I have a very clear memory of being in my early teens (early enough that I was still in the upstairs bedroom, before I got all Needing Of Space and moved downstairs to the extra room even though it was smaller) and reading a book I’d bought about How To Do Lifelike Portraits in Colored Pencil.
I remember looking at the list of all the colors I’d need and thinking I’d literally never heard of most of them. What was yellow ochre? Burnt umber? Sienna Brown? Why on earth would I need a layer of green?
This was too complicated, I thought. It would take years of practice. I didn’t have that kind of time or patience.
Flash forward to now: I’m 35, I own just about every color prismacolor makes, and somehow I managed to get in years of practice doing fanart for fun without even noticing. I’m trying a lifelike portrait in colored pencil and lo and behold–I think it’s working?
It may not be the best thing I’ve ever done but it’s leaps and bounds ahead of anything I thought I’d be able to do back then, as a teenager sprawled on my bedroom floor staring morosely at the instruction book and the 12-pack of crayola colored pencils I had at the time.
I don’t know if there’s a moral to this post, other than practice doesn’t have to be boring, I guess. Doing what you like will still help you get good at what you want to do. There’s no such thing as ‘time wasted’ when it comes to pursuing artistic abilities and you’ll end up learning without realizing it. I was watching another tutorial on youtube about how to blend, and the guy said, “I can’t really teach you that, it just comes with practice” and I realized I’ve done that practice. I know how to blend. I know how to layer and be subtle with my pressure and how to avoid lines between colors and how to get smooth, natural gradients. Not because I sat down and said to myself “I’m going to deliberately learn to do These Things” but because I just…drew a lot, and colored a lot, and the learning came with that as a side effect.
So shout out to me, lying on the floor and thinking “I’ll never be able to do this.” Yeah you will, kiddo. Just keep drawing, and keep having fun. Someday, you’ll be able to do things you never would’ve dreamed of.