Off colour
by thisnorthernboy
Recently I’ve found myself in a bit of a creative rut. I’ve been short of ideas and lacking the energy to get stuff done. It happens, and it passes, but when you’re in the middle of it, it can be such a pain.
Sometimes, all it takes to get out of a creative block is to change things up a little. So this week, struggling for inspiration I picked up some really cheap coloured pencils (£1.99 at the supermarket) and started scribbling.
Almost immediately the change of medium had a really positive effect. I’ve no idea why, but my sketching seemed looser, easier, and just flowed that bit better. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Below are a few of the drawings that came out of this – I’m really happy with the feel of these, using something other than my usual pens certainly changed the results.
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- Red Astronaut.
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- Purple Astronaut.
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- Red Robot – cleaned up.
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- Red Robot (after Michelangelo).
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- Red Robot detail
After getting some decent results with my super cheap pencils, I’ve now ordered some nicer ones – Faber Castell Polychromos. Looking forward to trying them out.
this northern boy 
I’ll be really interested to hear how you get on with the new pencils – Getting new materials is always a buzz, and I definitely have had similar experience to you. My drawing style changes with every new medium I use and at the moment I’m using a dip pen and ink, my pen is so bad it scratches and catches and splatters while I draw, and I love this because it stops me getting hung up on perfection and adds liveliness to my sketches. With coloured pencils your work suddenly looks more sculptural, probably because of the shading you’re adding – there’s a great solidity that’s worth exploring. I’m looking forward to seeing what you produce…!