---
title: 'Drawing week 01 - pencil illustrations'
date: '2017-03-01'
subtitle: Gotta start somewhere...
tags:
- Learning yourself to draw
published: true
---

Also read [Learning yourself to draw](/post/learning-yourself-to-draw/).

As you might already have read, I started the drawing adventure with a 10-week 'illustrative techniques' course. It sounds complicated but it wasn't really: it's more of a gentle introduction in different mediums (pencil, ink, acrylic paint, ...) than a crash course in drawing techniques. I didn't know then that to draw illustrations, you still have to be able to draw. (I'm reading "drawing at the right side of the brain" and I know better now). But still, thse drawings might be fun to look at or to compare to the other weeks. 

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These are all random drawings I did between the lessons to get myself familiar with a pencil. That sounds awful, doesn't it? Who uses pencils anyway. The left scan contains some color: that's an experiment. The brown is **bistre**, something we had to work with in the second class. The other colors are very cheap **pastels**. 

So, what did I learn this week:

1. Bistre can be a bit of a mess. You absolutely cannot wait, edges will form and it'll be worse than watercolor. 
2. Expensive tools **are** better than cheap ones. Pastels are softer and contain a lot more pigment than the ones you can find in sale bins. 
3. I know the difference between a **HB** and a **B4** pencil. I know how to sharpen one. Yay. 
4. These drawings look like doodles because they are a lot like doodles. I like drawing that but I have the feeling I'm missing a lot background info (will be continued...) 
5. Patience looks like an important skill to aid me in learning how to draw.
6. **Do not look at the work of others!**

I warned you:

{{< pin "568720259163636687" >}}

This also is bistre. 
Ouch.