Between running my own art contest and making entries into not one, not two, but THREE art contests, I'm beginning to feel a little... contested-out.

That being said, I really enjoyed creating this drawing for @bodyscape's Nude Art Drawing Contest. As many of my followers know by now, I've been focusing a lot on figure drawing for the past two months, so I jumped at the chance to get more practice with this contest.

This is my submission:

Waiting

Coloured Pencil and Ink on Paper
9" by 12"
February 6, 2018

I've been trying to force myself out of my comfort zone with my art recently. I was uncomfortable with figures, so I went on a figure drawing binge. I'm also uncomfortable with colour. I usually draw black and white... plain ol' pencil on paper. But I wanted to challenge myself to use colour for this piece. I hope you like the results.

You can see my process below.

Step 1: Sketch

First I made a quick sketch of the main lines of the figure, including blocking the shadows. The drawing is based off of this photo. I tried to remain true to the original as much as I could.

Step 2: Colour Blocking

Next, I chose my main colours and blocked off their respective sections on the drawing.

Step 3: First Colour Pass

This step is pretty self-explanatory. I lightly coloured in all the blocked sections.

Step 4: Colouring

Next came the real colouring. I like to colour hard to get deep, vibrant colours and a smooth texture. This is going to make my carpal tunnel is come back...

Step 5: Outline

Using a fine-point ink pen, I outlined the figure and a box around her. This step was done to prepare for the final stage...

Step 6: Inking

Using a wide marker, I carefully filled the background black.

That's my entry! Thanks for looking and reading.

~Seth

I am so impressed! Thank you for your contribution to my contest!

No problem! It was fun. I'm glad you like it :)

This is great! The colors look so rich and lively. I must agree with you about being uncomfortable with color. Most of my drawings are purely in pencil and I think that gives me a better control to the shading and blending. Since I have little experience, I struggle a lot with coloring and trying to make them smooth and nice.

However, just like you, all my last drawings have been full of color as a way to overcome my limits. Even when I still have a long way to go, I'm starting to feel better day by day. We have, as you said, to challenge ourselves.

It is beautiful sunset impression from tis nude!

That's really rather gorgeous. <3

Love the colours and shading!

all I can say is WOW! I never get those vivid colors when i'm working with pencil, almost looks like its viewed through a heat vision camera.

Thanks so much. It really hurts the wrist to get colours like this though... haha

you are so good this is an amazing picture

That is amazing. I initially thought it was an effect on a photo.

Then I guess I did my job well! Thank you so much.

looks like infrared-captured photos 👏

While that wasn't my intention, I can definitely see it.

"Waiting" - My Entry to @bodyscape's Nude Art Drawing Contest