How to learn to color beautifully with colored pencils. ABC coloring book purpose of compiling a manual - document

When a baby picks up pencils or a brush and paints, it always causes emotion and delight in parents. Many mothers and fathers treasure their first “paintings” with care and affection all their lives. But the baby’s drawings often raise a lot of questions from relatives who have heard at least something about psychological “color” testing. Especially often, concerned parents wonder why the baby paints the world in black and what does it mean?

Color selection

The color test, developed by Dr. Max Luscher, is a method for diagnosing the psychophysical state of a person. It is based on color preferences. By what color the subject chooses as his favorite, one can determine the level of his stress resistance, mental condition at this point in life, activity, ability to make contacts and even preferences in vocational guidance. Luscher argued that the choice of color is our “unconscious”, and his diagnostic method is “deep”, that is, coming from the subconscious, and therefore the most accurate.

A child’s drawings can tell a lot about his psycho-emotional state

Peculiarities of color perception in children

Max Luscher is, of course, an outstanding psychologist, and the test he invented today is one of the most important for professional testing of the military, police officers, etc. But is it applicable to children? How reliable will the results be if Dr. Luscher’s method is used to analyze children's drawing?

Let's start with the fact that children see the world a little differently. A newborn does not distinguish colors at all; he perceives only contrasting combinations - black - white, for example. From 6 weeks to 2 months of age, the baby begins to see the outlines of objects and its first color - red. Gradually he becomes able to perceive other bright colors. By the age of 3, the baby can perfectly distinguish blue, green, yellow, and at 3.5 years - black, gray, brown.

But neither at 1 year, nor at 2, nor at 3, does your baby purposefully choose paint when drawing. In other words, the child does not care at all what color to paint the house, car or portrait of his mother, as long as the paint is contrasting with the sheet of paper. What color is best seen on white? Right! Black!

The baby begins to change his attitude towards the choice of color by the age of 4. Then he himself strives to paint in red, blue, green and yellow.

Therefore drawing black paint until a certain time, it should not alarm parents and cause them concern. And the Luscher test is practically inapplicable to children’s drawings. Psychologists recommend starting color testing by age 8. After all, a child’s final “color vision” of the world around him is formed at approximately 8-10 years of age.

Causes

Not even the most brilliant psychologist will undertake to diagnose any problems of a psychological or worse psychiatric nature in a child based solely on a drawing. All experts know that a more or less clear picture can only be created by combining several methods: the Luscher test and conversation - description, For example. One child's drawing with black paint is not enough; he must tell what and why he depicted.

What could be the reasons for a healthy child to paint pictures in black colors?

• Crisis 3 years. At this age, kids begin to show incredible stubbornness, denial and even negativism. If the baby has previously noticed that his work with black paint does not delight his mother, puzzles or even frightens her, he may decide for himself that his mother does not like this color. Then he will deliberately paint the picture black.
• Onset of illness or inclement weather. Children from 1 to 5 years old have a very developed sensory sphere. But not everything a child can express with words, as adults do. If a child feels that he is starting to get sick, he is feeling unwell, he, without really understanding what is happening, can begin to express his well-being in a drawing. And if outside the window there is dirt, slush, and gray, black, brown colors, then he can simply depict everything as it is - dirty, black, gloomy. Neither in the case of an onset of illness, nor in the case of a reaction to the weather, can one speak of disturbances in the psycho-emotional sphere in a child if he draws in mourning tones.

• Developed imagination. Often children, when drawing, spiritualize the picture. They sincerely believe that the pictured house is the real one, or that something can be stored in the pictured box. If a child paints a picture with black paint, he is probably trying to hide something in a house or box. To understand this, just ask him, what is hidden behind the blackness? For a child, it is not the color that matters, but the informative content of his picture.
• Dark clothes. Kids, for whom their mothers buy practical dark things that are less likely to get dirty, most often depict the world in black in their drawings. Why is this happening? It’s just that they love to draw in black, because they are used to associating themselves with the dark, and for the little one, drawing is a part of themselves. By the way, psychologists say that children whose wardrobe is dominated by dark colors get sick more often than their brightly dressed peers. There is only one recommendation here - change the color of your child’s clothes, and the overall tone of his artistic delights will certainly become brighter.

A child's dark clothes can negatively affect his health and mood.

When to start sounding the alarm?

• If, in addition to drawings with black paint, the child demonstrates other strange behavior. For example, a son or daughter draws “blackness”, and at the same time has almost no contact with peers, adults (except for parents), suffers from nightmares, and shows aggression towards animals and people.
• If your child is already 10 years old and continues to draw with black paint, this may indicate psychological disorders.
• If aggressive subjects predominate in a child’s drawings, war, killed people, faces crossed out in black, a repeating combination of black and red colors.
• If a child always draws bright pictures, and after some certain unpleasant situations in life he began to use only black in his work, this may be a manifestation of post-stress syndrome.

A child’s drawings that contain negativity may indicate stress.

Psychologist's opinion

Each child's drawing, like its author, is unique and inimitable. It is impossible to “comb” all children with the same brush. Adults must understand that there are no good or bad flowers in the world. These are just colors. A combination of factors matters. To understand why a child draws this or that, it is important to know in what mood he picked up the pencils, what he thinks about at the moment of creating the drawing, and how he feels.

Often, “smart” and “educated” psychologists with “numerous recommendations” try to conduct color tests in kindergartens. If I had my way, I would prohibit such experiments at the legislative level. Because everyone who studied developmental psychology at the university knows that testing preschoolers using the same Luscher method is uninformative. And even more so, draw some negative conclusions based on the black and white creativity of a preschooler!

For a video consultation with a psychologist about why the drawing is drawn in black, see below:

The only acceptable diagnosis based on drawing has the right to exist in preparation for school. School psychologist might ask a six-year-old child to draw his family, for example, or himself. And the conclusion will be strictly limited - whether the baby can draw proportionally, and whether his hand is well developed for subsequent writing. And no “paints in black - that means he’s a maniac!”

If a child draws his mother in black, himself, his cat Vaska and his neighbor Aunt Katya and at the same time remains a cheerful and positive child, loves his mother and cat, is not afraid of his neighbor, there is nothing wrong, as we have already found out. He just likes it better that way. But if the baby has a conflict with one of the family members, and he begins to portray this particular person as black, you should seek advice from child psychologist or an art therapist.

In most cases, the child draws in black because he likes it that way.

How to find out what the child meant when creating a black picture? Yes, very simple. Ask him in detail about the plot of the drawing. Find out who, why and why are depicted on it. Ask suggestive questions so that the child can formulate thoughts more specifically. And if the child is able to tell, then there is no need to worry about the unconscious choice of black paint.

However, if your child starts drawing black after some kind of stress, do not rush to classify him as a depressed, suffering person. Drawing for a child - a way out internal energy. It is possible that after a few days the gamma will change to brighter. If the “dark period” in creativity dragged on, and physical signs if the baby is unwell, consult with specialists. They are using additional techniques will be able to find out what happened and how to help the young artist.

Watch the video in which a psychologist expressed one of his opinions about why a child can draw in black:

Coloring books for adults are very popular these days. In the store you can find a book of any subject, for every taste, and spend the evening coloring incredible patterns or animals, creating your own unique world. It’s easy and simple; anyone who doesn’t know how to draw at all, but is passionate about it, can do this activity. How your picture turns out depends on your mood. You endure everything inner world: emotions, feelings and thoughts on paper. There is no special rules. By coloring pictures, your own or from a book, you heal your soul, help yourself cope with the experiences and stress that have accumulated during the day. But if you want to improve the whole picture, then we can give you some tips.

1. Focus your attention not only on color, but also on texture.

When it comes to coloring, think about all aspects of the page. “Some people like to color even the smallest details of a drawing,” says Millie Marotta, author of Animal Kingdom and Tropical Wonderland, “while others like to cover a large area of ​​the drawing with one color and paint the details separately. But they all allow the lines to work through color - there will be color there, but underneath there will be texture...”

When it comes to illustration, you don't have to have color scheme in my head. But you can imagine how someone else would color this drawing and in what way this could be done. There is no need to think about uniqueness, if you take the same coloring book, then everyone will color it in their own way, some will even complement the drawing with their own details, and the finished works will be absolutely different from each other, even with the same basic drawing, they will all be be perceived as different. Think about details where you can add more variety with color. It is the details that make a drawing beautiful. Some area may combine several colors, but somewhere there will be no color at all, and perhaps the boundaries of the color will not coincide with the boundaries of the picture, inviting the imagination to go beyond the picture and dream up.

3. Add something of your own to the main drawing.

For example, Millie Marotta in her coloring books tries to offer different drawings. To the very detailed ones that occupy the entire page, she also adds less drawn ones with large empty spaces around the coloring pages precisely in order to stimulate the imagination, to encourage one to add their own details or texture to the drawing.

4. Pencil - The best decision !

A pencil is the most versatile item. With a pencil you can draw different textures, you can mix colors, from one green pencil, for example, you can take up to 20 different shades, which you can’t do with markers or pens, and they won’t spread like paint, the pencil can be shaded, you can achieve different effects by placing the pencil at different angles, not to mention that there is watercolor pencils, which are blurred by water and a watercolor effect is obtained.

With markers maybe more problems than the pleasure of using them. If you decide to draw with markers, you must be careful. Markers can be filled with fairly “heavy ink” that can overlap the texture, bleed through the page and stain the next drawing, and can mix at the borders to form dirt. The drawing may turn out dark and not beautiful. It is better to use colored capillary pens after the drawing is completed to draw in details. this will make the drawing more pronounced and bright. If you only draw with markers or pens, then to begin with it is better to use one or two, maximum three colors.

6. Although... it depends how heavy your hand is.

The effect you can achieve using markers or pens really depends on the drawing techniques of different people. Some people have such a light touch that they have no problem using markers or pens. Others have a “heavier” hand and often the ink begins to “bleed” through the page or a shadow appears on the other side of the sheet. There are many examples of incredible pen paintings. It all depends on your desire and skill.

Nowadays you can find a variety of coloring books, divided by topic. Many authors present us with their illustrations for coloring. Some people gravitate toward drawing birds, some like flowers, and some like cars... For example, M. Marota studied wildlife and traveled to wild reserves to study it, so her illustrations are filled with nature and birds. Choose a topic that is close to you for creativity.

8. Choose “your” style.

This point follows naturally from the previous one. Choose what is closest to you not only in topic, but also in style. Different authors present, for example, the same flowers in different ways. Each illustrator has his own style. All you have to do is choose what is closest to your heart - curves fairy houses or the houses of a modern metropolis with strict lines, realistic animals or patterns, a contour that forms the image of an animal.

9. Because pictures in books are a reflection of the inner world.

This is not a case of adapting existing illustrations for coloring. Many artists create illustrations for coloring, they try to make the drawings different, different forms. So that you open a book with cats and find a dozen different cats for every taste and you don’t get bored and this interest remains until the end of the book. Therefore, flip through the book before purchasing, make sure that it is not the same cat from different angles (yes, there are such books), but many different drawings.

10. You can take your favorite animal for coloring.

It is no coincidence that psychologists say that people often resemble one or another animal and, depending on this, can make psychological picture. There are many tests involving animals. So why not call them to help you. The image of your favorite animal can stimulate your imagination and create a completely unusual picture, which you can even hang in a frame and it will continue to inspire you.

You can often find on the first page a set of tools that you may need for work. Don't pay too much attention to it. Improvise, try something different and, quite possibly, the result will be much better! It is important to find the “right” brand. You can take a very expensive pencil and it will draw poorly, because it is too hard or the pigment it contains will not stick to this particular paper, but you can take the most inexpensive one and get a wonderful drawing! Choose pencils and other tools according to how comfortable it is for you to work with them, and not according to their purpose and price.

Mixing different materials It has incredible effect. People using watercolor can add a thin wash of watercolor or pastel to even out the background color. They can fill in the details with pens or pencils once the drawing is finished.

You don't have to stick to just one material. You can create a piece that is completed using a mixture of materials.

Many people choose colors from a certain color palette, and only works with them. They could give themselves a theme. For example, use only autumn colors or summer colors. I think such preferences limit the possibilities. Some people simply choose a calming, harmonious color, or only warm colors or only cool colors.

You can create a very effective image by using a monochrome palette and painting the image with one color. Can be found beautiful paintings, drawn using 20 or 30 shades of the same color, such as blue. Thus, drawing in one color does not mean using one pencil. It can be three or four pencils, with which you can create a truly spectacular image.

In terms of inspiration, it would be great to share work through social networks with other people. Because you don’t just exchange photos, but also tips on drawing techniques, ideas, find new tools to implement your ideas, discover new brands of pencils or pens, learn about other books on your topic, etc.

You don't have to worry about whether you're doing everything right or not. It's just a game. You are simply drawing, it is an activity that should bring you joy and relieve stress and anxiety. You don't have to worry.

If you're thinking, "Oh, huge empty place here, what do I need to fill it?…. I only have this thin one small pencil….. “then stop, try to throw away these thoughts, just draw, don’t think about the result, don’t make a drawing plan.

17. Enjoy!

Play with the design, choose colors, don’t be afraid to ruin it. Even if it doesn’t turn out what you wanted, it’s experience, your experience, which will tell you how to do better next time. Just enjoy the process. And don't forget that different people have different perceptions. You won't think the result is good, but someone may be delighted with it.

4. Pencil is the best solution! 6. Although... it depends how heavy your hand is. 8. Choose “your” style 8. Choose “your” style 9. Because the pictures in books are a reflection of the inner world.

based on materials Ailbhe Malone BuzzFeed Staff, UK

Learning how to color correctly with colored and regular pencils

Advice! When artists draw at a table (on a horizontal plane), they always place a sheet of clean paper under their hand - a “Background”. The backing allows you to avoid “rubbing” the paper and protects the finished part of the drawing.

Lesson two:
HATCHING AND SHADING
Two main technical methods for toning drawings.
Hatching is the application of strokes (lines) of varying thickness and with varying pressure at a certain distance from each other. The lines can be straight or curved, short or long, overlapping each other in several layers at different angles, forming a grid.

In order for the hand to obediently apply strokes in the right direction and with a certain amount of pressure, the hand must be trained! Developing hand firmness, strength and timing of pressure requires many hours of exercise!
Let's do a few exercises to get the hang of it basic technology drawing - tinting with pencil. Don't be upset if it doesn't turn out very nice the first time. A little patience and you will see the result yourself!

EXERCISE 1. GENERAL HATCHING
Take a sheet of landscape-size paper, a simple TM or HB pencil and draw 4 rectangles “by hand” (without a ruler).

EXERCISE 2. HATCHING WITH DIFFERENT GRADES
Let's draw two (or more!) rectangles.
Learning to make strokes with different pressures
Press firmly at the beginning of the stroke and very lightly (almost without touching the pencil to the paper) at the end.
And now so that the strokes smoothly intensify and then also smoothly weaken and come to naught.

We hold the pencil in our hand freely, as if making swings. At the same time, your wrist should work very well.
The lines must be drawn without lifting the pencil from the paper!
The sheet must not be rotated!
Don't forget to maintain equal (or proportional) distances between the lines!
EXERCISE 3. SMOOTH INCREASE OF GRADES
Shade the long rectangle, evenly thickening the tone from light to dark.
Try to achieve its maximum even gain.

These techniques can be used individually or together.
When practicing or drawing, try to avoid mechanical shading or shading. Always think about the nature of the surface, shape and volume of objects.
It is necessary to learn how to correctly convey chiaroscuro and gradations of light and shadow of colored objects in a drawing.
By shading a drawing with a pencil, develop a sense of tonal relationships and skill
see the power of shadow and contrast relationships in shading. Using the shading technique, try to convey the texture of the surface in the drawing.

Often you come across shots where they draw not with a simple pencil, but with a red and blue pencil. I puzzled over why this was so for a long time, because it’s not just because I like it! I found a plus for myself that the blue-red sketch makes it possible to separate the stages/layers of the drawing. And recently it turned out that there are a couple more explanations.

Firstly, the lead of a colored pencil contains more wax, therefore it draws softer and smoother, oddly enough. Prismacolor produces special colored pencils instead of regular ones and not only blue ones. You need to look for Col-Erase Erasable Pencil 1276 Blue or the desired color. They are erased with a regular eraser at the end.

There are also specifically blue ones, for example, here are a couple of examples.

Secondly, if you draw in blue, and outline “completely” with black on top and photocopy the drawing, the blue lines will simply disappear and only a black outline will remain.

I use a regular double-sided red-blue pencil from Erich Crause, it’s really convenient, I recommend trying it.

UPD: An important addition about scanning suggested why she Thanks a lot. There may be a situation where the scanned image may be very high contrast to remove the blue color. This is not always cool and you can easily get rid of blue lines after scanning by turning off the blue channel. Please note that this method is not suitable for color drawings, because in this case you will simply remove all blue colors and shades.