Trust the Process – Conquering the Ugly Phase

Working in coloured pencil is not a quick way to create realistic art and can lead to frustration in new artists. I often hear of artists giving up on a drawing as it doesn’t look how they want it too and it ends up in the bin. Chances are though they’re still in the early stages of the process and are in the dreaded “ugly phase” and just need to keep working to get that finished look. This is where you need to “trust the process” a phrase you’ll often hear me say, especially if you’ve had a go at my recent tutorial that I wrote about in my last blog post (read about it here if you haven’t already!)

Of course, you don’t have to use coloured pencils to create realistic art, they can be used to create works that are looser and they’re fantastic for sketching. But if you want that polished realistic look, you must be prepared to keep building up those layers with the pencils, and those first layers can look scribbly and patchy until you build up that pigment on your chosen surface. The surface you choose may make a difference, not just the type of surface but also the colour.

The first few layers don't fill in the tooth of the Pastelmat, this shows up more on white

My two go to surfaces are hot pressed watercolour paper and Clairefontaine Pastelmat. The smoother surface of the watercolour paper means that it takes less layers, but you can still expect the first layers to look bad. This is due in part to the colour of the paper. I find that white increases the length of that dreaded ugly phase, which is amplified if you use a “toothier” surface such as Pastelmat. Using a mid-tone shade of Pastelmat can help lessen that spotty look of the tooth showing through the light layers of pencil, as there’s usually less contrast with the subject you’re drawing and can speed up the process. If you choose a colour that’s too close to your subject though it can be difficult to see where your pencil strokes are going down, which I found out to my cost when I drew a lion on the sand colour Pastelmat!

Drawing a lion on lion coloured Pastelmat made it hard to see where some of my pencil strokes were going!

There are a few other tricks you can use to speed up the ugly phase, which are especially useful when using Pastelmat. There are various techniques you can use to create an underpainting. Two methods I’ve tried are to use watercolour pencils or PanPastels, which starts to fill in the tooth more quickly than just using coloured pencils but can look REALLY ugly. Another way that works very well for more natural subjects is to do the first layer or two using Derwent Drawing pencils, which have a chunkier core and go down faster. The limited colour range isn’t suited to brightly coloured subjects though. The new range of Neoart wax oil pastels from Caran d’Ache are an interesting option that might work, but so far, I’ve resisted the urge to splurge!

This Drawing of Jake the German Shepherd was done with a PanPastel underpainting, which gives him a softer look

The main point in any type of art is to TRUST THE PROCESS, just keep working through the ugly phase and chances are it’ll turn out fine. If not, then treat it as a learning exercise and try something different next time – nothing is learned by giving up! With time and experience you'll find that trusting the process is worth doing, and it's all part of creating art with coloured pencils.

As a fun little exercise, I created a “Trust the Process” mug and pencil tin, just in case anyone needs reminding – after all, who can work without coffee or tea?! Both are available from my Folksy shop, which you can find here,

A pencil tin with colourful trust the process design