Creating White Using Colored Pencils

Colored Pencil Tips & Techniques:

Creating White Using Colored Pencils

It's All About Colored Pencils!

The white-colored pencil is much like a colorless blender in that it can be used to blend and burnish colors. But should colored pencil artists just use only a white pencil to achieve white in their works of art? When working on colored paper, the white-colored pencil is a very effective tool for creating a base layer, and the white-colored pencil is effective in bringing out the highlights and wispy hairs within a subject. However, when working on white paper, defining white can be quite deceptive and challenging, especially for beginning artists. White is very much like black and can be made up of many colors in the spectrum, depending on the time of day, surrounding subject(s), and colors reflected upon the subject you are creating.

Below is a list of tips and techniques to create subjects that are white.

• Analyze your subject and determine what colors you see and are present before you begin.


• Use a paint shop program to determine what colors to use for white in your reference photo.


• Use a value/color finder to determine colors and values.


• Lyra Rembrandt and Derwent Coloursoft white pencils work best on colored paper.


• Build your white or brightest areas up using light layers of colors.


• In creating a white subject, pick colors reflected from surrounding subjects.


• Use light greys and soft pastel colors for creating your white highlights and light areas.


• Use soft pastel or light colors for snow.


• Use white only for highlights, whispy hairs and whiskers.


• Use opposite colors for shadows and darks to make your work pop and glow.


• Focus on creating the highlights and mid-tones, when working on colored paper.

Helpful Resources

A video on using white colored pencil on black paper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_lh11AM0yE

Drawing fur in colored pencil on black paper
http://sidneyeileen.com/tutorials/art/fur-colorpencil-black/

Drawing feathers on colored paper
http://www.squidoo.com/Colored-Pencils

Wet Canvas Colored Pencil Forum
http://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1302213&highlight=white+color+pencil

    

    

Keep on Creating!

Moores Art Gallery Watercolor Pencil Tips and Techniques

Colored Pencil Tips & Techniques:

Watercolor Pencil Tips & Techniques

It's All About Colored Pencils!

Watercolor pencils are very similar to colored pencils in that they allow you to have precise control, achieve great detail, are very flexible, portable, and inexpensive. The difference between regular colored pencils and water-soluble pencils is their leads. Colored pencil leads are either wax or oil-based, whereas watercolor pencil leads have a water soluble base.

When working with watercolor pencils, it is important to remember that the results will not be the same as if you were working with colored pencils. After you have layered several colors down and have applied water or a solvent of some type, you will notice that the colors will sometimes be darker, sometimes more vivid, or sometimes will become a color you were not trying to achieve at all. So experiment before you start layering colors to see if it is the color you want for your project or portrait. Also, try mixing your watercolor pencils with other mediums, such as Prismacolor colored pencils, Ohuhu Gel inks or Derwent graphite pencils. You will be surprised with the results!

Tips and Techniques

• Apply the watercolor pencil dry.
• Wet the paper first to produce a bleeding type effect or to create soft lines.
• Try using various tools, such as a sponge or toothbrush or shaking the watercolor pencil, to create different effects.
• After your watercolor pencil wash has dried, apply dry layers of watercolor pencil for detail.
• Create glazed watercolor pencil washes (transparent layers of color over another) by using either water or solvents.
• Use a colorless blender marker, such as Tombow's Colorless Blender Pen, to blend the colors.
• To achieve a thick opaque look, dip your pencil in water or in a solvent, such as Turpenoid Natural (this technique tends to eat the lead of the pencil up quickly) and then apply it to the surface of the paper.
• To create detail using watercolor pencils, try using a small wet paint brush.
• Try creating a graded wash, from dark to light with water or solvents.
• Try a backwash technique by wetting your paper first then apply one color at one end, and then another color at the other end, watch the colors blend and bleed together.
• To create a cool effect, try dipping a cotton swab in rubbing alcohol and then dot the wet colored surface of your paper with the cotton swab.
• To create a sparkly effect, try applying salt to the wet surface of your paper and let it dry.

Best Papers

I have discovered the following papers work the best when combining watercolor pencils with colored pencils: Arches watercolor paper hot press, Strathmore watercolor pads cold press and Rising Stonehenge drawing paper. Rising Stonehenge works best with the dry technique, with colorless blender markers, or with minimal water. If you do use water, make sure to tape the paper down to the board to prevent buckling.

All three brands of paper are acid-free and Strathmore also has ATC/ACEO size watercolor paper.

Brands of Watercolor Pencils

The watercolor pencil brand that I work with the most is, Derwent Watercolor Pencils. They are super creamy like Prismas color pencils and they have a wonderful selection of colors. They are fine art quality water-soluble pencil. They are non-toxic with lightfast pigment. They are available in packaged tins or open stock at most art stores.

In addition, I like to use Stabilo Aquacolor Watercolor Pencils to work on skies and small details. They have leads similar to Prismacolor Verathins, but, unfortunately, they have been discontinued. However, from time to time, you can find them on Ebay.

Watercolor Pencil Example

Keep on Creating!

New Graphite Autumn Fairy and New Colored Pencil/Graphite Artwork The Avengers Assassin

Hi Everyone!
We just got back from our vacation last week and it was so awesome to see the coast. It has been a long time since we had been down on the Oregon Coast. I miss it so much. These are some shots taken with my cell phone (since my camera is not working) down near Winchester Bay, Oregon.

New Graphite and Color Pencil Artwork
This past weekend was EMG Sketchfest  http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest/index.php
I didn't get a chance to participate a whole lot as my mother-in-law was admitted to the hospital and we visited her on Friday and Saturday evening.
Here are two graphite sketches up for sale there

Autumn Fae

Graphite, ink, color pencil and watercolor pencil

Reference photo by Janna Prosvirina

http://kuoma-stock.deviantart.com/

Mermaid with Pearl Earring

Graphite

Reference photo by Jessica - Faestock

http://faestock.deviantart.com/



My newest color pencil and graphite piece "The Assassin" now up for sale at my Etsy Store
  http://mooresart.etsy.com/



Resource of the Week
Hope kits http://creatinghope.us/
"Creating Hope is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization founded in 2000 by 36-year-old Jeanette Gianfagna Shamblen who was a breast cancer patient. She founded Creating Hope to help people cope with cancer through self-expression and creativity…inspiring them to find their way through each day toward survival. Creating Hope provides art materials and art events at no cost to cancer patients. The HOPE Kit contains art materials and instructions for painting watercolor bookmarks." You can sponsor a hope kit and send it to someone you know or for a cancer patient.

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Take Care!

Moores Art Gallery Colored Pencil Tips

Colored Pencil Tips & Techniques:

Colored Pencil Tips

It's All About Colored Pencils!

Some Tips When Working with Colored Pencils

These are some tips I have learned over the years through books, magazines, articles and from other colored pencil artists. More tips will be added to this list as I learn and explore more.

• To help your drawings stay crisp and clear, keep your pencil points sharp.
• To add some interest, spark and life to your drawings, try layering several different colors together.
• Beware of over saturating your paper's surface with too many layers of color. The color will start to no longer adhere to the paper's surface because the tooth of the paper has completely filled. As a result, the surface of the paper will start to wear down and possibly tear.
• Always keep the surface of your paper clean by brushing debris away with a drafting brush, make-up brush or tissue. Be careful when applying heavy pressure, such as when you burnish, sometimes pencils tend to flake debris upon your paper.
• To prevent wax bloom (a white film that builds up on the surface of the paper), wipe the surface of the paper with a soft tissue and then lightly spray the drawing with 1 to 3 layers of Krylon Workable Fixative Aerosol Spray. The workable fixative will protect your artwork while you continue to work on your artwork. Once you are done with your artwork you can spray 1-3 layers of a final fixative on your artwork to protect it and to prevent wax-bloom. In order to make sure there is not displeasing color changes to your artwork, make sure to test before you spray any fixatives. 
• To create vivid intense colors, try applying a solvent to the layers of color such as Turpenoid Natural, liquin, colorless blender markers, bestine, mineral spirits or baby wipes.
• It is important to add a good range of values throughout your drawing. Remember the more layers of color and the heavier the pressure, the darker the colored area on your drawing will become.
• To add life to your colored pencil artwork, try varying the color intensity, saturation and or hue in your artwork.
• Try creating different moods by drawing on different colored papers, such as Canson Mi Tientes or Art Spectrum Colourfix.
• When working on a tonal drawing, work from dark to light.
• Keep your pencil strokes even, consistent in pressure and in the same direction, so the lines of your strokes will be less visible and will blend into the layers of color.
• When adding layers of color, start off with light pressure and gradually increase your pressure.
• To create, a rich dark black, try layering Prismacolors indigo blue, crimson, sepia and black grape.
• To keep areas on the surface of your paper white, try using frisket film, liquid frisket or a frisket masque pen.
• Keep a color key of your drawing for future reference in case you decide you need to take a break from your artwork.
• For fine or small detail, try using Prismacolor Verithins. Rex Art has an open stock of them available.
• Practice using only a single color to help improve your blending, layering, and graduating skills.
• Practice using different pressures (light, medium and heavy), to achieve different depths of color and tones of color.
• Try using a light colored pencil to draw out your sketch and then blend the sketch into the layers of colors you apply.
• When your pencils become too small to sharpen, try using a pencil extender for your pencil stubs, or try gluing pencil ends together with superglue.
• To prevent smearing, smudging of debris and dark spots, wipe off the tips of pencils with a tissue or cloth before applying color.
• When working with colorless blender markers you have to be careful to wipe off the nibs of the pencils after blending, or colors will mix.
• Try purchasing several blender markers for each color, so there is not a constant need to wipe off colored areas on the nibs.
• Be careful of over-blending and over-saturating your paper, you will not be able to add any more layers of colors or blend with a blender.
• Allow your drawing to dry from the blender marker before adding any more layers of colors.
• To create an illusion of depth, try using complementary colors in dark valued areas of your artwork.
• To help hide a stain on your drawing: try using a color similar to the stain color or use an opaque medium such as white or cream to cover it.
• Colored Pencil Artist, Barbara Newton, has a wonderful tip on how to conceal a scratch mark or indent on your drawing: first apply a little color over the area, then blend the color into the area with a clear colorless blender marker and then add some more color till the mark is no longer visible.
• Try making your own colored pencil wheel using specific brands of colored pencils to use as a reference tool while creating your works of art. Two great tutorials on creating a colored pencil wheels are located at the Empty Easel and at Wetcanvas.

Keep on Creating!

Updates and New Works

It's been a while since I posted last. I have been busy working on some new works, spending time with family and doing things around our new house. I hope all my followers are having a great summer. We hope to take off for vacation next month down the coast. I can't wait as I miss the coast so much.
And my daughter got a new puppy a few months back a white Siberian Husky. He looks a lot like a white German Shepherd. I have to say it is a lot like having a toddler around the house. I hope I get a chance to draw him once I can get some good pictures of him.

Updates

Just letting followers know, I will be slowly transferring my color pencil resource tips and techniques page to my blog before I start school again. Since I am only creating works now for just a hobby/pleasure, I have been pondering over the idea about making my blog my main site and phasing out the main site within the next year or so. I feel there is really no need in keeping a site anymore, especially once I finish up school and start web designing as a profession. I will be putting up my artwork that is for sale either at my Etsy store or at one of the auction places. I will be posting further updates on this later.


For those interested, I do have some new works up for sale at my Etsy store http://mooresart.etsy.com/

New Works

I have some new sketches available for sale at Sketch Fest from this past weekend's Sketch Fest #39

http://www.ellenmilliongraphics.com/sketchfest/index.php

I didn't get a chance to work on many sketches this time, as my husband had the computer most of the day on Saturday. I really enjoyed viewing everyone else's amazing works. Everyone is so artistically creative and talented there. Just practicing up on my pencil skills was so much fun though. All 4 are done in graphite some mixed with acrylic and color pencil.

1. Teacup Mermaid
Reference: Model - Poser and Teacup http://netza.deviantart.com/

2. The Magic of Faeries
Reference: My daughter

3. Crown of Stars
Reference: model http://a68stock.deviantart.com/

4. Water Elemental Mermaid ACEO
Reference: Poser and model pose (changed it up quite a bit though) http://sinned-angel-stock.deviantart.com/

I have two new mermaid pieces available for sale up at my site
They are two of the three mermaid sisters from the Jack Sparrow series.

Morveren

Graphite, Gel Ink and Color Pencil

Reference: Poser tool on iPhone

For sale here: http://www.mooresartgallery.com/Morveren.html

 

Aquala

Graphite, Color Pencil and Gel Ink

Reference: http://faestock.deviantart.com/

For sale here: http://www.mooresartgallery.com/Aquala.html

 

 

Resource/CP tip of the Week

A great page on color pencil tips
http://www.drawing-and-coloring.com/color-pencil-drawings.html

Hope you all have a great week!

 

Colored Pencil Artwork Updates, Colored Pencil Resource of the Week, and Art Resource of the Week

To be a colored pencil artist is not every artist's cup of tea. It is a medium that can be quite time-consuming, tedious, and requires a lot of practice. Because it takes me so long to do a colored pencil painting, I have come to a point in my art career where now I just draw and paint what interests me and brings me joy. I am not in it for the competition or to make a profit anymore. Of course, it is nice when an artist can make a sale as it can bring a smile to one's face. But now, I create works of art to share what motivates and inspires me and to help teach others what I know. It is always a joy to meet other artists from around the world, especially the artists from DA and Sketchfest. Thanks to everyone who has followed me along my art journey. I hope these blog posts and my website resources have been and continue to be educational resources and inspiration to other artists and students.

Colored Pencil Artwork Updates

The portrait, I Believe, is finally finished. The portrait was created with colored pencil and drawn on Rising Stonehenge. The meaning behind the portrait was to capture a man's emotions who truly believes in his faith and has come to a dawning moment of pure, simple joy and peace. The scan didn't pick up all the details of the clouds, but if you look real hard, you will see some images in the clouds.

Colored Pencil Resource of the Week



Colored pencil artist Revelle Taillon demonstrates and explains a wonderful technique of applying colored pencil on gesso board. Check it out here http://coloredpenciltips.blogspot.com/2013/02/colored-pencil-on-gessoed-board.html

  

Resource of the Week

As portable devices and social networking become a dominant part of most artists lives. I have discovered a valuable artist tool for my iPhone - Pose tool. It uses a 3D platform to place subjects in various poses. It has 3 point lighting and 4 different modes to place the subject in - muscle, life, mannequin and gesture. Check out the review and details here https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pose-tool-3d/id570369634 You can download it from your app store for $6.99. Well worth the cost.

Keep on Creating! 

Happy Father's Day, Updates, CP Tip of the Week and Resource of the Week

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! I have been spending the day with my family and some great friends. Father's are wonderful and it is a day to honor, to thank them and to let them know how much we love them. My father is no longer here in this world. He passed away in 2007. He is in heaven now and I miss him. But I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father, whom he is now with.
So to all the father's out there I pray that you have had a wonderful day.

Comments by ZingerBug.com

Updates

Well Spring term is finally over with and I am now on summer break. It was a tough term but the Lord saw me through each step of the way. I couldn't have done it without Him. I didn't have any time to work on any drawings during this term. So I plan on picking up where I left off on my last work in progress.
Title: I Believe
Medium: Color Pencil
I still have the sky, shirt and face to work. I hope to have it finished up this week.

 

 

Color Pencil Tip of the Week

 

When working with color pencil, it is important to have a good pencil sharpener as you want to keep your points sharp. The reason why you want to keep your points sharp is due to two reasons:

1. Keeping your lead sharp gives the artist the ability to achieve better detail.
2. It helps maintain a more consistent layer of values. 

There are several types of pencil sharpeners and ways to sharpen your pencil. Most color pencil artists prefer the electric or handheld. The handheld is easy to port around if you are traveling. The blades will tend to get dull after awhile, so one will have to replace the blade or the sharpener altogether.  If one uses the electric sharpener, the points can get very sharp and one must be careful of the pencil lead breaking off in the sharpener or the sharpener eating away the pencil. There is also the sandpaper block, X-acto knife and the old hand-cranked pencil sharpener. The sandpaper block is very portable and can be used to sharpen graphite pencils as well. If one uses the X-acto knife, it is important to have sharp blades and it does take some practice to sharpen the pencil to a point. The hand-crank sharpener tends to eat away pencils, but some of the companies are starting to come out with some good ones.

 

Below are some different sharpeners that are available for color pencil artists.

 

Handheld

 

Electric

 

Sandpaper Block

 

X-acto Knife

 

Hand-Cranked Pencil Sharpener

Derwent's Super Point Helical Desk Sharpener http://www.pencils.co.uk/newsitem.aspx?nid=267

 





Resource of the Week

 

Check out color pencil master Sandra Angelo's color pencil and graphite workshops. Learn how to master pet textures and the grisaille method.

 

http://www.discoverartwithsandra.com/art-workshops-online-how-to-draw-cats-dogs-4-sessions-with-pet-master-sandra-angelo/

 

Sandra's book Exploring Color Pencil was one of the first color pencil books I added to my library.

 Hope you all have a great week and God Bless!

Happy Creating!

 

New Home, New Colored Pencil Works, and Colored Pencil Tip of the Week

Hey Everybody!
It's Spring Break, Winter Term is finally over with, and it has been a long time since my last post. I have been so overwhelmed with classes this last term, so many essays to write that I have had no time to pick up a pencil and draw. Then I got an eye ulcer in my eye and I wasn't able to see very well for the past two weeks. In addition, we moved out of the house we were renting and bought our first home.

Our New Home

So still have some unpacking and organizing to do, also a lot of yard work. I hope to get that done this week along with some much-needed drawing time.

Now that it is Spring Break, I plan on picking up where I left off on my latest work in progress. “I Believe” Medium: Color Pencil I am presently working on the shirt and background.



I Believe





Colored Pencil Tip of the Week

There are many ways to lift up or remove colored pencil from your work. Whichever method you choose, do so carefully, so you do not tear or ruin the surface of your paper.

Bet Borgeson illustrates two ways here http://www.mightyartdemos.com/mightyartdemosfrbkborgeson2.html
and then over at my website I explain a few ways to remove colored pencil
http://www.mooresartgallery.com/colorpencilremovaltips.html

Colored Pencil Tool of the Week

Many colored pencil artists out there use pencil extenders. Extenders are a handy little tool to extend the length of your pencil when your colored pencil becomes too short to use.
Here is one I found that you have to check out this marbled pencil extender over at Etsy  http://tinyurl.com/cp7fg84
In addition, here are some others over at Amazon.

I hope everyone has a blessed Easter weekend!

Easter Pictures

Take Care and God Bless!
Keep on Creating!