I talk a lot in Drawing Outside Your Comfort Zone about never giving in, about keep practicing and drawing is like a muscle – the more you exercise it the stronger you get. I am by no means an accomplished artist, although my confidence in my skills have grown that I can draw the Hero Ted scene above, and feel fairly happy about it. Now after the jump I am going to reveal to you the astonishing truth to my artistic progress.
In The Beginning – 2012
My first rendition of Tristan the Teddy Bear, drawn in 2012 after picking up the pencil after nearly 20 years after putting it down. I used dollar store sketch paper and colored our heroic Teddy Bear using Magic Art color pencils. At this point all I had were clumsy remembered skills I learned at Design College 20 years previous.
2013
Getting a little better, my lines are tidy now I started using Faber-castel pitt pens and changed to Caslon Watercolor paper. This rendition of Tristan is colored with Faber-castel blended watercolor pencils.
2014
Another classic Tristan illustration, you can see how much my style is evolving here. I am using a heavier outline (Faber-castel F) with a contrasting thinner line (Faber-castel XS) for internal details. This was my first use of Derwent Inktense pencils and in this case I did some finishing with charcoal pencils using brown and white to give texture.
Three Years Later – 2015
My latest rendition of Tristan the Teddy Bear (drawn 09/13/2015). On Strathmore Mixed Media paper, inked in a scratchy style using Faber-castel Pitt Pens (XS & S) colored with layered (for texture) and then blended Derwent Inktense pencils. Getting better, but I still have a long way to go!
Keep Going
You can see the huge improvements after only three years of practice, trying new techniques and not giving in. I hope it anything showing you these two drawings demonstrates that you will get better! KEEP GOING!