Easter Chick Art – Draw Step by Step!
Let’s draw more than just a little chick—let’s create Easter chick art! By adding details bit by bit, you can turn even a small drawing into a picture full of atmosphere.
You only need colored pencils and paper. My drawing is about 10 x 14 cm (4 x 5,5 inches).
Step 1 – The Shape of the Chick
Color two circles that blend into each other.
Step 2 – Features of the Chick
Use a darker color to add shadows so that the head and the body are distinct from each other. Then, add the eye and the beak.
Step 3 – The Chick’s Legs
Draw large legs that attach to the body at an angle.
Step 4 – Decorations
Get creative and decorate your chick! Notice that decorations can extend outside the body. For example, I added a bow.
If you draw an Easter egg under the chick, sketch it at this stage. This way, you can add decorations so the chick looks balanced on top of the egg.
Step 5 – The Egg
Color the Easter egg. Use your imagination – what happens to the egg when the chick stands on it? My egg has opened, and hearts are bursting out into the air.
Rotate the paper to adjust the shape of the egg.
Step 6 – The Background
Add decorations, grass, and colorful lights to the background.
Keep the background light so the chick stands out. Color lightly and soften the colors with white and light gray.
Continuity helps create a balanced look. In my drawing, the rainbow in the background continues on the other side.
Step 7 – Finishing Your Easter Chick Art
Spend some time finishing your drawing. Color carefully to ensure full coverage where needed so that the chick’s colors are bright and no paper shows through near the outlines.
Hearts and Stories!
I like drawing hearts. They are so simple and direct, yet they make the drawing feel warm-hearted. I also have a course about them: Hearts and Stories!
Let’s keep drawing!
I Did the Same Drawing Twice!
I rarely sketch my drawings beforehand, but this time I wanted to try something different: creating the same piece twice and recording the process.
The first version was done freely with watercolor pencils. The second was a study of the first, but created using traditional colored pencils. These drawings have many kinds of flowers, including roses and tulips, but I don’t think you always have to know which real flower you are creating; you can have fantasy flowers as well.
Same Drawing Twice – Watch the Video!
When I began the first one, I didn’t have a reference or a model. I simply decided to draw flowers. Watch the video to see how it went!
Which Was Faster?
Both of the drawings took me about the same time—around two hours each. Watercolor pencils are definitely faster for covering the paper, but since I was starting from scratch with the first one, I had a lot of puzzles to solve with the composition and the overall mood. With the regular colored pencils, the process itself was much slower, but since I was just following my first drawing, it didn’t take nearly as much mental energy.
I hope the video inspired you to pick up your colored pencils! I am also curious to know: Have you ever tried an experiment like this?
Try Intuitive Coloring for a simple start to coloring freely, or explore Joyful Coloring if you’re into watercolor pencils. And for those looking to combine watercolors and colored pencils, check out Freely Grown!
Colored Pencil Tutorial “Limitless World”
This week, I have a step-by-step colored pencil tutorial for you. It’s called Limitless World. We color without outlines and end up with something that is partly realistic and yet more creative and limitless than any traditional drawing.
Supplies
This tutorial uses regular colored pencils, but feel free to try it with watercolor pencils, watercolors, or any media that can be layered. Choose the paper that goes with your supplies and is durable. I used Fabriano Accademia Drawing Paper (200 gsm/94 lbs). You can create the drawing in any size, but my piece is A4.
Introduction to The Colored Pencil Tutorial
You might be familiar with the work of Hilma af Klint. She is a wonderful example of how our inner world and intuition can guide the hand. Her art has been the main inspiration for my course Mystical Minis. In this project, however, we reach from the inner to the outer world—making the outer look limitless, too.
Before you start reading the step-by-step tutorial, watch a 5-minute introduction where I tell more about the project.
I hope you enjoy this colored pencil tutorial. Let’s start!
Step 1 – White Shapes
Pick any color. Create abstract white shapes by coloring the background.
Press fairly lightly. We will add more layers over the background.
Make sure you have a wide variety of abstract shapes in different sizes.
Tip: You can turn the paper in different directions during the process and decide on the final orientation later.
Step 2 – Colorful Shapes
Pick any colors. Color abstract shapes so that they form a new layer on top of the background.
Make sure that the colorful shapes extend over the white shapes and don’t follow their outlines.
Also, add new shapes on top of other colorful shapes. Press fairly lightly so that you can add more layers later.
Keep the expression abstract. Don’t guess what the drawing is about. Just color a variety of shapes in different sizes and enjoy the freedom.
When the paper feels full, but you can still easily see the background and the colorful layer, move to the next step.
Step 3 – Connecting Colors
Pick colors that are close to what you have used before. Use one color more than others. My main color is green, but I also use other colors.
Color over the previous layers so that the two layers are no longer separate. Focus on the edges and color a small area at a time. Leave only a few areas blank, mostly near the center.
In this step, you can adjust old shapes and color new shapes, too. Think about attaching two pieces: you can either glue (spread the color over) or tape (add a new shape on top).
Tip: Now you can decide on the orientation and get ideas for the drawing’s topic.
Step 4 – Discovery
Find people, animals, plants, trees, furniture, water, and any realistic objects in the abstract drawing. For example, I have someone in the corner who is like an observer of everything happening in the drawing.
Adjust the shapes so that the viewer will also realize what they represent.
Tip: Remember that we are drawing a limitless world, so odd things can appear! The drawing can make sense emotionally, even if it isn’t rational.
You can also use an eraser to adjust the objects.
Having an eraser pen is handy, and it’s very useful for the course Mystical Minis, too!
Step 5 – Advanced Level
When your drawing feels finished, you can either stop or take it to the advanced level.
Basic level: The drawing feels finished, and you feel quite drawn to it. For a viewer, it may look a bit chaotic, busy, and difficult to comprehend.
Advanced level: The drawing has an engaging atmosphere, and the viewer is gently guided around the drawing.
To achieve this:
- Increase contrast in the middle and reduce contrast near the edges.
- Increase intense colors in the middle and reduce the intensity near the edges. Don’t leave blank areas in the areas that are less important.
- Make the shapes less clumsy by adding notches and lines. Make lines curvier and thinner.
- Direct the viewer’s gaze with contrasting shapes and lines.
Tip: Some areas can be more realistic than others. The world of imagination has no limits!
What Does Your Drawing Tell?
I usually work in my little studio, but this time, I finished the drawing in our living room, and I think that the aquarium, the furniture, the glassware, and the birds chirping outside … they all found their way to this drawing. But every drawing will become different. What does your drawing tell?
This kind of intuitive process is natural and free, and at least for me, much more exciting than making a stiff sketch and then coloring it. I hope this colored pencil tutorial marks the start of a new journey for you—one we can continue together, for example, in the course Mystical Minis!
Semi-Abstract Floral Still Life: A Painting Inspired by Dutch Masters
This week, I want to show you a piece called Damask. It is a dark, semi-abstract floral painting. I often try to create lighter works because they sell faster, but if it were up to me, I would paint almost only dark pieces.
There is something valuable and very private about dark tones. The painting felt so private that I originally thought about just posting a photo of the finished work and keeping the process to myself. But the purpose of my blog is to inspire you to create. Seeing only the final result rarely inspires as much as seeing the imperfect beginning where everything started.
Inspired by Dutch Old Masters
My painting is about how ornaments can be traced back to nature, but it is also a tribute to 17th and 18th-century Dutch floral paintings. The concept – dark background, lots of details, beauty after beauty – doesn’t leave me alone – it is like a recurring fever.
>> See the blog post “Flower paintings at Rijksmuseum”
And there is only one cure: starting a new dark still life, without references, just by painting freely.
How to Start a Semi-Abstract Floral Painting
At first, I used a broad brush and painted simple shapes with different colors.
Then I decided what flower to enlarge and what to hide. Some flowers appeared, but then disappeared when the painting progressed. I like to think that some flowers are born just to give birth to other flowers.
Why Mastering Technique Is Never Enough
I have noticed technical progress in my work. As things get easier, I can set more challenging goals for myself. However, I don’t believe that art is just about mastering technique, or that painting flowers is only about using them as decoration.
When you start a new work, you create a space around you.
It is a private and special place.
While I was making this piece, I felt like I was in an old room. I could hear the wooden floor creak and the wind blowing behind the old window glass. And yet, I felt I was wealthy. I was far away in the past, but I didn’t feel homesick at all.
The longer I have made art, the clearer my vision has become. Intuitive work is not about copying an image from your mind. It is about your work and your imagination starting to share the same atmosphere.
Here you can see the painting in different stages. Some might please you more, but I was after the special place, remember.
Here’s the finished piece, ready to be photographed.
Your Intuition – Your Private Atmosphere
So, what matters is the atmosphere you want to build. This is why it doesn’t really matter if you paint flowers or faces. From this perspective, all art is abstract. It is not just about thinking of the composition as abstract —it is about the character of each detail and how it connects to your private place (that then opens up to the viewer, too).
Here are some detail pics of my semi-abstract floral painting called Damask.
Friends in Art
Art is a private experience. Through my online courses and videos, I am visiting your private space. I often imagine that we are visiting each other. When the lesson ends, we both return to our own worlds, feeling inspired. It is hard to grow—both technically and as an artist—if you always keep the door closed.
Welcome to my courses to improve your skills and your artistic thinking! If you need more inspiration, feel free to browse my blog archives by date, category, or supply. I have shared my journey here every week for over ten years.