Colored Pencil Tips

Colored pencils are an inexpensive art medium that's easy to use because each of us kind of  has the concept already.  I say kind of because most of us just take it for granted that if you apply the tip of a colored pencil, you get the color on your paper that you pressed onto it.  And, yah, you do, but you can also get so much more!

For instance, if you use blue and yellow in addition to your many greens to make your leaves, they look more real.  Yup.  Use blue on your leaves.  Remember when your grade school teacher said, "The sky is not purple.  It's blue," in an effort to, er, correct you?  Well, I'm here to tell you, s/he was wrong.  The sky is purple sometimes - and orange, pink, yellow, red, green, black, dark blue, light blue, blue blue, and every color in between, too.  I've seen it - it just depends on the time of day that you view the sky.  Just because they're "teachers" doesn't mean they know everything!

Imagine if some "teacher" had come across Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent Van Gogh, or Pablo Picasso and stated, "That's not right.  Do it my way because I'm the teacher and know more than you."

Uh.  Can you say catastrophy??

It would be terrible, I think, if we didn't have those fantastic artists' work!

So, where there are some tips from a great resource, be sure to do your own thing as well.  Be you.  You're a human BEing - so be you!



Here are some colored pencil drawing techniques that will help you...

• TIP #1-" Color Heavy"- or at least build up your color gradually so that the colors are intense and complex.  Don't rely on the value of your paper to make your tints and shades.
• TIP #2- "Layer Your Colors"- Build up many layers of your colors.  Do not rely on just one application of color to bring you success.  Building up and layering your colors will make your colors more complex and realistic.
• TIP #3-"Mix Your Colors"- When using any colored medium, you should ALWAYS mix colors.  Colored pencils are no different.  For example, if you are drawing grass, don't just grab that manufactured green.  Instead use blue and yellow, and green.
• TIP #4- "Outline Last"- If you like to outline, wait and do it when you are finished drawing the object.  Colored pencils can overlap themselves very easily, enabling you to outline objects last. (Don't use black to outline.)
• TIP #5- "Take Your Time"- Colored Pencils are a medium that demands time.  You must work deliberately.  It takes time to craft a well-drawn colored pencil image.
• TIP#6- "Burnish"-  By taking a white colored pencil or a colorless blender, smooth the colors and values out to make a consistent texture and solid finish.