partially-finished sketch columbine
Things don’t always go smoothly with artistic endeavors. I’d started this drawing from a photo of some wild columbine that had popped up in our yard, using water- soluble graphite pencils. Despite adding various darks & lights and details, I just didnt like it! Finally I decided I had nothing to lose by throwing some color into it. I thought maybe just a hint, with colored pencil, would help it, but –no— so I added even more color with watercolor marker. That was too stark, so I blended with more colored pencil. Then I decided it wasn’t worth putting any more time into.
This may have seemed like an exercise in futility, but sometimes WHAT YOU LEARN from your “failures” is of just as much benefit as what you gain from successes.
I learned the following:
1. work from a photo that has good directional lighting with strong contrasts —especially with a pale-colored, almost monochromatic , subject. It’s no fun to have to “wing it” & try to create shadows & highlights enough to make for good definition of form. (If not sure your photo has enough contrast to work from, print it in black & white, & you’ll find out.)
2. If not sure of the composition, take time to draw it on cheap paper, & then transfer it to the pricey illustration board that makes you wince every time you have to buy it. (Or else you will kick yourself & possibly give-up your art career.)
3. When you know something’s probably a lost cause, go ahead & experiment. I learned a lot about blending marker with colored pencil on this drawing, & that will undoubtedly help me with something else in the future.
4. Know when to give up & cut your losses. By the time I was done experimenting with this drawing, I had decided to change the composition altogether. When I start it again, it’ll be better than it was this time .
NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2011. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.
About Sketching 
An artist friend of mine has always said that the mistakes you make are the best learning experiences. More often than not, they turn into a new technique or way of achieving something you have been unable to do before!
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Thank you for liking my post, & for your comment. Your artist friend is a wise person! There is so much to be discovered from making mistakes; it opens up whole new worlds sometimes !
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Thanks for the tips. By the way, I kinda’ like it just like it is…..?
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Don’t get me wrong. I’m not an artist. I think its lovely but I was responding to her thoughts.
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Hi—thanks for liking my post, & I appreciate your comment. Now that I’ve had several days away from working on the drawing, it truthfully doesn’t look so bad to me either! Who knows, maybe I’ll finish it at some point. (I have a stack of things that didn’t go the way I planned, stuck away in a cupboard. Every now & then I pull one out & see what I can do with it. Sometimes I find that a little time away from them was all I needed to figure out what I was doing wrong with them.)
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I like the color.
What struck me at first: casually glancing, I saw a row of three horses onand the right.
Horses and flowers got all mixed up for just a little bit. 🙂
Thanks for sharing your trials!
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🙂 Horses, blossoms,—- whatever!
You’re welcome ; thanks for you comment.
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Couldn’t have said it better;)
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Sometimes we all have to except that things doesn’t work out as we maybe wanted it, no matter what creative media we are into. But it isn’t necessarily lost because of that. If we, like you did here, can learn something from the trial, we have move forward as artists and creative persons. I actually like the rough drawing and the colours, but you are a better judge of your own work than anybody else. So, yes, go with your heart.
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Thanks, Otto. The more time I’ve had away from this drawing, the more I realize it wasn’t so bad after all. Sometimes (in life as well as art), we have a certain set of expectations. When they aren’t met, we fail to see the beauty or worth of what we DO get.
So now I see that I received THREE blessings out of this drawing: the things I learned while doing it, a reminder to take a second look at pieces that I am not happy with, and a connection with all of you bloggers who experience the same “ups & downs ” with your work!
You are so right; ALL creative pursuits involve some frustration, & learning from those trials is what enables us to move forward.
Your comments are appreciated.
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