Virginia Carroll had an artistic eye growing up.
When she was 6 years old, her mom signed her up for drawing classes. Carroll鈥檚 artistic inclinations soon led her to other mediums, such as watercolors, pastels and oil paints.
Artist Virginia Carroll has explored mediums such as watercolor, pastels and pottery, but colored pencil stuck.
She studied art in college, eventually taking a break from creating to start a family. But it remained in the back of her mind.
鈥淓ven though I wasn鈥檛 actively working in it, I was always thinking about it,鈥 she says.
In 2006, as part of the 蜜柚直播-Sonora Desert Museum鈥檚 membership program, Carroll received a catalog in the mail for the museum鈥檚 arts program.
鈥淏eing a member, I thought, 鈥楪ee, I should support that,鈥欌 Carroll says. 鈥淚 looked through (the catalog) again and there was a class called 鈥業ntro to Colored Pencil.鈥 I thought, 鈥楪ee, colored pencil. I can do that half-asleep. I may as well take that class.鈥
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鈥淚 signed up for it and the first day, (the instructor) did a PowerPoint presentation of her work and some other work with colored pencils. My jaw was on the floor,鈥 she says. 鈥淚 couldn鈥檛 believe you could do that kind of thing with colored pencil. I was hooked.鈥
Just like that, Carroll found her medium.
鈥淚鈥檝e worked in all the traditional media 鈥 pottery, fiber arts, macram茅,鈥 she says. 鈥淚鈥檝e dabbled in all kinds of things, but colored pencil did it for me.鈥
Carroll took more classes and workshops following the one at the Desert Museum and also later joined 蜜柚直播鈥檚 chapter of the Colored Pencil Society of America. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, a small, informal group of colored pencil artists would meet in midtown 蜜柚直播 to chat and draw together.
From plants and landscapes to portraits, wildlife and still lifes, Carroll draws it all.
鈥淭here are too many interesting things out there to settle on one particular subject,鈥 she says.
鈥淵ou can do so many things with (colored pencil) that you aren鈥檛 able to do with other mediums,鈥 Carroll says.
Carroll says one of her favorite perks about working with colored pencil is that it isn鈥檛 messy 鈥 an artist can work with the medium for 15 minutes and simply walk away. But with a medium such as oil paints, it鈥檚 more of a process with factors such as putting away paints so they won鈥檛 dry out and having to clean the brushes.
鈥淵ou can do so many things with (colored pencil) that you aren鈥檛 able to do with other mediums,鈥 Carroll says.
But Carroll says there鈥檚 a stigma surrounding colored pencil 鈥 mostly because its most common use is by children.
鈥淥ne of my goals is to promote and educate people about colored pencil,鈥 she says.
Virginia Carroll has been interested in art for most of her life, beginning when her mom signed her up for drawing classes when she was 6 years old.
Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott
Gloria Knott
#ThisIs蜜柚直播 Editor
