Hi moonlight, did you buy a soft squishy rubber, too?  You pull pieces off to lift the charcoal from the paper.  I really love charcoal drawings and I bet you find using it so much easier than pencils.

That's a good price for the paints.  You only need the primaries, red, blue and yellow and white.  I know I said black before but buying say, burnt umber would be better.  Mixed with blue or red it makes a nice "dark" and is more useful than a tube of black.

I'll take a pic of a colour wheel later and you can print it off the puter if you like.  That way you can see how to make just about any colour you want.

I'm really looking forward to seeing your next drawings !

and some more from everyone else would be good too.......even the lurkers !!!! lol come on, have a go xx

still "thinking" about it soul.....slowly working up to it....

meanwhile I'm enjoying others efforts

Hi soul, I didn't see any squishy rubbers, but I think that I did see a pallet knife. 🙂 I didn't buy any tubes of acrylic, because I want to use what I've got first.

For the charcoal pencil, I wrap it in paper, and tie it with a rubber band to keep my hand clean.

Three Apples. Watercolour pencils. A5 size. 

No more fruit art(especially apples) for 2013, I promise. 🙂

hahaa, apples are one of the best things to start with moonlight.  When I take a pic of the colour wheel I'll also take one of the squishy rubber as it's something you will really need.

Some charcoal sticks are sold with the ends wrapped in alfoil, an idea for you.  They do break easily which is just part of using them. At least you don't need special paper, so it's a cheap way to start drawing.  I also like using the charcoal on brown paper,( just the cheap rolls) I glue it to a white sheet of sketching paper so there is a white border, looks quite effective.  When the drawing is finished give it a spray with hairspray to help stop it from smudging.  You can also buy white charcoal sticks/pencils for highlighting or use a white soft pastel/chalk.

I started a water colour yesterday and will do some more on it today, will post a pic when I've finished.

Have fun !

I am no artist lol but one of my friends is, she is quite a well known botanical artist, This is one of her works, the Gordonia came from my mother's garden and i watched the painting develop over time with great interest.

I think you're all very lucky to be able to paint

That's a beautiful painting Debra, your friend is very talented.  I've been trying to use the water colours to paint flowers in a "botanical" way and then go on to a looser, freer style which is more "me". One day I may suceed lol

She is Soul I love having a peek in her studio to see what flower sprigs she has sitting in water there 

she also teaches and some of her work gets used for wrapping paper, cards etc.

The Gordonia I think she needed for an exhibition in Sydney

A dream come true !

It's not easy to earn a living doing something you absolutely love....congratulations to your friend, her hard work is paying off.

Hi Soul.   I've started my painting!! will put up pics when it's finished (if I can!!! lol)