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Nephthys76 — Veiled
Published: 2013-03-11 00:26:29 +0000 UTC; Views: 1853; Favourites: 47; Downloads: 0
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Description
This is my entry for the Color Pencil Magazine monthly challenge for March.This is my first portrait in color, and I must admit, I ran into a lot more obstacles than I expected to. However, I learned a lot as a result, and hopefully my next color portrait will benefit from those lessons. The biggest issue I had, was blending brown with skin tone to cause a "shadow" effect. Instead it looks more like her face is smudged with dirt. The more I tried to layer and blend to get the brown to look natural, it eventually just looked gray, and I could not correct it any further.
While I have a lot to learn, and I see several issues with this drawing, I am quite proud of it for a first attempt. I am eager to do another color portrait. I do think that my drawing will be considered as a possible winner, though probably not ultimately selected, even in the beginner category. I accomplished my goal
Anyone viewing this picture that has any critique for me, PLEASE offer it. I do not offend easily, and I'm eager to gain some feedback that can help me improve. Thanks.
Reference
Progression
Materials:
11x14 Strathmore Bristol Smooth
Prismacolor Premier Softcore colored pencils
Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor color
kneaded eraser
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Comments: 47
Thanks so much, Kostas! And thanks for fave-ing and watching 
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beautiful work Tonya!! I love how you draw eyes!!
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Thanks John!
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This is fabulous!!
It's hard to believe this is your first coloured drawing, it's very impressive
Good luck in the comp.
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Thanks so much Angela. But it's not my first color drawing, just my first color portrait.
A few months back I drew a mixed media drawing where the face was in graphite, but the surrounding leaves were in color pencil and I also played around and drew a quick practice apple and an orange. Then recently I drew the Tree Frog and the Octopus in color. So this isn't my first color pencil drawing, it's my third (or 5th if you count the mixed media and the practice fruit).
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I kind of miss a little bit more contrast here; the ref is darker in several points.
It still looks nice though, it is up to you whether you decide to fix it or not.
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Thanks Ariel, I agree! Contrast is definitely one of my pain points with my works. Being my first color portrait, I was definitely feeling shy to add the brown (and other stark colors)... there is no erasing in color pencil. I'm drawing another now and trying to be a little more brave. I think it's turning out better, but still lacking. It's a big learning curve
Thanks for faving and for commenting!
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My pleasure.
I am attempting colour pencils too now... I bought Faber Castell Polychromos, though. I decided I wanted to start with something kind of simpler, though.
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I haven't tried the Faber Castell brand. I definitely don't recommend the Prismacolor. They do okay, but the price is pretty equivalent to several brands that are much better. I really like the Lyra brand, but I haven't really tried any of the others.
I started simple when I jumped into color pencils as well. The tree frog and the octopus had very little blending, and not a lot of details... so it was solely about getting to know the pencils. I only jumped into a portrait after those because of the CPM challenge. If not for that, I never would have even tried for another month or 2. Given how quickly I rushed into it, I'm pretty happy with the outcome.
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I read the opinions of several artists here and that was why I chose Polychromos. I've seen many people who swear by the Prismacolors, though.
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Yeah, I chose the Prismacolors initially based on what artists on DA were using. They do a good job coloring and blending and what-not... they are just poorly constructed (broken cores, split wood, cores slide out of the wood, etc). Luckily I found a box on Amazon for only $50 for a box of $78... so I'm not out TOO much money. I'll continue to use them while I have them, but I will phase them out for Lyra or some other brand. The winner of this CPM challenge wins a box of 80 Caran d'Ache Pablo Colored Pencils... so maybe I'll get those. Who knows
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So beautiful! perfect skin! You're very talented. Thanks for sharing. I would like you to see this video are techniques that I just saw and I think that will be useful to you too: [link]
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Thanks, Dilhermando. I've seen that video before, it is helpful indeed.
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I know what you mean by the smudging with the brown. Were you able to overcome that? How would you draw it cast shadow on skin tone differently next time? Drawing looks great btw.
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Thanks, Yu
I wasn't really able to overcome it on her face... I did it wrong, and was unable to correct it once it was done. I tried doing it differently on her neck, and I almost got it right. I now think I have it on my current WIP.
On her face, mostly her nose, jawline, and cheek, I put down the beige and light peach, and then tried to darken it with brown. It didn't blend right, and came out speckled. So on her neck, I put down the brown first (based on advice given to me), but I didn't do a very smooth job, and it had jagged edges.
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Thanks, Marco
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Thank you, Linn! And thanks for the fave
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Thanks so much, and thanks for the fave!
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I like it a lot! I really like the sheer effect.
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Hi Joe, thanks so much
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Awesome work!
Even though I saw your previous WIP's I actually thought this was a photo!
Excellent job!
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Thanks very much, Charles.
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Thanks so much, Christa
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You're very welcome! 
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Thanks again, and thanks for the watch!
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