It has been a little while and I have been quite busy.....however I thought that I would share a quick lesson from one of my projects. There are some things that have been taught to me and there are other things that I have learned by doing. I personally learn the strongest by doing. I am a tactile learner. However, I also have learned the more I use all of the senses that I can the better i learn something.
In the Picture above you will notice that I have a basic skeleton drawn lightly on the page. You will also notice that I have already put some color down in a layering process. I usually go from light to dark. However in this case I have noticed that sometimes it is beneficial to add the darks right away.
For instance....notice the bottom side of the boat in the above picture. I have gone ahead and drawn the darkest lines possible where the shadows are. In the original picture there is a reflection of blue water on this side of the boat. As I observe the original picture I notice that the black slowly fades into indigo blue then marine blue, then true blue, then sky blue. Typically I would layer from light to dark. But, in this instance I thought of something: If one draws a darker color of the lighter the lighter colors value is zero. But, If I color the lighter color blue it creates a kind of a half shade on top of the black creating a slower movement through out the spectrum of the color blue. And since I am in need of a slow smooth transition this is perfect. This seems to work well with color pencil as it has a waxy translucent finish.
Give it a try with a shadow that you find somewhere. You might be surprised what happens!
In the Picture above you will notice that I have a basic skeleton drawn lightly on the page. You will also notice that I have already put some color down in a layering process. I usually go from light to dark. However in this case I have noticed that sometimes it is beneficial to add the darks right away. 
For instance....notice the bottom side of the boat in the above picture. I have gone ahead and drawn the darkest lines possible where the shadows are. In the original picture there is a reflection of blue water on this side of the boat. As I observe the original picture I notice that the black slowly fades into indigo blue then marine blue, then true blue, then sky blue. Typically I would layer from light to dark. But, in this instance I thought of something: If one draws a darker color of the lighter the lighter colors value is zero. But, If I color the lighter color blue it creates a kind of a half shade on top of the black creating a slower movement through out the spectrum of the color blue. And since I am in need of a slow smooth transition this is perfect. This seems to work well with color pencil as it has a waxy translucent finish.
Give it a try with a shadow that you find somewhere. You might be surprised what happens!
