Last week I mentioned my local art shop is running interactive workshops. Last week it was on Manga art. This week it was portraits using Derwent Coloursoft pencils. It was really just a glorified colouring session for adults to promote a pencil brand. They used these demo pictures from the Derwent site. The focus was on layering and blending the pencils.
I arrived after the session had been running for a while and they’d run out of outlines to colour in so I had to sketch my own version of the boy. Something I’d have preferred to do even if they hadn’t! I wasn’t worried too much about getting a likeness so the fact I’ve got a reasonable one is a bonus, although looking at him now his left cheek is off. Which is why it’s always best to take a break from a picture so you can spot all those niggly little mistakes. I’ve posted the original picture for a reference. I think you can tell my heart wasn’t fully in it by the end. I overdid the dark brown and couldn’t remove it to my liking so he looks a bit dirty. Rather appropriate for a small boy, ironically!
It’s also got a bit damaged on the way home – the fold doesn’t help. There was an awful lot of burnishing going on. I don’t think I’m methodical enough to really do the technique justice. The mouth nose and eyes have worked well, it’s really let down by the cheeks though. Oh yes, before you ask, he has brown eyes because we were using a skintones set. Although I did sneak out my watercolour pencils to use a black for the pupils!
Below is the finished one demonstration one on the site. It is darker than it needs to be but that’s intentional but the colouring is so much more subtle than I’ve achieved.
Note to self: I think I need to develop more patience if I want to do more of these types of drawings.
