DRAWING GEMS

Drawing Beautiful Gems is easy and a lot of fun...lets get started!

*Paper...the smoother the better (in other words, not a textured surface like watercolor paper.)

*colored pencils

*pencil

*thin marker, I used a Sakura Micron O1

*very thin brush

*white paint......acrylic is preferable ( I am not at home with my plethora of art supplies, so I am borrowing from my grand children's art boxes)

lightly draw the shape of the gem with a pencil and a thin line (aura) around it.

Green is my favorite color so I decided to make an emerald.

I found 4 shades of green pencils, indigo white and charcoal grey.

I began with the lightest shade of green which in my case was apple green. I colored in the shape of my gem leaving a small white area. While I used the colored pencil I passed very lightly and worked in a swirly motion.

Next I added my 2nd shade of Green (I chose olive green) I started at the top of the gem (the area that will eventually be the darkest and worked my way towards the lightest shade but did not cover it completely.

Next I did the same with a slightly darker shade (I used peacock green) finally around the top area I added Dark Green.

I used the Indigo pencil to add contrast to the outside edges of the gem and a few cracks (I used the micron to enhance the cracks)

Next I used the white pencil to smooth and blend the colors of my gem being careful not to smudge the cracks too much. Later you can always add a bit more crack lines if necessary.

The final step is to add the white highlight in the shadow area (or darkest area of the gem) little line are best try not to get too heavy handed.

I'm sure by now your Gem is beautiful, however, it is fun to design a setting. I used the charcoal grey pencil to add depth to the area around the gem and make it pop. Next using the thin black line I added detail to create a fancy setting for my emerald.

Use different combinations of colored pencils to create many GEMS.