Drawing by Lauren Jarrett and Lisa Lenard- P8: As a professional artist I am often asked: When did I begin to draw? Or in other words, how long have I been drawing. I have tried to answer this question, but the truth is that I’m not exactly sure. I do know that I have drawn as long as I can remember. Most children enjoy drawing as one of their games. I guess I just never stopped. | Part 7 Enjoying the Artist s Life The range of complimentary colors from warm to cool. Try Your Hand To learn about color make yourself lots of small tonal charts for the colors you have. Try for gradations of tone in an individual color to see what it does and mixed colors in a variety of tones. Be sure to label the charts so you know how you made a color that you like. Taking a Stab at a Colored Drawing Use good paper. The best is 140-lb. hot-press watercolor paper and 90 lb. is fine for sketches. If you foresee adding water to the water-soluble pencil sketch however the heavier paper will work better. You will find that you can very naturally grab a handful of colored pencils and start in on a simple arrangement. That fistful of colors is important. Keep switching colors. Look at each object and see the range of colors you can use or the layers you can build up to get a tone and a color. It takes time but it s fun to see the color happen along with the drawing. If you want to learn more about any of the colored media take a class. They re fun and you can learn a lot about color and techniques for handling the various media. You ll be glad you did. Caring for Your Work Generally speaking use the best materials you can take yourself and your efforts seriously present your work simply so it can stand on its own take care of what you don t frame and the archivists and art historians of the future will thank you. Caring for your work now means your children grandchildren and even your Great-great-great grandchildren will have it hanging on their walls even if they d rather have it in their closets . 330 Chapter 25 Express Yourself Whether it s storage matting or framing here s some of the best information you ll find for taking care of your drawings after the drawing s over. On Storage You ve spent a lot of time on your work so treat it right when you re finished too. Portfolios keep your work safe clean and flat as it should be. Paper storage drawers are expensive .
