COLORED PENCIL TUTORIAL | SOFT SERVE ICE CREAM CONE

Ever since I saw this unicorn ice cream cone, I've wanted to draw it and decorate a space of my desk with it. I decided to change the colors up a bit so it flowed better with the colors of my desk. I thought it would be fun to share the tips I learned while I was drawing this.

1. Sketch out the shape of your ice cream cone. It's always good to look at a reference to make sure you get the proportions right. Then start to fill in the individual shapes with colored pencil. It works best if you fill in the darker parts, blend with the medium color, and then add the highlight color last. I really like Prismacolor Colored Pencils because they blend really well and have tons of colors.

2. The bottom part of the cone is the trickiest and I had to resist just drawing criss cross lines. The trick is to draw dark diamond shapes and then fill in the space in between with the light color.

3. Next sketch the ice cream very lightly with a pencil. This is the part you really need a reference picture for because of the complex swirls.

4. As you fill in the swirls make sure you pay extra attention to which swirls are on the inside and have shadows, and which are on the outside in the light. I used the same technique of filling in the shadows, blending with the medium color, and then adding the highlight color last.

5. Add a few highlights with a toothpick and white craft paint. This is my favorite step because it adds that finishing step to make a drawing extra special.