Makings and Musings Community

Recording in the Library

Last night in my community art class we spent the evening drawing a sweet little otter in coloured pencils, inspired by the feeling of signs of spring. It was such a gentle and joyful session, and I loved seeing everyone slowly bring their otters to life on the page.

In this class I guide you step by step through my coloured pencil process. I work a little differently than many people expect. I do not start with a graphite sketch or use an eraser. Instead, I begin with very light coloured pencil lines and slowly build the drawing through layers. By the end, the original sketch lines become part of the finished artwork.

I show you how to start with simple shapes to find the form of the otter. Rather than trying to draw a perfect outline, we search for the shapes first — soft spirals…

In this session, we are drawing puppy in coloured pencils. We focused on working with colour right from the start, instead of doing a graphite sketch first.

What I loved about this session was seeing how different everyone’s drawings turned out, even though we were all working from the same reference. Some stayed very soft and gentle, others went bolder with their colours, and all of them felt completely right. It is such a good reminder that there is no one ‘correct’ way of drawing, and that your own way of working is always enough.

This class is a lovely one if you want to feel more confident with coloured pencils, especially if you enjoy drawing animals and adding texture. It is calm, relaxed, and very much about enjoying the process rather than worrying about getting things perfect.

Next week we will be drawing a frog in a much more…

In this class I take you through a relaxed and colourful still life drawing.

I work from a winter themed reference photo and I show you how I break it down into simple shapes and playful lines. I focus on enjoying the process rather than getting things perfect, so you can feel free to be a bit wobbly and expressive in your own work.

The artists I showed you art the start are:

Susanne Rose: https://www.instagram.com/susannerose_sketchbook/

Sandi Hester: https://www.instagram.com/sandihesterart/

In this January session, I invite you to slow down with me and draw a little cardinal bird, tucked into the quiet of winter.

Watch Here:

We work from a snowy reference photo and take the drawing step by step, building it gently in coloured pencil. I show you how I layer colour, follow the direction of the feathers, and use light pressure to create depth and softness. You create your own version as we go, and there is plenty of space to make it your own.

This class is part of our Winter Quiet theme. It is calm, focused, and perfect if you enjoy taking your time and really getting to know your materials. You can pause the recording whenever you need and work along at your own pace.

Materials used in this class

In this class, I invited you to slow down and explore a loose watercolour background technique.

We began by letting go of detail and control. I showed you how I start with simple blobs of colour using a large round brush, allowing the paint to move and mix naturally on the paper. By letting colours touch, beautiful textures appeared without any effort.

I talked you through how water changes everything in watercolour. I demonstrated how more water creates soft, pale washes and how less water gives stronger, more intense colour. I also showed you how to lift paint back out using clean water and kitchen paper to create lighter areas.

These abstract layers became the base for our winter forest scene. Once the background was dry, we moved on to adding details with pencils and pens. I showed you how I use a white pencil on darker areas to create…

In this session we drew a hare in coloured pencils together. I took you through the process step by step and showed you how I build a drawing slowly, with gentle layers, soft shading and small marks to suggest the texture of fur. You explored how light layers can grow into rich colours, how contrast brings a drawing to life, and why I like to save the very darkest tones until the end.

Along the way I talked a little about hares in stories. They appear in many cultures as magical and clever creatures, often linked with the moon. It was lovely to bring some of that atmosphere into our drawings.

You only need a few materials to join this session:

• Drawing paper

• Coloured pencils

Let's talk about one of my favourite art materials — watercolour pencils! In the video, I explain what they are, how to recognise them, and how you can use them both dry and with water.

To show you how they work, I do a little sketch of a Highland cow in my sketchbook. It’s a loose, colourful and slightly messy drawing — just the kind of playful sketch I love when I don’t have much time but still want to make something creative.

I know quite a few of you already use watercolour pencils, so I hope you’ll enjoy this short tutorial for some extra inspiration and fun. And if you’ve not tried them yet, this might be the perfect reason to give them a go!

I’d love to see what you create — feel free to share your own watercolour pencil sketches in the group!

In this class we drew little mice with colour pencils. I guided you step by step, starting with a simple sketch and then slowly building up the colours and textures. We focused on getting the shapes right first—the body, the head, the tail—and then added all the lovely details that bring a mouse to life, like its ears, nose and tiny feet.

Watch Here:

I showed you how to work with light, gentle lines in the beginning and how to layer colours gradually. We used purples and browns for shadows, pinks and reds for noses and cheeks, and saved black for the very last touches. I also shared how to create soft fur texture, how to make eyes sparkle, and how to add little footprints and shadows to give your mouse character and depth.

This is a calm and gentle drawing session, perfect whether you are completely new to drawing…

In this class we painted a big, bold sunflower together. I guided you step by step through the sketching and painting process, starting with simple shapes and building up the petals, leaves and seeds.

Watch here:

We explored how to bring a sunflower to life using different materials and I encouraged you to experiment, to play with texture, and to enjoy the process rather than worrying about perfection.

Along the way, I shared tips for layering colours, creating contrast between foreground and background, and adding those little details that make the flower glow. We also looked at how to use mixed media to our advantage—blending watercolours, adding depth with pencils, and finishing with highlights from oil pastels or markers.

This is a relaxed and mindful session, so feel free to pause, rewind, and take it at your own pace.

In this workshop I share one of my favourite mediums with you – watercolour pencils. They are such a joy because they combine the precision of a coloured pencil with the softness and flow of watercolour paint.

Watch Here:

I begin by showing you different ways to use them: sketching dry, adding water afterwards, and even dipping the pencil straight into water for stronger marks. I explain why these pencils are wonderful for travel sketching and why I prefer starting with colour instead of graphite.

Together we explore a peaceful countryside landscape. I guide you through placing the horizon, hills and a lake, and we add a little sheep in the foreground using very simple shapes. You will see how I block in colours, layer greens and blues to create depth, and keep the sheep light so we can return with details later.

I show you how adding water brings…

BLOB Technique: Mixed Media Swallow

In this special class, I will take you step-by-step through the full BLOB technique to create a little mixed media swallow. I know we have explored this method before, but this time we are slowing down and giving ourselves the time to enjoy the full process—without rushing to finish in just one session.

We begin with a playful layer of watercolour, using the BLOB method to lay down loose shapes that suggest our swallow's form. Once dry, we move on to coloured pencils to bring in finer details and tidy things up. Finally, I use water-soluble oil pastels to cover little imperfections and add that extra character and richness to the piece.

You can use any art supplies you have at home. The focus is on layering, experimenting, and taking our time. It is a relaxing and joyful process, and I cannot wait to see…

In last night’s art class, we created a mixed media landscape of the colourful castle in Sintra, Portugal. It was a slightly more challenging piece than usual—but such fun to explore! We started with big, loose blobs of watercolour and slowly built up the painting with layers of detail using mixed media.

Watch the recording here:

You can add whatever you have—coloured pencils, pens, markers, crayons, or fineliners.

After the live session, I looked at my painting and felt it needed a little more work, so I finished it this morning and filmed that part too. I’ve added that second video here for you.

I finished the painting this morning in another 45 minutes:

Ladybug and Raindrops – Colour Pencil Drawing Class (Replay)

In this session, I showed you how to create a beautiful ladybug illustration with raindrops and leafy details using colour pencils. I guided you step by step through the drawing process, starting with a simple sketch and building up layers of colour to add depth, texture and light.

Watch Here:

Reference photo:

https://unsplash.com/photos/close-up-photo-of-ladybird-perching-on-stem-covered-with-water-droplet-igQx3ETkKZY

 #Animal #Drawing #Colourpencil #draw #sketchbook #class

You can share your artwork in the comments or in the homework gallery

Burnishing is a colour pencil drawing technique that creates soft blends and smooth textures. In this session I show you how I use it to create this drawing of a balloon puppy.

Watch yesterdays live session back now and sketch along!

This is the pinterest board: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/makingsandmusings/pins/

Hi my lovely creatives,

Grab some colour pencils and join in!

Good morning everyone, I created another colour pencil drawing tutorial for you!

I also created a template sheet that you can use to draw the sketch with. You can download it underneath.

The reference photo I used is this one:

Drawing on black paper is a lot of fun and it brings it's own new challenges. Instead of adding darker colours to white paper we work the other way around and we add the highlights to the dark paper.