After adding up all the time I spent daily on youtube, playing games, etc, I realized that instead I could have been creating art. Art is truly a time of peace and deep thought. So no matter what, make time for your craft.

I know this is really obvious and stuff, but it's very important to stay positive while you draw. Negativity can really effect your art.

When I was little I used to draw just lines and such, but sketching is much better. It's softer so you can erase better, and it looks better. TRY SKETCHING! :)

Each level of tone gets progressivly darker. Try to remember that you want to apply each layer lightly over the last. We are not trying to burnish the image nor blend the colours so much. You want to see some of the last colour under the last. You will find as you go along that the picture starts to get 'weight' and depth. Good Luck!

I have found that building tone backwards from light to dark works best. I like to do several layers in monochrome. Sort fo shade the whole face in one colour. Then I back it off a bit with a kneaded eraser. This helps the next layer stick better too. When I make a mistake I use a 'Pencil' Eraser. (It's actually a pencil, that you sharpen but it has a 2mil pink eraser core.) Not sure how well you can see this in my "Wally" WIPs, but I loaded them up just to have the visual step by step thing.

when drawing or any type of art work your need to have dedication. it is important that you have dedication because sometimes your mind is all over the place dedication will bring you to focus on your art work. Also dedication to your art work helps you do your best it brings out the best artist out of you.Dedication is key because it make you feel proud about what about to do or done.That is why dedication is one of the importance of art

All I do for the watermark is add a layer in photoshop. First choose any font and type the copyright sign. (Hold down the option key and type a lower case "g"). The color doesn't matter.

Then go to the effects at the bottom of the layers pane and click on bevel and emboss (8 pixels is good) and click OK.

Now go to the top of the layers pane and reduce the "fill" to "0". This will eliminate the color and leave only the effect.

You can change the size, change the font, add your name or do anything you would normally do with text because it is still text layer.

I have just posted a new demo showing how I draw fruit. It was published by Leisure Painter UK's art magazine. You can find it here: http://www.veronicawintersart.blogspot.com/

I know that this is not quite a tip in exercising your skills in colored pencil drawing BUT this is really important. It's vital to be positive creating and working on your art. Don't pay attention to obnoxious comments, keep working at it and it will come out. Learn from others, analyse beautiful art in terms of color, edges, light and contrast and understand what you like it about it to bring it into your art. I'm still learning myself and sometimes feel like I'm a beginner.http://www.veronicasart.com/Tutorials.shtml; http://www.youtube.com/veronicasart

I have found that tips that break frequently are a problem primarily when the leads are off-center in the pencil.

Check the bottom by rolling it on the counter. If it appears to wobble, it's off-center and you should choose another.