The Coloured Pencil Chronicles | Chapter Nine | September Blog

Would you believe we’re at the end of September already? I feel like I say that at the end of every month (probably because I do), but I can never believe how quickly time flies by! As always, it’s been another full-on month. Read on to find out all about it…

The Academy Reopened! 

It’s always so exciting for me when the Academy opens its doors. All those months of hard work, planning and making sure everything is working as it should seem to go by so quickly! One minute, I’m running live sessions for my waitlist, the next, the doors are open and I’m welcoming the next cohort of members. 

I’m thrilled to say that over 500 people chose to join the Academy during this launch, and what started as something quite small has quadrupled in size in the space of a year! Honestly, I can’t quite believe it! 

It’s been amazing seeing the new members settling into the Academy and getting to know everyone. The community really is so supportive, it’s wonderful to see everyone getting along, offering advice and cheering each other on. I’ve already seen some incredible artwork from the new artists too, and I can’t wait to help them on their coloured pencil journey and see them grow.

If you missed the chance to join the Academy this time, don’t worry! Sign up to my waitlist here to be notified when the Academy opens again in January. 

A New Challenge

Last month, I created my first flower tutorial, which taught members of my Academy how to draw a sunflower in coloured pencil. I enjoyed the process so much that it inspired me to create a new free challenge, the 60 Minute Realistic Rose Challenge. 

It’s another quick and easy challenge, designed specifically for beginners or those who have never even picked up a pencil before. I take you through every step of the drawing, showing you how to easily draw a realistic rose with just seven colours! You’ll learn how to layer and blend your pencils, so you can start creating more lifelike, vibrant drawings that you can really be proud of.

Amazingly, over 1500 people have already signed up for this challenge, and I’ve seen some beautiful yellow roses pop up on my social media feeds. 

If you’d like to take the challenge for free today, click here.

To find out which other free challenges I have that can help you grow as an artist, head to the Freebies section of my website by clicking here.

My Upcoming One Day Workshop

I am so looking forward to this workshop! On Sunday 23rd October from 10 AM - 4 PM, I’m running an exclusive One Day Workshop, where I’ll be teaching a group of artists how to draw a realistic, dramatic human eye in coloured pencil. We’ll be focussing on the values of the piece, and I’ll be explaining why adding light and dark pigment is so important when it comes to creating realism. 

I have really enjoyed trying my hand at something different recently as I’ve been drawing humans instead of animals for a change, which is why I wanted to run a human-focused workshop. Drawing people has opened the door to a new way of drawing for me, and it’s made me think about the way I draw in a different way. Everything I’ve learnt whilst drawing people has helped me grow as an artist, and I’m now able to take those new skills and apply them to my animal drawings. 

If you’d like to learn new, transferrable skills and start creating more dramatic and realistic drawings, you can sign up for the One Day Workshop here. 

That’s not all for my busy month. I also squeezed in a few new commissioned pieces, a couple of tutorials, lots of live sessions in the Academy and, would you believe it, I managed to get away from my studio for a week for a much-needed mini-break with my daughter in Cyprus. To hear all about it, click on the video at the top of this page.