If you had to choose one thing to work on for the next 6 months to a year, what would it be?

I’m still chipping away at my 2019 goal to incorporate more color in my life drawings.
Generally, what I think most about when drawing is line, so I’ve been using hatching to follow through on that plan. However, the more drawings I get under my belt, the more I see a glimmer of where further practice may lead.

The following quote pretty well encapsulates what pulls me into any drawing in the first place while outlining a worthy quality to strive for in 2020.

A line is a visual trail of energy that has been drawn across a surface, and is a manifestation of the life energy of the person that made it.     ~Mick Maslen*

Rather than switching gears next year, I’m planning to build on the steps I’ve taken so far, while also working toward stronger color and deeper values. My experimentation with varying papers has shown me how much they contribute to the crispness and clarity of both line and color.

*I was interested in learning more about Mick Maslen since I wasn’t at all familiar with his name. Turns out he is a UK artist who taught drawing and painting for many years before retiring from teaching in 2008.

Through the wonder of the internet, I also learned he was a contributor to The Guardian newspaper’s 2009 Free Guide to Drawing, a treasure trove of interviews and tutorials with leading contemporary artists. Check it out! He, together with Jack Southern, wrote the book The Drawing Projects: An Exploration of the Language of Drawing, a major publication on contemporary drawing practice and theory. Boy, would I love to get my hands on a copy of that (!) – but an extensive search revealed it seems to be either out of stock or available at a too steep price. I will have to keep my eyes peeled for a copy in used bookstores — which may be a challenge outside the UK.

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If you’re interested in using learning more about colored pencils, this is a good place to start. The number of options may make your head spin, but it’s worth wading through the info to see what’s best for you.

I started out with Prismacolor Verithin because I was drawing on vellum and wanted a pencil that was hard and would keep a strong point. But their colors are limited, and since I was moving to other surfaces, I bought a set of Caran D’Ache Pablo which are reasonably priced while giving me the most bang-for-my-buck, color-wise.  The Caran D’Ache are much creamier and blend well, allowing for a strong build-up of color. The Verithin are best for seeing individual lines as you layer colors over each other, so I tend to use them in my life drawings where I want to see the hatching. They each react differently depending on the paper used, so lots of experimentation is worth the time.