Colour Pencil

Pear still life colour pencil by Alyona Nickelsen

I started on my final coursework on 20 july. The medium I had decided on from the very beginning, was colour pencil. Why? 1) I wanted to try something new, something we haven't been trained to use in aep, 2) I had an interest in colour pencil cos I was inspired by Alyona Nickelsen's book, "Colour Pencil Painting Bible"!!

But as I started, people began asking me, "Is this your final?", and after awhile I started to wonder why that question was even necessary. Looking around the room, I got my answer. I saw people working on all things BIGGGGG SCAAALE--- oil on big canvases, huge boards of wood, and even paper marche. And a thought hit me, that colour pencil on paper just wasn't really recognised as a medium for something huge like coursework. 

BUT WHY???? Why the 'discrimination' against colour pencil as a medium? Just because it isn't a medium commonly used by world famous artists, therefore being 'incompetent' next to other options like water colour? Just because it's something we've been exposed to as four year olds, therefore being labelled as something that doesn't require much skill? Just because, perhaps, it has been stereotyped as a medium that's only good enough for preparatory studies/sketches?????

I beg to completely differ.

Colour pencils might not be the most high-end medium to work with and I might not create the most stunning work at the end of everything, but the joy I get out of what I've been doing so far means so much more than peer recognition and a grade. I'm having sooo much fun experimenting with colour pencil techniques every week and I have absolutely no regrets in the medium I chose! :) It's just sad that I have to reassure everyone over and over again that YES,MY FINAL WORK IS GOING TO BE 5X COLOUR PENCIL DRAWINGS. And that I like simple, I like colour pencil, and I like something I can work on at home in peace! Hopefully the next generation of artists will incorporate more colour pencil into their works. It's time that this beautiful medium gets recognised.

"I find working with color pencils to be so extremely fulfilling and uplifting.... So what makes this medium so special? Well first of all, color pencils are very affordable. If you are on a limited budget like me, you will be glad to know, that color pencils are very low-cost medium... Second, they are very portable. I can relocate to any place in my house or even outside, to work on my artwork. Not many other mediums allow you to relocate or to tote them around to other places. Thirdly, you can get as detailed and controlled with color pencils as you want, or you can treat them like a very loose watercolor painting. Last of all, you can mix color pencil with just about any other medium and they can be applied to many different types of surfaces as well, from paper to wood. "

 -http://www.mooresartgallery.com/colorpenciltips_techniques.html