Coloured Pencils

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 11, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Hi there!

I'm new to coloured pencils and I'm wonder which kind are good? I've heard good things about Prismacolor soft core which are the ones I have now, but I was wondering if there's better?

I was also wondering what kind of paper is best for coloured pencils?

Since I'm new to it any advice at all is welcomed, including good sites to check for techniques and what not. Thanks!

You can no longer comment on this thread as it was closed due to no activity for a month.

Devious Comments

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 11, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Okay thanks.

I'm thinking of investing in derwent pencils also. I just find it hard to blend with the pencils, but that's probably because I'm still new to them. Do you know of any good tutorials or have any tips on blending?

A lot of my work has smooth edges though, so wouldn't smooth paper, or slate as I think it's called, be the best to use?

~Silver-Mercy Jul 12, 2012

dont get derwent ><

Some people think that derwent blend nicely ( i dont agree, but they may use a diferent technique to me so i'll ignore that fact for the moment.) but derwent colors are some of the worst around. Ive yet to see a red derwent pencil that wasnt pink or orange, and blues always look green or purple. i also find the wood they are made from to be quite splintery when you sharpen them. I

I use prismacolor (premier) pencils. I love them. they are vibrant, smooth and have so many great colours in many shades and tints. I particularly like the black, as it is actual black, not dark grey, as with most brands.
Color wise, faber-castell are good too, although they dont blend at all. They are good if you want to layer your colors, rather than burnish them. (meaning leave the texture of the page showing through the colors rather than pressing hard to get a complete coverage.) They are my preffered "cheap" artist pencil.

The only derwent product ive ever liked are there sketch books. Their pencils i couldnt care less for.

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 12, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

I'll stick to Prismacolor then since I already have almost a full set of them, and that's what I've been practicing with.

Would you happen to know a good way to blend the colours? When I try it always turns into a weird streaky mess.

~Silver-Mercy Jul 12, 2012

hmm. i usually lay down my lightest colour first, and gradually build up to the darker areas, eventually using my lightest colour over the whole area(pressing hard) to finish . It takes quite a few layers of the same colors to get a nice smooth gradient, so it can take a while, and ofted you have to go over your most vibrant or darkest colour at the end to really make it stand out after blending. Make sure you color in one direction, rather than in several different angles, because when you blend pencil, what you're really doing is pushing the wax together to make a new colour, so you want it all to be smooth. Generally the lighter colors are waxier, so they are the hardest to blend smoothly. the really bright and vibrant colors blend the easiest.

Also try to blend similar colors or tones. for example if i try to blend a really light grey blue with a dark greeny blue or aqua, they just dont mix. going from red to orange to yellow on the other hand usually works quite nice.

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 12, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Okay thanks, I'll play around with it a bit and see what I can do.

When you say don't colour in multiple directions, does that also mean don't colour in circles? I tend to colour in a very small circle pattern to cover area fast.

~Silver-Mercy Jul 12, 2012

small circles seem to be ok, i myself do that occasionally. its more swapping from horizontal to vertical in the same area that does the damage.

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 12, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Ahh okay. I try to avoid that so I'll give the light to dark layering thing a shot.

*opiumtraum Jul 11, 2012

Prismacolor are the standard. There are lots of different brands, each with their own qualities. Derwent makes a soft colour pencil- softer than prismacolor. They also make a colored drawing pencil, softer yet. Lyra Rembrandt color pencils are really nice & oil based (vs wax based) so you don't have to worry about wax bloom. Wax bloom is what happens when you use dense application of color pencils- the wax binder rises to the surface making it a little cloudy- an easy fix is gently rub the work w/ cheese cloth.

Acid free 100% cotton fibre paper is best. Paper comes with different surfaces, smooth rough, something in-between. I suggest a "vellum" surface to start- it has enough tooth so you can layer color, but isn't so rough that burnishing or getting color with all that white showing through isn't impossible.

~KurtisLauwereys Jul 11, 2012 Student Traditional Artist

Hmm, I think I failed at replying. See above post. xD

Details

Statistics

Coloured Pencils

Devious Comments

The Journal Portal

Polls

What is your preferred drawing software?

deviantART [dee·vee·un'nt·ART]

Keep in Touch!

Deviousness

Add Media

Style