Drawing is my new hobby.
Three months ago, I suddenly found myself with free time on my hands. Heeding the advice of my other half, I have picked up a new pursuit: one that satisfies three basic requirements. It relaxes me, promotes self-development, and can be done alone. If these three requirements are met, there is a possibility that the hobby could be a long-term or even life-long activity. My hobbies exploration record hasn’t been that positive in recent years.
How to Start My New Hobby
How do I get started on drawing? The basic drawing materials are already available at home—a Clairefontaine sketchbook and a set of Faber-Castell pencils. My husband bought them more than a year ago for himself. Unfortunately for him, he did not venture further than the first page after attempting to sketch his foot. Hence, I decided to take over the unloved sketchbook.
What to Draw
Around the time that I decided to dabble in drawing, I noticed some art tutorial posts on my Facebook. No idea how FB knows about my new hobby—must be the workings of Big Brother. These posts break down the different steps in producing childlike drawings of people, animals and objects. The drawing usually starts by using a number or an alphabet. For instance, you can draw a cute panda leaning against bamboo, starting with the number “9”. Another example is drawing a smiley dog by starting with “r”. My doodles from these tutorials always brought me instant gratification. There was the aesthetic aspect (my art standard is not that high, huh?), and the knowledge that these drawings were produced from my own hand.
For the first couple of weeks, I just followed these tutorials, duplicating drawings with just a pencil. Soon after, I tried my hand at portrait drawing based on photos of my family. Unsurprisingly, the portraits did not bear any resemblance to my family members.
Art Supplies
I wanted to add colours to my drawings. The simplest method seemed to be plain colour pencils. But through YouTube binging, I discovered watercolour pencils instead: you draw with them, then activate the pigment with a wet brush for a watercolour effect! After making marks on the paper with the pencils, you can paint by using a wet brush on the marks. The pigment is “activated” by the water and you can start watercolour painting! In the beginning, I thought that the combination of water and colour pencils had to be a recent invention. When I was a kid, I took art lessons for a few years. I experimented with various art materials, but never watercolour pencils. However, a quick search on the all-knowing Internet showed that my assumption was wrong. The tool was actually developed as early as the 1930s!
First Purchase
The discovery of watercolour pencils prompted my first art-supplies purchase, from Gibert Joseph, a local bookstore. It included a box of 18 watercolour pencils from Swiss Caran d’Ache and an A4-sized French Canson sketchbook for watercolour painting. Also in the bag: a set of 5 basic paint brushes. I wasn’t aware of how not-cheap basic art materials could be until I got to the cashier: €38! Having been the beneficiary of art lessons as a kid, I understand that certain art supplies—like oil painting materials—can be expensive. But €38 for 18 watercolour pencils (albeit Swiss), paper (albeit French) and 5 nondescript brushes! To comfort myself, I assured myself that these supplies might be the only ones I needed. They would, I told myself, last a while. Compared to my photography gear, €38 was just a drop in the ocean.
Second Purchase
My second purchase came just four days after. I was thinking of getting myself a box of classic colour pencils for simple sketches and colouring, not painting. In this way, I could save the pricier watercolour pencils for watercolour painting only. Having seen many artists on YouTube using markers to outline their subjects, I decided to get some too. The markers should be relatively cheap. With a click on Amazon and a €31 dent in my credit card, I ordered a box of 36 Faber-Castell colour pencils and a set of 10 Staedtler felt-tip pens. They arrived in my letterbox in no time.
What have I drawn with all these art supplies? I have already spent about €70 on my new hobby in less than a month. Will my drawing enthusiasm fizzle out soon? Will I make more art supplies purchases? Wait for my next article!