Monika Cilmi is the tutor for our London Art College Coloured Pencil Course. She has sent us a superb coloured pencil drawing by student Mike Bingham and a testimonial by Lee Lillie.
Monika said –
Mike Bingham has no experience with freehand drawing or coloured pencils however this work from his first set is excellent. I feel he is really brilliant and talented and I’m looking forward to seeing his subsequent sets.
Below is message received by another of my students on the coloured pencil course called Lee Lillie:
Hi Monika
Hope you’re well.
Just to say, thanks again for all your help on the Colour Pencil Drawing course. I enjoyed it and learnt a lot. I have enrolled on the Watercolour Diploma Course now, as well as taking weekly classes in the my local college.
Kind regards
Lee Lillie
What a brilliant coloured pencil drawing by Mike Bingham. I had problems with bottle shapes, especially matching the “shoulder” areas, which may be solved by first drawing a vertical line representing the centre of the bottle. Then draw one side of the bottle, trace what you have drawn, reverse it and transfer the image to the other side of the line. You should now have a symmetrical bottle! I don’t think of it as “cheating” as I am using my own original line!
I started the Coloured Pencil Course in August last year and am currently tackling the second set of excercises. Drawings like Mike’s and Mollie’s Irises are a real inspiration!
Hi Robert,
Thats wonderful news! Im so pleased you are enjoying the artwork posted here along with your course.
When I tutored the course I found the students had a bit of an epiphany moment when they realised they could use a similar way of creating the shape of the bottle.
I taught that you drew a straight line down the centre and then draw one side. Use a ruler to measure points from the center to the line and then plot them on the other side. You can then freehand draw the other side using the points as a guide.
It certainly isn’t cheating and I think if its helping you reach your end goal its absolutely fine. The best of luck with the rest of your course!
Melanie
Hi Melanie,
Your prompt response to my comments is much appreciated, and I now know another method of dealing with the ” bottle problem”!
We never stop learning, do we?
Robert.
Absolutely! We never stop learning! Have been a professional pet portrait artist for 20 years and I’m still learning new things every day! 🙂
Melanie x