JOANA MIRANDA STUDIO

What? There’s a proper way to sharpen a colored pencil? Who knew! Well, if you watch my latest Art Bag: Time Saving Tips and Tricks video, you too will be in on my secret for how to properly sharpen colored pencils!

How to Properly Sharpen Colored Pencils

In addition to this video, I thought I’d share the finished colored version of the Seven Ladies illustration I started last week.

Needless to say, this illustration was a lot of work. Unfortunately, I was in a bad mood when I started the coloring process. As a result, the storm clouds in my brain got transferred through my brush to the page.

Here’s an example of what happens when you overwork watercolors:

(Meanwhile, a lighter touch and thoughtful placement of the same watercolor palette can lead to a much better result!)

I think you’ll agree that the lady with the mug looks dark and muddy, while the lady with the spider has light, humor and brightness. The borders for both ladies also display different “techniques.” In the former, I reworked the border over and over until the paper started to disintegrate. And in the second I didn’t.

Why You Should Always Finish Your Artwork:

If I had followed my instinct and torn up this illustration, two things would have happened:

1. My Moleskine notebook would have an unsightly torn gap in pages
2. I wouldn’t have learned from my mistakes

In the end, because I stuck with finishing this artwork, I hit upon better ways to fill the page with color. And discovering new solutions and techniques ultimately made my bad mood disappear.

P.S.

In my next Art Bag: Time-Saving Tips and Tricks video, I plan to share some of the watercolor “do’s” I learned.

Stay tuned!