a chore, I have two tips for you.

First, let the color do the talking. Pick a pencil and examine it’s tone. Color lightly first, and then bring in more layers. Every color has a spirit. Connect with it like it’s your pet or an angel. You don’t need to rationalize why you feel drawn to this or that color. Find the pencil that resonates the best with your current self.

Second, give the color at least two other colors as friends. Often one color is very little, but when it’s side by side with two other colors, art will appear. A shape that has only one color is flat but with two other colors, it becomes much more lively.

Colored Pencils Say This All The Time

I know many colored pencils complain that they always have to create something figurative and realistic. They envy paints who can roam freely on paper and how people only smile at their tricks. Colored pencils are too often squeezed tightly and pressed hard against paper at the very beginning. They have to follow strict discipline and are under pressure to produce something that looks real. And when they try to do exactly as they are told, the result is stiff. “Nothing like what can be achieved with paints,” their owners say which makes the pencils sad. If they could choose they would be coloring without limits.

I believe in free education when it comes to colored pencils: “Make what you want and enjoy!” I often say to them. “Imagine that you are something more than just pencils!”

My pencils jump out of their boxes and do all kinds of silly marks. They are like paints.

Without Limits – Imagine You Are More!

In art, it is terribly important that we imagine to be more than what we are. Be more skillful, more innovative, more unique, and more important. Then, at that very moment, the pencils, life, and fantasy cannot be separated. The colors speak inside us and the art steps in.

Love of Coloring Without Limits

When I was a child, colored pencils often kept me company. They still bring me joy and I want to keep staying their advocate.

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