# To draw or not to draw - what should I do? :)



## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Hello everyone and nice to meet you here, 

I'm no professional artist (I only draw in order to relax) and this is why I would really appreciate if any of you could provide me with some feedback on my first drawing attempts 

My album - http://www.artistforum.com/art-by-oana/pencil-drawings (hope it works  )

Thank you in advance for your time and cooperation.

Oana


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## George924 (Oct 8, 2012)

Hi Oana, great to see you here...well it looks like you are off to a very great start from what you posted. To answer your question, I would ask you this...what excites you the most, portrait, seascape, landscape, still life, animal? Try to challenge yourself with each new piece, learn about composition and design, color theory, different mediums...that is what so great about art it is as wide open as you want it to be. Can't wait to see your work


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Thank you very much for your feedback, George!  I've got so much to learn ... What I did was to buy a box of HB-9B pencils and use them altogether with some old coloured pencils .. as a start. I would like to be able to draw some seascape or landscape but I find this rather difficult ...  ... I've tried to draw an animal as well ... but that wasn't too much of a success ... I will try to improve my techniques and vary them accordingly and get back with some more new stuff  Thank you again for your time and advice!


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## charlene1 (Jun 11, 2012)

Oana, a lot of us do our art to relax and a bit of an escape. If you enjoy it and put your heart into it, you will do well whether it is just a hobby or more than a hobby. sometimes making it more than a hobby can take the fun out of it.


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Thank you for your kind words, Charlene!  Best of luck!


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## Sean (Aug 6, 2011)

Hi Oana and welcome aboard!

I started drawing about two years ago and fell in love w/it. I play between graphite and colored pencil. You asked for some feed-back. In my short journey with drawing I've found I'm my best critic. I can see my progression quite clearly. The initial learning curve for me was a little slow but with reading a lot of books on drawing (I mean, A LOT of books) going to several art shows and getting lost in Colored Pencil magazine, I think I really pushed myself into another level. And the ride is very enjoyable, if it becomes tedious, or too pressurized, I'll re-evaluate, but for now I'm just enjoying the process.

I heard someone say that art, unlike sports where one gets crapper with age, artist only get better with age.


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Thank you, Sean! I really appreciate your feedback.  

I've had a few attempts with aquarellable pencils but that didn't go too well ... 
I must admit I'm only at the beginning of a long way but I'll try to enjoy every moment of it! 

Good luck and best wishes


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## George924 (Oct 8, 2012)

The water solubles are great but they have a really high learning curve unless you have used watercolor in the past...my suggestion would get a small set of prismacolor and just start from there, also the paper you use will have an impact on what you are creating with them as well. I like the smoother paper with a bit of texture...I get really smooth flesh tones.


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

This is one of my attempts with water sollubles ... but I'm not really satisfied with the result ..









http://www.artistforum.com/art-by-oana/water-solluble-pencils-2145-262/

Thank you for your advice, George! I've already bought (just a few days ago) my first set of Prismacolor  I'm looking forward to see how I can use them best


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## Sean (Aug 6, 2011)

Yum, new pencils.
When ever I get a new set, I happily draw color swatches of all of them with color name and pencil number of each one. It took me several days to do the Prizmacolor 150 set. lol


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## George924 (Oct 8, 2012)

I love this time of year, it is the time for restocking for the year and color pencils are awaly at the top of my list...dickblick.com has the best deals I can find for prisma for open stock if you buy 12 or more of the same color.

With any medium there is a learning curve and you may or may not hit upon it right off, as earlier mentioned, the paper you use will make a big difference so if you are finding it troublesome at first try other papers for different results...canson is one of my go to supports but for my portrait works I prefer Stonehenge


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

That was exactly what I had in mind when I bought them  (It's the 150 Prismacolor set ...) And I thought I'm being too childish  Glad to hear I'm not the only one getting so enthusiastic when it comes to buying new art tools ... Thanks, Sean!


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

dickblick.com is the place I've bought my Prismacolor set They're fast and they have great prices 

I've only tried Staedtler paper ... it has a nice texture .. I'll give Canson and Stonehenge a try as well  Thank you, George


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Do you happen to know a good electric pencil sharpener that doesn't cost more than the pencils themselves?  I've only had hand-held sharpeners and I guess they won't be too recommended for my first Prismacolor set  ...


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## George924 (Oct 8, 2012)

The best sharpener use to be the Panasonic but they have stopped producing them, but they say this Stanley Bostitch is great for CP's http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/368888/Stanley-Bostitch-Executive-Electric-Pencil-Sharpener/ . I have had my Panasonic's for over 14 years wish I would have bought two more of them and left them in the box. Although I've only had to take mine apart once and the other is virtually brand new. You can find them on EBAY all of the time...


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## Oana (Jan 5, 2013)

Thank you, George  I don't quite know a thing about electric pencil sharpeners .. I've only seen that they can be on batteries or with a cable ...


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