In under two weeks, I managed to draw seven works using colored pencils. 

The first time I used colored pencils (not counting as a kid, OK? haha) was last February. I honestly didn't know what I was doing. It has been a long time since I last drew then, the last time was September 2016. The last time wasn't even a portrait.

That was before Steemit. A few weeks after being in Steemit, I decided to try my hand again with drawings. Using the colored pencils that one of my best friends sent me as a birthday gift from last year.

"A good calligrapher doesn't need to choose his pens."

I'd been using the Faber-Castell 24 classic colour pencils since Steemit. I was a bit apprehensive to use it at first, because I have zero knowledge with traditional coloring! I was so used with digital drawings that coloring with colored pencils (or any other traditional media) has become an overwhelming challenge.

What I noticed when I first used the colored pencils was how I couldn't seem to find my "own style." The drawings lacked vibrance. I thought I was doing it wrong, so I watched artists draw with colored pencils. They were so good! I felt like the speck I am in this ginormous universe.

But. I found out that they were using a different kind of colored pencils called Faber-Castell polychromos, which are oil-based. And they're expensive. Gasp! ...really expensive.

But I held my ground. Because, like one of my favorite anime characters said:

"A good calligrapher doesn't need to choose his pens."
- Fuji Syusuke, Prince of Tennis

I'll be a good artist - I promised this to myself many times. Regardless of media, I will always try.  

Source

The Progress

Below are my fanarts for TWICE Momo (the first one I drew with colored pencils) and BLACKPINK Lisa. My strokes then were very, very light. I wouldn't even bother with the white spaces, even when they indeed bother me. To my surprise, however, the BLACKPINK fanart earned itself a curie upvote! Yay!

TWICE Momo Fanart (18FEB2017) | BLACKPINK Lisa Fanart (13JUL2017)

Next up, my sister Hive account@arrliinn just basically challenged me to join the Learn to Draw with Friends contest by Hive account@tonyr. And challenged, I was. The theme then was animals, and I hated (strong word, but nothing could ever be truer in my case) drawing animals. Even Pokemon. And Digimon. And Hello Kitty. Hive account@arrliinn just literally commanded me to draw the lion. The lion! After drawing it, I named the drawing THE Lion. It will be the only lion I will ever draw in my entire life. 😂

Then I drew GOT7's Mark, because I was addicted to K-pop and to GOT7. It was the first time I learned to document my drawing process. 

But the problem was still there. My strokes were too light. They lack vibrance, they lack layers of colors. The strokes were too visible and messy - the drawings looked rough.

THE Lion (14JUL2017) | GOT7 Mark (15Jul2017)

Then came the new theme for the #ltdwf contest. It was Doctor Who. I love Doctor Who (or maybe it was just Matt Smith, but he will forever be my fav doctor). So I tried my hand again. I decided to add many layers of color. I filled in the white spaces to the best of my abilities. I used white colored pencil in the attempt for a better blending. I used grey to desaturate the colors. 

It looked better. I found my weakness, and I tried to fix them. Still not my best, but I want to think that I'm getting there.

I tried again. I tried the techniques I used on my very own self-portrait. It worked well, to my surprise. Especially around the skin and the eyes. Then I found another weakness - the hair. (Despite the hair-problem, I'm proud to say that this earned another curie upvote. Yay!)

Doctor Who (17JUL2017) | Self-Portrait (20JUL2017)

Cue more weakness. By continuing with the other categories in the #ltdwf contest, I found more weakness.

1. I'm still crappy at technical drawing. When I was in high school, I had a drafting class. My classmates thought I would do well, but I didn't. 😂 I would never be a successful architect. LOL.
2. Choosing the right colors is still challenging. And I don't think it will ever be easy.

The TARDIS (19JUL2017) | The Dalek (22JUL2017)

I learned...

...to sharpen my pencils. It's not bad to sharpen the pencils every once in a while. In fact, I found that sharpening them actually helps a big deal in making the colors more vibrant. It also helps fill in the smaller white spaces in the drawing for a smoother look.

...to color in small, uniform, and circular strokes. This is to avoid the stringy parts in coloring. This proves to be really difficult, however, when there is a large expanse of space to color.

...to desaturate. Especially when the colors come off too bright, it's OK to desaturate the colors by using neutral colors (I learned to use grey for this one). 

...that I still have long, long way to go.