Drawing in Colored Pencil

By: Lottie Bynum

Drawing in colored pencil is different from drawing on other mediums such as pastels, charcoal, or graphite. Unlike those, colored pencils cannot be blended with blending stumps, instead they are blended with other colored pencils. It’s perfect for vibrant or strong colors in a piece.

To draw in colored pencils you need:

• Paper that works with colored pencils(most regular or sketch paper works)
• Colored pencils (wax or oil based)
• Sharpener or X-Acto knife (to sharpen)
• Erasers (regular and electric eraser to get the color lifted from the paper)

To start a colored pencil drawing start in graphite pencil and sketch lightly, then add colored pencils.Have scratch paper on hand to try color combinations if you are unsure because colored pencil doesn’t erase as well as other mediums (it’s similar to 6B charcoal and leaves behind a tinted page). Another tip to consider is start lightly and build up the lightest parts before moving to the darker parts so the values in the piece can be fully recognised. Value can be added not only that way, but also when considering the color wheel and contrasting colors. Red and green, orange and blue, and purple and yellow can darken each other and add contrast instead of shading with black which can flatten instead of adding depth to the drawing. 

Depending on which colored pencils you are drawing with can impact the care of the drawing afterwards. Regular or wax based colored pencils can leave a residue on the piece after it is finished that needs to be wiped off, but oil based colored pencils have less of a problem with the residual sheet it leaves on a finished piece. 

Style is another factor of how someone can draw with them. Many people prefer to draw lightly without marking the paper fully which has the piece with some of the paper, showing through the colored pencil. That is not the only method though, colored pencils can deepen in color and coverage the harder someone presses when drawing with them like charcoal, pastels, or graphite. When pressing harder with the colored pencil it is helpful to blend with several other pencils, possibly complementary colors to add shades of color instead of the color being flat. 

Overall colored pencils are fun to work with and can be drawn with in several styles.