Humming Bird with Color Pencils

I just finished my first real colored pencil drawing (actually 2nd color pencil, but the first was a quick 30 minute lolipop just to get the feel of my pencils after i got them). This was 15 hours on 6" x 7.25" Bristol vellum with Prismacolor Premier colored pencils.

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What a lovely composition! The bright colors on the humming bird and the contrast with the flowers is nice. Great job

Thank you. I wanted to brighten up the bird, but think I may have gotten too dark to fast, but I learned some things by the time I got too the lower flower. Layering seemed to get better as I moved through the drawing.

This is gorgeous. I love it.

Lenet,

Beautifully done! You did a great job pulling out the secondary color scheme. This is one of my favorites to work with, so I noticed it right away.

You will find that you will keep learning and learning! Have you tried Matt’s colored pencil course? There are many recommendations there and he uses Prismacolor pencils mostly.

Personally, I like the harder polychrome pencils. I find that it may take a little longer but the fine details I can get are preferrable for me. I really like details.

Again, wonderfully done!

Teri

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Thank you Teri. I have not tried the color pencil course yet, but plan too. I have been watching a lot of the abbreviated versions on YouTube. I am debating on doing some of the color pencil courses or the pen and ink course while Matt is doing the Pastel live lessons. My mind flips all over the place when I think of what to do next. I also have a recent Heron picture I want to do from my recent beach vacation. Thinking of trying that one in Graphitint pencils. The reference is lots of browns and greys with pale blue for the water on the sand. Thought that might me a good choice because of the muted colors. Any other suggestions there are welcome.

Hello Lenet,

I think graphite is a good choice, pen and ink might work too. A photograph could be done in many mediums, either drawing or painting. Graphite is always a good choice because it helps us to feel comfortable with the pencil. I am sure your wife being an artist would have an opinion too!

Look forward to seeing it finished!

Teri

What can I say, this is beautifully done. Looking forward to seeing more of your talent.

Thank you @1kidneyJD. Working on new stuff.

Beautiful choice of color, the hummingbird stands out against the green leaves! :art: :clap: :smile:

Thank you. I was a little woried about the colors i chose versus the image. Found I had to dip into Matt’s color theory lessons some. Glad you were able to see some of those things. I noticed a large variety of color shades and tints in the photo. I also had to accentuate a few colors that were not heavily used in the reference but needed for balance. Establishing some value balance seemed to be where my real struggle was. Thank you for your comments.

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You’re welcome! :smile: You can also analyze the values by turning the picture to black & white on the computer.

Thanks, I did several times at different points of the drawing. It did help me try to balance things. It seemed to get better as I moved through the drawing. Maybe because I tried to make decisions based on what I saw in grayscale. Always appreciate the tips.

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What a great drawing! I just now saw it since I was looking for the three little birds postings. So glad the search took me here.

Hi Lenet -

They take a lot of time, don’t they? I still love working with colored pencils. Nice use of multiple layers of colors.

Terri Robichon