I think about colour all the time. As I write this, I have a box with a wide assortment of coloured pencils opened beside me; I’m not doing anything with the pencils at the moment, I just really enjoy staring at the variety of colours, the shades, the subtle changes from one hue to another. Just looking at them all gives me immense joy. I gravitate towards some shades more than others, though I’ve noticed that this changes all the time. Lately, I’ve been drawing lots of portraits, and I’ve naturally been drawn towards all the skin tones. Aside from black and white, I’ve also found that red is a constant in portraits, which got me thinking about the nature of red itself.

For a few years now, I’ve been considering colouring pencils for making artworks, though there tends to be something holding me back from using them when it comes to putting thoughts down. Part of me wonders whether this is to do with an unspoken yet still received prejudice against colouring pencils; perhaps they are seen as somewhat unsophisticated, simple, childish. It’s interesting to me that colouring pencils have been a mainstay of almost everyone’s artistic path since they were very young, though at some point, they get forgotten. Having done some research into quality pencils lately, and having embarked on a daily drawing challenge, my love for them has been reawakened, so much so that I decided to write about them!