SUNDAY WORKSHOP February 8th 2026 - Drawing with colour pencil, footwear and coloured cloth.

We have another workshop coming up soon in which we'll be working with colour pencil - creating wonderful colour mixes with good colour pencils!

You'll need colour pencils, cartridge paper, interesting footwear and coloured, patterned cloth.

We’re going to work with colour pencils in this workshop but it’s less about working with the ‘right’ colour and much much more about a weave of colours creating the right tones. I’ve chosen ‘footwear’ as our subject because footwear expresses a great deal just by being what it is!

·         You’ll start by placing your chosen footwear on a piece of white paper in front of you. It doesn’t need to be a matching pair and can be more than two pieces of footwear.

·         I’ve chosen a favourite pair of shoes (that were never worn!) because I enjoy the complexity of the shapes.

·         Using a pale colour (pale blue is good), make a light line drawing of your subject. Really look for the in-between shapes – these will give you surprising insight as to what you’re seeing!

·         Using a new colour (I used dark blue and purple initially) and hatching softly, gradually begin to describe the different tones you see. Press harder for dark tones and lighter for lighter tones. As you work, absorb the outlines into your areas of hatching.

·         Once you have worked on the footwear (not necessarily completed), exchange the piece of white paper for something much more patterned.

·         Now you’re going to envelope your footwear within a mass of colour and pattern!

·         Make sure that no one colour sits alone – every colour has at least one other colour mixed in with it.

·         You can see in my final drawing that I’m also beginning to include the paraphernalia that’s going on behind my subject. You do the same! ..until your whole page is a mass of mixed colour pencil.

I’ll have lots of unusual footwear with me, including my mother’s old skating boots, my grandmother’s wedding shoes and my sister’s ballet shoes (and more). Old walking boots are full of character too.

I’ll also have a tin of mixed colour and watercolour pencils (watercolour pencils are fine to use but slightly more waxy). It’s worth buying good quality colour pencils if you decide to buy.

https://artdiscount.co.uk/products/faber-castell-polychromos-artists-pencil-set-of-12?_pos=14&_fid=a2aeb6cf9&_ss=c  This is a link to a very good set (and good art supplies company) with as many colours as you’ll need in the tin.

Also bring colourful teatowels, cloths, pillow cases – whatever has abundant pattern on! I’ll bring some for those who don’t have.

Please don’t hesitate to ask questions if you have any. Look up colour pencil drawings online to see examples of how other artists use colour pencils.

Next workshop: Sunday 15^th March