Can’t decide what I like more – Wendy’s polished colored pencil or expressive stroke work in pastel. Would love to see either of the two in person, but it is a long haul from here to New Mexico.

Wendy Blackwell – fine art pastels and art in colored pencil

Two blogs by colored pencil artist Leslie Hawes I ran into today: Leslie’s Drawing A Day for her daily art for sale and Leslie’s Art Blog where she posts step by steps for her small lovely pieces. Real pleasure to browse through both.

Leslie Hawes – Carrickfergus, 4.5 x 6.5, Derwent Artists colored pencils on dark taupe colored Alphamat

Since oil pastel is my newly found favorite medium (going back to it after an almost 6 year break), the title of Tanya’s blog caught my attention. She works primarily in oil pastel, but her acrylic and colored pencil works are just as delightful.

Tanya’s Charming Critters – oil pastel paintings

Patricia the rat drinking baileys on a quiet night out
Coloured pencil on black card, 2.5 x 3.5 inches (ACEO)

Colored Pencil: The Only 4 Tips You Really Need

All four tips are what works wonderfully for me: work slow, keep your pencils sharp (and may I add, if you don’t need sharp use Prismacolor art sticks), layer colors, work on colored paper. And the author is a Prismacolor person too

It’s a very simple tutorial, but the final image is charming: Colored Pencil: techniques & tutorial

Art from the Heart by Cara Bevan is a blog by a very talented artist who is only 20. Her stories that accompany pet portraits, wildlife paintings, and Zodiac series show that she’s a gifted writer too, but more importantly, they convey the passion that Cara has for her subjects. There is a great question at the bottom of the blog: “If art isn’t from the heart, then is it art at all?”