I like Arches HOT press. It’s got enough texture for layers, but smooth enough for getting good details. Also Canson DRAWING paper. It’s not for wet techniques but will take solvent. It’s a cream-colored paper. In SPITE of the name Colored-Pencil paper, Strathmore Color Pencil paper is a problem. It’s fairly thin, and buckles with even a small amount of solvent to mix pigments, and doesn’t have enough tooth. D-. I’m just starting out with Canson Mi-Tientes, which has TWO DIFFERENT TEXTURES, and is supposed to hold up to light washes and has a rougher side for pastel work. Luckily, it’s reasonably priced and is available in sheets as well as pads. Many professional artists have no problem recommending it, and some use it themselves. I hope this is useful information.
@@CassandraHanley I'm a bit confused here... Fabrino Arches these are designed for watercolor drawings... how a watercolored paper be suitable for colored pencil works? please let me know...
Ah well, watercolour paper is a wonderful thing! It is very sturdy paper, it can take a proper beating and still perform well, and the texture of the hot press watercolour papers surface is toothy enough to accept multiple layers of pencil, while still being smooth enough to make laying down the colour nice and easy. There are many papers that will work well with colour pencils, but the hot press watercolour papers are my favourite so far :)
velcroman11 That sounds very Bob Ross-ian. "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents." His attitude towards art is inspiring, and that fits right in with it. So many people get discouraged so quickly, and I wonder just what beauty they could have put into the world had they been encouraged by people like you and him.
@@randomrainbow4479 'happy accidents' seem to be life savers for me 😂 honestly when I draw or colour I never practice. I draw out a piece and dive in with new techniques or mixed medium and improvives. I dread a piece not turning out as good as I want it so I go with the flow half the time. Also depends on my mental state as well when using drawing techniques probably why alot of 'happy accidents' occur 😂😂😂
I wish other artists would more often discuss their 'failures' and mistakes they've made with their particular medium.....unlike the home renovation TV shows where the end products seem to have been done perfectly, without stripped screws, broken saw blades, unexpected expenses, split joists, etc. Your willingness to share mistakes will no doubt help others to avoid them. I guess Murphy's Law applies in most areas of life: Nothing's as easy as you think. Everything takes longer than you thought. And if anything can go wrong, it will. Your 'failures' are beautiful and I aspire to produce pictures that are as lovely as yours. Thanks so much for some very helpful, solid advice.
Oh thankyou so much!! I really shouldn't label them as mistakes, as for the most part I was quite proud of them at the time (well.. except for the cross eyed tiger!!) It's more about looking back to see what I would change with more experienced eyes :)
@@CassandraHanley If you stumble, make it part of the dance, my mom always says. ;P The fly on nose is an example of that and what most of everything I do ends up with, lol. Except for the few there's absolutely no fix for, put them in a frame and pretend you did it on purpose. xD lol Also, nature makes mistakes too, like placing eyes inwards.
Great tips!! I've been guilty of every one you mentioned...I guess it's the learning process for many of us. I hope all those beginner colored pencil artists take heed and avoid some of them..
Thanks! I am just starting out in colored pencil. Now for that posture, I have been sewing for over 50 years. It is very easy to slouch over the machine. One must discipline oneself to sit straight. Here is a tip I learned from Nancy Zieman, she says when quilting, "Sew a block, walk a block." Meaning, get up and walk around at least every 30 minutes. I actually set a timer on my mp3 player ( always listing to books or tunes) to remind me to GET UP. This little interruption refreshes mind, body, and creativity.
Awesome tips for a newbie, such as myself! Thank you for sharing your trials and errors instead of just saying what not to do. It helps to see a visual!! Much appreciated! p.s. Love your accent, too =)
we don't hear many aussies here on youtube!! I must admit the accent made me a little self conscious at first. I am glad you found the video helpful :)
I'm guilty of being very lazy with every aspect of my art X3 I do it mainly for fun and people consider me somewhat good for my age. Most of the people that tell me I'm good though don't notice how lazily I colour and how I don't bother to fix mistakes most of the time even if I can fix them very easily.
+Nerdy Owly ah! Yes! That sounds familiar! I worked like that for years, and it was the main reason I liked using charcoal so much, you can be so, so lazy with that stuff. The great thing with art is that it really is up to you how far you want to take each piece, as long as you are having fun and are happy with the results you're getting, you're doing it right!! I eventually decided I wanted to stop cutting corners and make my pieces as good as I could possibly make them. Just to see what I could do really! But just quietly, there are still always little moments where I get lazy and start scribbling and rushing! It is a hard habit to break!
So what paper (exactly) would you recommend for coloured pencils? Also big PLUS for your video for NOT including any background music! I find background music so distracting that I immediately close any instructional video that does have background music. So big yay for that! 👍
Thank you for this. I do appreciate it. I'm about to start drawing and using colored pencils is goal. I don't expect great work right from the start, but it's funny how the mind can deceive you otherwise! Lol. The tips you gave will certainly help a newbie like me.
Oh yes!! Wax bloom!! grrrrrrrrr.... lately I've been spraying my finished major pieces with a light coat of spray varnish, which keeps the bloom at bay. But it is very disheartening to open up my sketchbook and see the white fuzzies all over my work!!!
Maura Szymecki what is wax bloom? I'm using oil based pencils, and wax based are really hard to get here, so I'm generally not familiar with this term.
+Line B waxy pencils (especially prismacolors) can develop a funny waxy coating over time (sometimes overnight) it's a funny waxy white layer that kind of looks like the white bloom on a blueberry and it is seriously annoying when it pops up on a piece you are particularly fond of. It doesn't seem to happen with the more oil based pencils. If you have a problem with it I have found you can use a little spray fixative or even varnish (on mounted pieces) to keep the bloom from coming back
couldnt agree more, this was really helpful! im trying to figure out the best paper for me at the moment... i like blending by burnishing but ive used stonehenge paper which has quite a bit of texture so I think my colored pencil drawings are taking way too long. I might try some more smoother paper instead :)
I, for the likes of me, have never been able to afford any high quality art materials, especially paper. There's just too many of them. People say that this one is good for this, and when I use it, it does the exact opposite. I use Canson mixed media for my prisma colours and basically everything besides markers and watercolor.
Oh I fully understand!! while expensive art supplies really do make a difference, they sure are hard to justify the cost if your not selling the work. As long as it works for you, cheaper supplies are not a problem. Canson make some really great products, and if they do what you want, you shouldn't feel bad about that at all!
@@CassandraHanley What could you recommend that doesn't break your bank for poor students? :) I've noticed down your favourite, but haven't checked the price yet. I just have to practice before wanting to throw a lot of money into the paper itself.
Watching this video makes me realize that courage is required to showcase our mistakes. Shine a light on them for all the world to see. Presenting this to us so that we may learn is both brave and generous. It speaks to a well adjusted ego and confidence in your ability. I am happy to have found your channel. Be well.
I absolutely LOVE the peacock piece!!! It's beautiful even if you didn't use the paper you should have and thanks for showing us these snafus in able to teach us.
OH MY GOSH THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH!I have been using the paper from that student sketch book and been wondering and searching what im doing wrong and it is my paper!!!!im so happy ik rn
Yeh this is a good video. Learning from mistakes is always best thanks for showing us your old stuff. New birds are great where is your other new art..I sometimes get a burst of energy to draw when I see drawings that need fixing and I go and redraw them. Always learn so much more from doing that than from how to draw books that show perfect construction steps etc.It's amazing how our eye will pick out the mistakes. I've also learned to put a drawing down and not do the whole thing at once coz I always want to either finish it quick or saturate the colour. I try do a few at once now. The best thing about putting a drawing down too is sometimes when you wake up next morning you go... Oh it's already finished. Nothing worse than an overworked drawing
OOOhhh, I wish I could do a few at once!! I get too focused on each project to have more than one piece on the table at a time!! But knowing when to step away is difficult! I usually take a photo with my phone when I think my piece is finished.. It is funny, but the camera seems to distance me enough from my work so I can see what still needs work and what is already finished
Shiny King I totally agree with everything you said. All those things will help keep you fresh while doing any type of artwork. (especially if you do it for a living). I love reading the great tips and constructive comments as well as the excellent video 😄
What you consider your poor art....just WOW! This is the first video of yours I've seen while researching colored pencils. Consider me addicted. You are more qualified than you give yourself credit, and quite talented! Thank you for sharing.
I think many artists would agree with you on that, and I would definitely recommend them both as papers worth trying out .. personally I prefer the firmer surface of the academia...but that's totally a personal preference. I think If I did more portrait work I would choose the softer stonehenge and if I wanted to do a base layer in watercolour or ink I would choose the artistico.
I've tried Fabriano Academia and Fabriano studio watercolour papers. Personally I don't particularly like them but if you can make them work good luck to you. Actually the Academia is softer than the Artistico ; wood pulp as against cotton that's why I don't like it.
Cassandra, thank you for sharing your advice and showing your mistakes. It takes a lot of openness to share mistakes, but we can learn from them. So, thank you.
That was really informative, thank you. I am guilty of adopting poor posture and really need to get it fixed if I am to carry on enjoying my colouring.
Thank you for this. As a beginner, I'm feeling a lot better about getting my toes wet in the medium. I'm impressed by the hard hints that you give. I'm impressed by the fact that you keep examples of where you went wrong so that you could learn from them as well as see the progress you are making today. But most of all: I'm impressed by your humanity in looking at your foibles with a sense of humor and then sharing them so the rest of us can learn through your experiences. Thank you so much!
+Megan W haha! Thank you. I suppose It's not very fair calling them "bad examples". They are more like "pieces that I would do differently now that I have more experience" :)
Thank you for sharing your experience with colored pencils and explaining your difficulties by showing where you went awry. I just picked up colored pencils and found this video helpful in pointing out mistakes I am currently making. Thank you again and congratulations on your progress and honestly when it comes to your own work.
Happy Holidays! I found your channel last night and so far I'm loving it. Unfortunately I do have a problem. For a medical reason, I have a lot of trouble understanding any people with accents different from my own. I can understand most of what you say, but not all of it. For example, in this one, I couldn't understand the name of the paper you recommended Do you have a blog or something where you list all of the products you verbally endorsed on your your videos, that I could look at?
Ahhhh, the Aussie accent can be a bit hard to follow cant it?. I do try to slow down and limit my slang... but it's easy to forget. In the description of my latest videos, I do have a list of the products I've been enjoying lately; and I do have a long-neglected and poorly constructed website with some written instructions at cassandrahanleyart.com ( please don't judge me!! I'm a decent artist, but a terrible web designer!!) to answer your question, for now, my favourite paper is the arches hot press watercolour paper. I was using the fabriano accademia when I created this video, but I've stopped using it after having some quality issues
Thanks so much for your video! You've hit the nail on the head with most of these problems, and they can be so very frustrating... Fortunately, and I haven't seen anything in the comments section about this, there are ways to cope with some of the troubles you've described! I know that we're specifically discussing 'colored pencil' drawing, but if you absolutely love pencil art AND watercolor paper texture all is not lost; try using watercolor pencils. You can color in the usual way, and then just use plain water and a brush to spread the pigments over the texture in the cold pressed paper. This does give a painterly quality to your work when it's finished, and some people just love the look! A friend of mine gave me a handful of lessons using watercolor pencils and his work actually looked like photographs when he was finished-- astounding! As to your trouble with pastel paper (or any other smooth-ish paper that lacks tooth), you can use textured/workable fixative spray to add the tooth back to the surface in between layers of pencil. There are lots of brands available, and they're all very good; Brush & Pencil makes two kinds of fixatives that are suitable for working and finalizing/preserving your finished pieces. You might also like their powdered blender, which makes blending and layering an absolute breeze (but ONLY on sanded paper). Your so-called 'failures' are not as bad as you think they are, and as many people have said beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so the cross-eyed nature of your tiger is actually very endearing. Keep on creating!
Great video! Nothing more valuable than making mistakes in your chosen medium to learn, and having another artist willingly expose their own mistakes is, as the saying goes, priceless. This is a new medium for me - I'm a metalsmith and want to expand the use of various means of applying color to metal - Prismacolor pencils on a layer of gesso applied to copper is what I'm researching at the moment. This one's a keeper - thank you!
I really enjoyed the earlier works that she shared. How can we learn without mistakes along the way? Cassandra seems very supportive of artists. Even though she doesn't have decades of experience with colored pencils, she is still willing to share her experiences with us. Nicely done!
Thank you...great tips. The one where I felt especially guilty is ruining the project by failing to give the background and secondary objects their due. Thanks again for sharing.
Thank you for your video, I too with the exception of using bad paper have learned from the same mistakes. Now I'm working on not pressing so hard :) Great video ~ Keep up the great work~
Great vid, tks. Good info and examples (ur so talented!) and well put together. I'm just at this 3 mos and trying to learn as much as I can. Tks to u I'm going to get the proper paper next!
These mistakes. Are Gorgeous though! I'm finally trying my Prismacolors.. Oh and this does take patience! I also practicing controlling. My hand pressure and whether. To hold the pencil. Closer to the base or further back?! Thank you! For this wonderful help!
I couldn't draw to save my life. So I use colouring books. I'm a beginner at colouring, and what I've found most useful is the, Faber Castell (185712) double ended perfection coloured pencil eraser. It has one hard white end for completely rubbing the pencil out, and the other end which is pink, is much softer, and ideal if you don't want to rub out all the colour, but need to go over blotchy areas, it's available on Amazon, made in Germany, Hope this may be of some help to people.
Hello i am a high school student in england and i with be doing my art GCSEs next year. I am very scared as all of my work in year 10 at the moment contributes to my year 11 results. Therefore i am always being critical about my work and never saying the good things about it which is why my teach Mr Ashcroft always tells me, and i quote "dont judge a painting/drawing until it is done". No matter how many times he tells me the same thing i always criticise myself which i cant exactly help because thats how i am. But the point is that you are also criticising yourself too much. Those picture are not just art. They are masterpieces. If i was to do that for my art GCSE i would get an A*************. Well done.
I remember many years back I got a pad of canvas paper to do sketching on. I can't remember if I had planned to paint on it with acrylics or not, but there are just a few pages of shaded sketches. Not a good paper by a longshot for pencil. Currently getting into coloured pencils. I tried just pencil/ graphite and greyscale drawing last year and got bored quickly. I wanted to get good with values first but I needed colour to keep me interested. One mistake I have recently made is over saturation with the colour. I was aiming for blue highlighting on black feathers. (They have that blue shade when the sun hits them) But ended up with bright blue feathers. I should have blended more with greys, than blended with different blues I thought matched the reference colours. I just kept layering until I couldn't anymore and I wasn't satisfied. Now I have a blue toucan. To anyone who sees it, I wanted it to look that way. But I'm seeing it as a learning experience. I'm new to coloured pencils, I'm more familiar with water colour, gouache and digital art where it's much easier to correct mistakes.
I like this video. Interesting to see your two tigers who show two years of learning and practice. I want to see that more on RU-vid! (Any suggestions for where I should look?) And then at nr 5 when I saw and heard 'bad posture' I did not immediately understood that you were talking about our own posture 😆. I was like: those birds look okay, they can bend like that... Haha. Interesting that you talk about the importance of taking care of our own posture. I like the idea of sitting on a ball. Might try that. Yesterday I bought a Julian table easel, I'm curious how this will change my way of working. What helps me (but which I still find hard to consistently practice) is not putting all the tools I need on my table so I have to get up to take it and get moving a bit... I will certainly check more of your videos.
I know we are all our own worst critic with our work. Honestly though, I thought your work was gorgeous. If all the artwork was done the same way, it’d be very boring.I love your work, especially on the birds. Thank you for your video, you brought up things I hadn’t thought about.Don’t forget the most important element - that you have fun!
I wish I could be as good as your 'bad' pieces. Thank you for your videos. FWIW, you got a new subscriber who only just barely started to explore colored pencils.
I have a hard time understanding what kind of paper to use as all have different vellums and don’t understand what 68lbs or 100lbs means and use prisma colored pencils. Also, each coloring book has different paper but never stated on back of book kind of paper? Know some of my problems are the different papers but can’t afford to keep trying new ones 🤷♀️. Any suggestions in beginners language :)
Well you must be doing something right Cassandra I just found a previous comment below (which I was agreeing with before I saw my name ha ha) somewhere along the line I lost your subscription so I am now subscribed again. I still find your hands distracting (oops) but your helpful insights just as relevant. I am going to explore your site further to see what you have done over the last 2 years. I hope you are still online...cheers from WA
I'm konda weary about making mistakes... I decided to take up colored pencil art and i showed a picture to my mother that someone online had drawn the other day. I thought it was pretty good and she says, you can do better than that. I'm thinking, i have never even touched a professional colored pencil before, so you don't know that!. Everyone sees my graphite drawings and expect that I'll jist be amazing at any art i touch. I wouldn't know the first thing about painting.
Thanks. The tip I appreciated most was the one about posture whie drawing. So little said on this. I would like to find out more about posture for the hand, wrist, back and so on....thanks again this is helpful for an older budding artist like myself
It is nothing personal, it is just more of a general thought. I've seen some of the "beginners mistake" videos, and when I see an argument about bad quality paper, pencils or anything like that, the first thing that pops to my mind is "a bad workman blames his tools". I believe, If someone is experienced enough, practicing a lot, and learning from one's mistakes, the art will always look better, no matter what tools that person is using.
OMG! Hi, it's my first visit on your channel and when i saw your mystakes and bad experiences well i believed you but for me their look like Masterpieces lol! anyway i'm so glad i click on your channel because you are so Talented i'm shure to learn a lots from you young Lady so Thank you so much for this great video, it's very helpfull and i smile when you show how close to the paper you've colored and hard on the color pencils i do the same all the time and i'm mad after myself when i saw the result lol!
You maybe could fix the eyes by enlarging the pupil on the eye on the right side, which would shorten the white highlight a bit. The pupil looks incomplete. If you put some darker green to the right of the pupil, also, it would move the eye a bit. OR--You could put a butterfly on the end of the tiger's muzzle like he's trying to focus on it. The right eye is the only thing making the tiger look cross-eyed. :) Listen to me trying to tell such a good artist how to fix her work. I mean no disrespect at all. I like fixing things that went wrong, too. You learn something every time something goes awry, more so than if things are perfect. The second Tiger that you did looks like it's real. What a great drawing that one is.
Oh that poor eye! unfortunately I completely flattened out the paper with my repeated attempt to fix it!! Oh boy did I make a mess, and no more pencil will go down :( sometimes you just have to accept defeat and accept the lesson learned. I don't like to look at that tiger, but I do appreciate that it was a really important step in helping me improve overall!
I bought a pile of 50 sheets of good quality paper- when it came it had the strangest texture I’ve ever seen and I cannot use coloured pencils on it at all :(
I have the most awful and terrible habit of laying my head down on the table while I write or paint. It's bad for sight, your back and what you write or draw gets crooked and in a weird perspective but I don't know how to stop
Great tips! I'm new to the medium and did experience a hurt neck after 2 hrs of slouching lol. Also, something I had to learn the hard way was not to grip my pencils so hard. It's crazy because you don't even notice that you are until after you're finished and your fingertips are hella sore!!
When you say the Fabriano paper takes mineral thinners, would this include something like Zest It? Also could you recommend a good, not too expensive fixative?
I haven’t experimented that much with zest it, but the fabric paper should deal with it. Maybe do a test strip before committing to a whole piece Also, I don’t tend to use fixative with colour pencil, I’ve never found it necessary
I think you are knocking yourself way too hard... most of these are really nice... they only one I really noticed anything on was the tiger and it was the eyes only that i noticed
Callme Pega I haven't had the opportunity to use the canson sketchbooks yet, so I couldn't say for sure. But so far I have enjoyed using most of their papers, and I think they generally make some good quality products.
Thanks so MUCH! Have a nice set of F-C Polychromos...LOVE colored Pencil Art! It's not a very forgiving Medium like you stated, but I love the results! Pretty Much a beginner, but still love it!
Enjoyed you sharing your art and experiences..you are a gifted artist. While I'm not I do sew and enjoy crafting. I've always loved coloring...pencils, crayons, markers...and now have a bit more pencil coloring know how. Thank you.
