I don’t know about you, but the new year always brings with it a feeling of being lost. The start of January always makes me feel like I’m being spit out of the year before into the unknown. It was no wonder that I stared into the abyss the first week of the month. “So what now?” I thought. This year, though, that feeling has multiplied tenfold, thanks to my choice to go freelance at the end of last year. I wonder if I should’ve decided to do that in the middle of the year instead—you know, maybe I won’t feel doubly as lost then.
But, part of going freelance is being your own boss, right? So, as my own boss, I had to drag myself out of my slump and towards productivity one way or another—lest I should be stuck in unemployment and be broke forever. That’s when I decided to take on a beautiful challenge as inspired by Paloma the Peach—and filmed the whole process to hold myself accountable. Watch the process in the video below here 👇🏻
I don’t know about you, but the new year always brings with it a feeling of being lost. The start of January always makes me feel like I’m being spit out of the year before into the unknown. It was no wonder that I stared into the abyss the first week of the month. “So what now?” I thought. This year, though, that feeling has multiplied tenfold, thanks to my choice to go freelance at the end of last year. I wonder if I should’ve decided to do that in the middle of the year instead—you know, maybe I won’t feel doubly as lost then.
But, part of going freelance is being your own boss, right? So, as my own boss, I had to drag myself out of my slump and towards productivity one way or another—lest I should be stuck in unemployment and be broke forever. That’s when I decided to take on a beautiful challenge as inspired by Paloma the Peach—and filmed the whole process to hold myself accountable. Watch the process in the video below here 👇🏻
You've watched it? Okay, good, we'll go from there.
Now, Let's Review the Materials!
DAY 1: Coloured Pencils
Derwent 36 Tin Studio Coloured Pencils
Going into this challenge, I was really confident with this medium—mostly, because I’ve been using them a lot more lately and the result has always been pretty satisfactory to me. I love how easy they are to use and to blend! They can elevate any piece without much fuss, while creating organic texture in the process.
The thing about coloured pencils is that you can easily fall into the trap of making your piece look a little childish, if you don’t let them fully take over. That’s what I feel like I’ve done in this challenge, specifically by relying on my crutch—the ink brush pen—to hide away the imperfections and irregularities when, in fact, it’s those little flaws that make coloured pencil works so naturally unique.

DAY 1: Coloured Pencils
Derwent 36 Tin Studio Coloured Pencils
Going into this challenge, I was really confident with this medium—mostly, because I’ve been using them a lot more lately and the result has always been pretty satisfactory to me. I love how easy they are to use and to blend! They can elevate any piece without much fuss, while creating organic texture in the process.
The thing about coloured pencils is that you can easily fall into the trap of making your piece look a little childish, if you don’t let them fully take over. That’s what I feel like I’ve done in this challenge, specifically by relying on my crutch—the ink brush pen—to hide away the imperfections and irregularities when, in fact, it’s those little flaws that make coloured pencil works so naturally unique.


DAY 2: Alcohol-Based Markers
Copic Sketch Markers (36 Colours)
Since I was but a teenager, I’ve always been an avid user of the Copic Sketch markers, since they were (and probably still are) huge in the anime-manga industry. They give colours subtly and are super easy to blend, with the ability to turn any work into professional masterpieces in no time. I’ve been happy with this medium for years and will gladly pick them up again if need be.
What I want to figure out is how to use Copic markers without making my work look very anime-manga, as I try to detach my art from that scene. Sadly, I haven’t figured it out on this challenge—as you can see from the final result—but I will definitely explore ways to do so in the future.

DAY 2: Alcohol-Based Markers
Copic Sketch Markers (36 Colours)
Since I was but a teenager, I’ve always been an avid user of the Copic Sketch markers, since they were (and probably still are) huge in the anime-manga industry. They give colours subtly and are super easy to blend, with the ability to turn any work into professional masterpieces in no time. I’ve been happy with this medium for years and will gladly pick them up again if need be.
What I want to figure out is how to use Copic markers without making my work look very anime-manga, as I try to detach my art from that scene. Sadly, I haven’t figured it out on this challenge—as you can see from the final result—but I will definitely explore ways to do so in the future.

DAY 3: Soft Pastels
Marie’s 50 Colours Soft Pastels
When I was little, this mangaka (or comic artist) that I admired used to use soft pastels a lot on her work, which results in soft-coloured illustrations that give off a warm and cozy vibe. Since then on, I’d always had a huge crush on soft pastels and was very curious to try them out for myself. It was in Germany that I finally bought them—at first, I wasn’t sure whether to get soft pastels or oil pastels, I just knew pastels. However, for years, I couldn’t quite figure out how to use it and the colours always ended up looking way too soft and subtle.
Which is why, going into this challenge, I believed soft pastels was such a weak medium. I was anxious about using it as I was sure the colour wouldn’t pop out and it would end up looking barely noticeable. But this medium came out as the underdog and quickly became my favourite media to use…ever! I figured out how to create values and shades with soft pastels and it was such a game-changer. The resulting piece ends up looking naturally textured and nuanced—or what I would call ‘dry-media watercolour.’ With the help of coloured pencils, I was also able to define the shapes which come off very nicely.

DAY 3: Soft Pastels
Marie’s 50 Colours Soft Pastels
When I was little, this mangaka (or comic artist) that I admired used to use soft pastels a lot on her work, which results in soft-coloured illustrations that give off a warm and cozy vibe. Since then on, I’d always had a huge crush on soft pastels and was very curious to try them out for myself. It was in Germany that I finally bought them—at first, I wasn’t sure whether to get soft pastels or oil pastels, I just knew pastels. However, for years, I couldn’t quite figure out how to use it and the colours always ended up looking way too soft and subtle.
Which is why, going into this challenge, I believed soft pastels was such a weak medium. I was anxious about using it as I was sure the colour wouldn’t pop out and it would end up looking barely noticeable. But this medium came out as the underdog and quickly became my favourite media to use…ever! I figured out how to create values and shades with soft pastels and it was such a game-changer. The resulting piece ends up looking naturally textured and nuanced—or what I would call ‘dry-media watercolour.’ With the help of coloured pencils, I was also able to define the shapes which come off very nicely.
DAY 4: Watercolour
Sakura Koi Pocket 12 Colours Watercolour
Watercolour and I have a love-hate relationship: I always love how watercolour pieces tend to look, yet I can never figure out how to make a satisfactory watercolour piece for myself. As you may know, watercolour is a pretty delicate medium—it is very easy to mess up with just the wrong amount of water or paint, the wrong paper texture or weight. Plus, I’ve never quite figured out how to mix colours with watercolour. I feel like I’m too chaotic to work with it.
This time, though, I tried to shake up how I worked with the medium, by including other media in the piece as well—namely coloured pencils. It helped me immensely in creating details I would otherwise have botched up with watercolour alone. The only thing left to remember is to be patient and attentive to detail when it comes to watercolour, as it is very hard to fix.

DAY 4: Watercolour
Sakura Koi Pocket 12 Colours Watercolour
Watercolour and I have a love-hate relationship: I always love how watercolour pieces tend to look, yet I can never figure out how to make a satisfactory watercolour piece for myself. As you may know, watercolour is a pretty delicate medium—it is very easy to mess up with just the wrong amount of water or paint, the wrong paper texture or weight. Plus, I’ve never quite figured out how to mix colours with watercolour. I feel like I’m too chaotic to work with it.
This time, though, I tried to shake up how I worked with the medium, by including other media in the piece as well—namely coloured pencils. It helped me immensely in creating details I would otherwise have botched up with watercolour alone. The only thing left to remember is to be patient and attentive to detail when it comes to watercolour, as it is very hard to fix.


DAY 5: Crayons
Artist Palette Crayons Conforms to ASTM D4236
This medium is quickly becoming the one I hate the most. Why? Because it is impossible to layer and, therefore, requires a more strategical thinking upon using. This week I didn’t know that—I guess that last time I used crayons was when I was in kindergarten or so, and who knows about values back then?—so I coloured the whole drawing in the hope of layering the darker shade on top as I’d done with all the other media as well. But no.
After seeing other people’s processes with crayons, I figured out that maybe I should’ve approached this like a paint-by-number piece—divide the sketch by colour and fill in accordingly. It is also possible, however, that the crayons I used were not of top-notch quality and, thus, not as waxy as they should’ve been.

DAY 5: Crayons
Artist Palette Crayons Conforms to ASTM D4236
This medium is quickly becoming the one I hate the most. Why? Because it is impossible to layer and, therefore, requires a more strategical thinking upon using. This week I didn’t know that—I guess that last time I used crayons was when I was in kindergarten or so, and who knows about values back then?—so I coloured the whole drawing in the hope of layering the darker shade on top as I’d done with all the other media as well. But no.
After seeing other people’s processes with crayons, I figured out that maybe I should’ve approached this like a paint-by-number piece—divide the sketch by colour and fill in accordingly. It is also possible, however, that the crayons I used were not of top-notch quality and, thus, not as waxy as they should’ve been.

DAY 6: Poster Colours
Sakura Poster Colours (Blue, Yellow, Red, White)
If soft pastels are my favourite dry medium, poster colours turn out to be my favourite wet medium. I can’t believe I forget just how easy it is to use! Just like every other art students, I suppose, poster colour was the mandatory paint to use during class at uni—particularly for colour theory class (Hi, Koletta! 👋🏻). It was with poster colours did we learn how to mix paints to get the colour that we want, and that helped me a lot during this challenge.
In comparison with all the other paints I’ve ever worked with, poster colour is seriously low maintenance. It is pretty much water-based, like watercolour, but without its high solubility. It is pretty thick and solid, like acrylic, but easily re-activated and a cinch to wash. And it is nothing like oil colour, as it dries super quickly. Even with mixing of the paints, using poster colour was such a quick process and without much fuss. I love how the colours even out at the end as well. The only thing I cannot figure out is how to create values and shades with it—I suppose a paint-by-number approach as well?

DAY 6: Poster Colours
Sakura Poster Colours (Blue, Yellow, Red, White)
If soft pastels are my favourite dry medium, poster colours turn out to be my favourite wet medium. I can’t believe I forget just how easy it is to use! Just like every other art students, I suppose, poster colour was the mandatory paint to use during class at uni—particularly for colour theory class (Hi, Koletta! 👋🏻). It was with poster colours did we learn how to mix paints to get the colour that we want, and that helped me a lot during this challenge.
In comparison with all the other paints I’ve ever worked with, poster colour is seriously low maintenance. It is pretty much water-based, like watercolour, but without its high solubility. It is pretty thick and solid, like acrylic, but easily re-activated and a cinch to wash. And it is nothing like oil colour, as it dries super quickly. Even with mixing of the paints, using poster colour was such a quick process and without much fuss. I love how the colours even out at the end as well. The only thing I cannot figure out is how to create values and shades with it—I suppose a paint-by-number approach as well?

DAY 7: Soft Drawing Pencils
Derwent 24 Tin Soft Drawing Pencils
To be honest, I have no idea how these drawing pencils differ from the coloured pencils I used at the start of the challenge—aside from their selection of colours, I suppose. Their colours are mostly organic, earth tones that make the pieces look a whole lot more raw and natural. However, other than that, I don’t feel much difference between the two media.
For this challenge, I decided to use the drawing pencils straight on—no underlying sketch like I did with all the other pieces during this challenge—just because I like the way the pencils look and feel to make sketches. Just like coloured pencils, they are pretty easy to blend and create values with. They are also pretty easy to fix, which is always a plus for me. I would definitely recommend using this as a substitute to graphite pencils for your sketches and studies.

DAY 7: Soft Drawing Pencils
Derwent 24 Tin Soft Drawing Pencils
To be honest, I have no idea how these drawing pencils differ from the coloured pencils I used at the start of the challenge—aside from their selection of colours, I suppose. Their colours are mostly organic, earth tones that make the pieces look a whole lot more raw and natural. However, other than that, I don’t feel much difference between the two media.
For this challenge, I decided to use the drawing pencils straight on—no underlying sketch like I did with all the other pieces during this challenge—just because I like the way the pencils look and feel to make sketches. Just like coloured pencils, they are pretty easy to blend and create values with. They are also pretty easy to fix, which is always a plus for me. I would definitely recommend using this as a substitute to graphite pencils for your sketches and studies.
Other Materials to Try


Material #1
Water/Acrylic Gouache
A lot of the artists I admire use this medium on the daily and I’ve always loved the result. In my mind, gouache is like a mix between acrylic and watercolour. It always looks so easy to use somehow, blendable but also results in a neat look in the end.
While I don’t know the difference between water and acrylic gouache—in terms of its usage—I feel like, perhaps as a newbie, I should start with the water-based type first. We all know acrylic can be a bitch to clean, and I can be a chaotic painter, so I’m not taking any chances.
Material #2
Oil Colour
Not a medium that I haven’t used before, to be honest. When I was in middle school, we all had to use oil paint for art class and was tasked to create two paintings. It was the longest task we’d ever had. The first coating of the paint itself required two days to dry. I think most of us chose to make flat paintings for this reason alone.
Not going to lie—this is a tedious medium. The paint requires blending oil to be activated and turpentine to wash off afterwards. None of these things come necessarily cheap or easy to handle as well, mind you, but I always like how oil paintings look to want to try it again.
Material #1
Water/Acrylic Gouache
A lot of the artists I admire use this medium on the daily and I’ve always loved the result. In my mind, gouache is like a mix between acrylic and watercolour. It always looks so easy to use somehow, blendable but also results in a neat look in the end.
While I don’t know the difference between water and acrylic gouache—in terms of its usage—I feel like, perhaps as a newbie, I should start with the water-based type first. We all know acrylic can be a bitch to clean, and I can be a chaotic painter, so I’m not taking any chances.
Material #2
Oil Colour
Not a medium that I haven’t used before, to be honest. When I was in middle school, we all had to use oil paint for art class and was tasked to create two paintings. It was the longest task we’d ever had. The first coating of the paint itself required two days to dry. I think most of us chose to make flat paintings for this reason alone.
Not going to lie—this is a tedious medium. The paint requires blending oil to be activated and turpentine to wash off afterwards. None of these things come necessarily cheap or easy to handle as well, mind you, but I always like how oil paintings look to want to try it again.

What I’ve Learnt
1. Nothing is constant in a person’s life, including creativity and productivity.
Sure, doing this challenge for one week is one thing—and that I already found pretty challenging—but doing it forever? That seems like an express way to burnout, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Our brain, just like the rest of our body, needs breaks and refreshment every now and then, don’t expect it to work in high gear all the time.
2. Mixing media will add more character to your art.
As someone who has always stuck to one medium in creating an artwork, I have never truly discovered the art of mixed media—and now that I have, it is truly magical. Using coloured pencils on top of a watercolour painting or adding ink to a poster colour piece just adds more edge to it. Who says you need to stick to only one anyway?
3. Give room for trials and errors (but don’t be wasteful)
Yes, yes, I know, art materials tend to be crazy expensive, but if you never let yourself experiment with them, you will never find new ways to make art. And, of course, it’s natural to not like what you end up with when you explore, but at least now you know what you don’t want. It’s better to give it a shot than let all those art materials rot away unused.
What are you favourite art materials and how do you like to use them?

What I’ve Learnt
1. Nothing is constant in a person’s life, including creativity and productivity.
Sure, doing this challenge for one week is one thing—and that I already found pretty challenging—but doing it forever? That seems like an express way to burnout, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Our brain, just like the rest of our body, needs breaks and refreshment every now and then, don’t expect it to work in high gear all the time.
2. Mixing media will add more character to your art.
As someone who has always stuck to one medium in creating an artwork, I have never truly discovered the art of mixed media—and now that I have, it is truly magical. Using coloured pencils on top of a watercolour painting or adding ink to a poster colour piece just adds more edge to it. Who says you need to stick to only one anyway?
3. Give room for trials and errors (but don’t be wasteful)
Yes, yes, I know, art materials tend to be crazy expensive, but if you never let yourself experiment with them, you will never find new ways to make art. And, of course, it’s natural to not like what you end up with when you explore, but at least now you know what you don’t want. It’s better to give it a shot than let all those art materials rot away unused.