|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This is the most important post you will read all day! Please take 2 minutes to read + leave your thoughts in the comments below!
I'm sure we can all agree that we are our harshest critiques 
But what do we do when we put all of the pressure on ourselves and end up sucking out the joy from the learning process? Our words can directly influence whether we are motivated to keep learning or whether we give up because we think it's too hard and we aren't doing a good enough job. Keep in mind there's no benchmark when learning, no one standing over us telling us we must be perfect, no scorecard or timeline we have to learn everything by. All of that is coming from ourselves, inside. One of the most powerful things I heard about our inner speech that has stuck with me is when you find yourself saying it's too hard, or I can never do this, or it's not good enough is not to change the activity.. the activity is not the one at fault - our attitude is 
If you can learn to stop those thoughts and reframe them then you can take on anything you want to in life - changing your attitude changes your whole experience
So let's have a chat about how to do that when we are feeling down about our work!
But what do we do when we put all of the pressure on ourselves and end up sucking out the joy from the learning process? Our words can directly influence whether we are motivated to keep learning or whether we give up because we think it's too hard and we aren't doing a good enough job. Keep in mind there's no benchmark when learning, no one standing over us telling us we must be perfect, no scorecard or timeline we have to learn everything by. All of that is coming from ourselves, inside. One of the most powerful things I heard about our inner speech that has stuck with me is when you find yourself saying it's too hard, or I can never do this, or it's not good enough is not to change the activity.. the activity is not the one at fault - our attitude is If you can learn to stop those thoughts and reframe them then you can take on anything you want to in life - changing your attitude changes your whole experience So let's have a chat about how to do that when we are feeling down about our work!
STEP 1 - CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE So let's talk about how we critique our work - this is when we do some colouring, then we step back and look at how well we think we are doing. Firstly, it's important not to judge a half finished technique - it's always going to look a little wrong or stand out to you until your entire piece is finished. Resist that urge to keep restarting - it's not doing you any favours in learning and progressing with your colouring. If you are really unsure though, don't forget our classes always come with free private, one on one tutoring, so pop a photo over and we can chat about the next steps to help you feel more confident. Remember self-learning is such a small part of really mastering techniques - getting advice, non-emotional feedback, and tips on how to grow from people who have done it before is just as powerful as actually learning the steps. Don't be afraid to use this help - it will get you there faster and smarter.
.
Secondly comes how we speak about our work. When you've finished your colouring, or viewing during the process, change your perspective so you aren't looking in that upclose mode we use for colouring, 20 cm from our work. This is not how art is meant to be viewed. Hold your colouring at arms length, prop against a wall and take an actual step back - try to view the whole picture rather than just looking upclose for mistakes and errors. Try to train your eye to see the whole project like as if you were viewing a friend's colouring - don't point out to yourself the areas you don't love just yet. Changing our perspective to appreciate our work as a whole allows you to have a greater understanding of how techniques come together to create a finished piece, and allows little mistakes that no one is looking at, fade into the background.
.
STEP 2 - POSITIVE TALK FIRSTThe wording we use when we first look at our work is very important. Firstly we need to take the time to point out what we've done *right* - it's a step that is missed so often but it is crucial in critique, confidence, and motivation. I guarantee on every single colouring there is a lot of good, and that you've learned some new skills or refined some you've already had. that deserves celebrating. Try pointing out two things you feel you've done well or improved upon from last time - it shows you that you are learning and achieving each time you colour. Consider actually writing it down or saying it aloud - this gives the words more weight (sounds silly but it really works - it's proven that we accept things more when it's concrete through being spoken or written). When you share your colouring online, consider sharing these two things instead of just saying it's not perfect or pointing our what you feel isn't right, and notice how people's opinion of your work changes - we celebrate your achievements with you, but we look for mistakes if you point them out 
It's so much more empowering to acknowledge the growth you are having with every piece, and a piece doesn't need to be perfect for there to have been a good lesson involved.
STEP 3 - HOW TO HANDLE MISTAKES OR WHEN YOU DON'T LOVE THE FINISHED RESULT
It's so much more empowering to acknowledge the growth you are having with every piece, and a piece doesn't need to be perfect for there to have been a good lesson involved.STEP 3 - HOW TO HANDLE MISTAKES OR WHEN YOU DON'T LOVE THE FINISHED RESULTYou don't have to be inauthentically positive though - we learn from mistakes, but it's important that we aren't *negative* when looking at them. There's nothing *wrong* with a mistake - you haven't stuffed up, it's not "not perfect" - it's simply a learning opportunity. Take the emotion out of your critique and focus on what you could try differently, on the lesson, instead of the negative emotion behind it . eg. Instead of "I messed up the wings", "my fine lines are a mess", or "it's not perfect but...." try something like "next time I'm going to work on xxx to achieve xxx result". So this may read something like: I "next time I'm going to work on leaving more gaps between my strokes to emphasise texture". Notice that you've taken away that negative emotion so you haven't done anything "wrong"- but you are still learning on your colouring journey (as we all do).
.
A lot of people say they learn best from critique - but as you can see, there's a difference between saying something is not good enough and just reminding yourself that it's all a learning journey. There's no need with your Ego to interfere here - Ego is your expectation of yourself - and we need to train our ego to understand that it's unrealistic to expect to be perfect with our first efforts. The more we expect of ourselves, the more likely we are to have the true failure - giving up. The only time we fail is when we put something aside as you can't improve upon nothing - so work on taking away the pressure and emotion associated with creating and learning... it is just a fun activity with no pressure, no requirement to be perfect, and no expectation And remember, you aren't competing with the class sample or anyone else you may see sharing online. We all have different amounts of practice that you aren't seeing in the background - focus on your own growth, not that of others. Don't let that ego tell you you should be any further along than where you are right now - where you are is perfect.
STEP 4 - MAKE THIS PART OF YOUR ROUTINE
.
A lot of people say they learn best from critique - but as you can see, there's a difference between saying something is not good enough and just reminding yourself that it's all a learning journey. There's no need with your Ego to interfere here - Ego is your expectation of yourself - and we need to train our ego to understand that it's unrealistic to expect to be perfect with our first efforts. The more we expect of ourselves, the more likely we are to have the true failure - giving up. The only time we fail is when we put something aside as you can't improve upon nothing - so work on taking away the pressure and emotion associated with creating and learning... it is just a fun activity with no pressure, no requirement to be perfect, and no expectation
And remember, you aren't competing with the class sample or anyone else you may see sharing online. We all have different amounts of practice that you aren't seeing in the background - focus on your own growth, not that of others. Don't let that ego tell you you should be any further along than where you are right now - where you are is perfect.STEP 4 - MAKE THIS PART OF YOUR ROUTINE If you struggle with perfectionism or low confidence, try using a journal to record these steps so you can make this a part of your learning process. It will also help you log your colouring progress, helping you to easily flick back and see over time how you have progressed. Anytime you feel frustration flare up, pull yourself back to these steps and take the emotion out of it. Take three deep breaths and ask yourself - what have I learned from the mistake? What have I done well? Will it look different at the end? How can I improve upon this for next time? The more you train your mind to run through these questions, the more it will become second nature and help you not only in your colouring but in every day life aswell
I hope this may help some of you to assess the way you speak to yourself about your work. Don't let fear of mistakes or the pressures you place on yourself stand in your way of actually learning and enjoying your hobbies. You aren't in a competition with anyone, there's no need to rush to learn it all, and no need to give up on yourself if you dont'quite get there with today's practice. And always remember - you don't have to be great to start, but you do have to start to be great
***Don't forget to come and join us over in the class rooms at www.kitandclowder.com - we run through art therapy tips like this in every lesson + free classes, like our brand new Deer Colouring Class, available for absolutely everyone on the homepage! :)
Making a start is the number one thing you need to do to improve your colouring (after all, you can't improve upon nothing, right?), but then this right here is my second most important tip. When learning a new technique it's important to remember just that... that we are learning
:) The first time you try a new technique is going to be your worst attempt because you don't have practice or experience behind you. It's really important that we don't judge our first attempts - this includes your class work. Try not to go into a class thinking it needs to be a perfect finished project - classes are experiment time, troubleshooting, play time, practice time. A class should be about just learning new things, pushing yourself to be challenged, and embracing the mistakes that come along with this - see the lessons that they are teaching you. If you remember that learning is not about perfection but about growth then you can release any pressure and focus on the lesson not the project.
Too often I see people put colouring aside or give up when something is hard or they feel they've made a mistake. When we give ourselves permission to stop listening to the voice saying it's not good enough and just finish the colouring, we then have an opportunity to step back, and assess and appreciate the lessons behind what we've created. When we colour, we colour "up close" - and really scrutinise all the details and areas we don't love, however that's not how colouring is meant to be viewed. Consider Monet's impressionist work - upclose it is just blobs of paint on a canvas, but with space you see the bigger picture.
Giving ourselves some perspective by stepping back and seeing the picture as a whole helps to give the techniques some context - allows our eye to "see" what we are communicating. What was once a glaringly obvious mistake forms part of the bigger picture. And with any mistakes, the absolute worst case scenario is you've learned more about technique and how to tweak it for the result you want in the future. Make learning about the lessons, not about perfection. So even when you feel unsure, keep going and reserve critique until you can assess the picture as a whole, and even then make sure to celebrate each step on your journey, regardless of the finished result - as long as you are trying, you are growing
:) 
Want tips on your colouring? Our classes always come with free one on one private tutoring aswell so you can get real tips on how to grow your colouring (this is *not* done in our group here but instead done privately so we can chat one on one about tips personal to your work). **If you want to learn more, why not try out a free class this week over at www.kitandclowder.com - pictured classes here are the Mermaid Pencils Class and the Tropic Paradise Markers Class
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
Copic actually have their own method for creating blends using their numbering system. This is widely considered to be the most effective and easiest way to get started with your markers, and to help you show depth in your colouring. It uses the theories of Lightsource, and helps us show where light is hitting an object (lightest colour), vs. where the shadows are (darkest colour). So let's take a look below to help you feel more confident creating blends!
This information can be found again at any time on our website at www.kitandclowder.com via the Colouring FAQs tab, along with lots of other helpful info. Find Colour Blend charts under the Colour Blends tab.
Find you learn best doing rather than reading? I have some blending exercise sheets for you to fill in over in our free Markers 101 class here.
Copic created their numbering system to help us communicate Lightsource (light vs. shade) easily in our colouring. Lightsource is what gives objects depth - it shows where light comes down from a source (such as the sun or lights in a ceiling), and his the object, creating a highlight (light colour). We then have the midtone (the true colour of an object, neither affected by light or shade), and then the shadow (furthest from the light and represented by dark colours).
👉Second Number - MOST IMPORTANT
To help us communicate Lightsource, the most important number when looking at a marker is the SECOND number. The official Copic method for their markers is:
Markers ending between 0-3 are highlight colours,
Markers ending between 4-6 = midtone,
Markers ending between 7-9 = shadow.
When creating a blend, we want to try to have a minimum of 3 markers, each representing the highlight, midtone, or shadow.
👉First Number/Letter The letter is the Colour Family, which is broken down like a colour wheel - eg. B for Blue, BG = Blue Green, G = Green, YG = Yellow Green, Y = Yellow, YR = Yellow Red, R = Red, RV = Red Violet, V = Violet, BV = Blue Violet, E = Earth.
The first number is the tone of the colour - naturally, markers that are all the same tone go best together, so an example blend using the method we just discussed, would be b91, b95, b99 - all b90s so we know the tone will all be the same, and one highlight (b91), midtone (b95), and shadow (b99).
However! The more colours that are available in a run, the less gaps there are on your blending so the easier it is to get smooth. It's actually easier to blend with more markers. So Copic actually make b91, b93, b95, b97, b99. Less gaps between colours = easier to blend (see graphic below from my official Copic mat, showing their explanation of using more colours to achieve smoother blends).
When you go up in the first number, it doesn't necessarily mean that the marker is darker, but just that the tone is a little different. Eg. E21 is actually lighter than E11 - but it is slightly more yellow based. So we don't use this first number to determine what is darker or lighter than other markers.
👉You can mix and match the first number
So you can see, what is most important is that second number - the first number can be mixed and matched to create colour blends, so long as you are following the rule of highlight, midtone, and shadow. For example, g21, g94, g99 is one of my favourite olive green combos. There is no low g90 colour made though, but the g21 is quite a light olive pastel green. Coupled with the deeper grey green in the g90s it looks lovely. Sometimes I even like to add a little YG11 - this is a light yellow green and can really brighten the highlights. And notice we've got a highlight, midtone, and shadow colour with that second number - YG11, G21, G94, G99.
Sometimes some markers ending in the same number as others may be a little lighter or darker. It's a good idea to always test your blends first on a scrap sheet of blending card, or to fill in a blank colour chart so you can easily see which markers or lighter or darker straight away.
👉What if I want a light colour?
Sometimes I see people say they don't want to work with "contrast" though as they want a light colour blend. It's important to note that there is a difference between contrast to show shadows vs. a dark blend. Keep in mind a white piece of paper - if you hold something above it, it leaves a dark shadow across to show the distance between these two objects, however the paper is still white. Learning about lightsource and how to convery this is how we help our colouring look realistic. If we want a lighter blend, we still use lightsource, but keep the darker colours to the shadows only and increase the amount of the lighter colours used.
There's a lot of information here and a lot of this may be new to you. It's totally normal to feel overwhelmed when taking in new theories. Revisit, practice, and it will get easier every time you go over it. Ready to start colouring? Check out our FREE Markers 101 Class at www.kitandclowder.com - select Class Rooms, then Markers 101. This free class has video tutorials and exercise sheets covering lightsource, blending, shading, skin, hair, and more and is available to everyone.
Alyce x
FREE Birthday Digital Colouring Page!
:) You can grab the free Markers 101 or Wedding Rose class under the Class Rooms tab, and see our other classes under the Shop tab.
🎉HOW TO CLAIM🎉To claim your freebie head to www.kitandclowder.com/free and fill out the details! I'd love your help to share the post so everyone can grab this aswell - if you'd like to find a post to share on Facebook, you can click here. Thank you so much! Ends Sunday 25 March 2018. Enjoy! :)
PLUS New Freebies Tab on the Website!
I've also made a new freebies tab on the website for our free colouring classes so you can find them easily any time. You can find it right on the homepage below the current Monthly Colouring Class project.
Happy colouring everyone and remember if you get stuck on any aspect of your colouring, technology, or maybe even feeling a little nervous to start, that I am always here for you and one message away. Contact me any time for some private tutoring or help at alyce@kitandclowder.com.
Alyce xx
Hi everyone! I have a special surprise for you all! To celebrate reaching 10,000 members in our Facebook Group, I have prepared a FREE class for everyone called Markers 101! Learn all about the basics to getting started, lightsource, colour theory, blending, and more! :)
One of the big things here at Kit and Clowder is that we talk a lot about support and confidence. We sell Online Colouring Classes that take you right through from beginners to advanced and we do one on one feedback so that we can work together to help you feel more confident. We do always include Fundamentals training in our classes, however I notice that it is a common theme for people to be so afraid to fail that they don't even open their class or don't purchase one because they are afraid to make a mistake. This is not how I want you all to approach your hobby - I want you to feel empowered to be challenged, to try new things, and to have goals in your life. I am hoping this classwill help all of you to see that you *can do this* and that it is time to put aside the fears and be brave about learning new things :) A lot of the theories in this class would be great for pencil colourists aswell.
Even though our classes are usually paid (hehe our classes are BIG and take a LONG time to put together ;) ), I wanted to do this class for free so everyone could join in so there are no excuses not to learn :) All I would ask is that if you please help to spread the word about our classes and community <3 If you see someone that is new online, point them to the class, or take two minutes to pop up a blog post, or a facebook post. Anything like this would mean so much and enable us to keep growing and learning together :)
To claim your free class follow these steps:
- Please make sure you are a member here of the Kit and Clowder group if you are seeing this elsewhere :)
1 - go to our Online Class website www.kitandclowder.com
2 - click on Class Rooms
3 - Create an account or log in
4 - Select Markers 101 and click JOIN to add to your account.
*Please note our classes are always access forever and do at your own pace. Please make sure to read the entire homepage of the class for important faqs
*Please note our classes are always access forever and do at your own pace. Please make sure to read the entire homepage of the class for important faqs
*please please please consider sharing as a thank you for this free class :) a lot of time and love went in to making it <3
I hope you all enjoy!
