Probably one of the first techniques taught when you enter the world of visual ‘Fine Arts’ is pencil drawing. Yes, drawings with ordinary pencils that you can get in any store of school supplies. Although pens are an extremely familiar “instrument” for most, it is fantastic to see that with an object so simple and undervalued by many you can do wonders, even works of art worth hanging on the walls of a museum.
In recent times, thanks to the birth of many forums and spaces on the web where artists can share their works, it is increasingly common to find quality drawings made only with colored pencils. They are no longer just scribbles of a child who often end up stuck in the refrigerator door with a magnet; now they are works that thousands of people may see daily on Facebook fan pages or Pinterest ‘boards’.
Because of this great boom in the ‘prism color’ that exists today, we gave ourselves the task of researching and creating a post for those beginners who want to enter the art world with colored pencils.
“”In academic art circles, it is common to hear that’ pencils are a child’s play.’ For those who think so I have to say that they are wrong a good drawing with colored pencils requires a skill that probably an oil painter or some traditional pictorial technique does not have: to decompose the light to get the right tones. They have an extensive color palette; we have to figure it out by mixing, shadowing, or making the eye deviate to a particular part of the drawing so that you don’t notice the chromatic aberration really, those little details make me love creating art with colored pencils.” – Dino Tomic
Tips for drawing and painting with colored pencils
- Always remember to have a sharp pencil tip. This may be the most critical advice that many rookies forget. The sharp-pointed strokes are much more accurate and clean than a flat, flat tip. That little detail marks the difference between the drawing of a professional and that of an amateur.
- Create sketches and don’t forget to mark the direction of the light. In order not to waste material and have a much clearer idea of what you’re going to do, it’s good to have the habit of sketching. With small ambiguous strokes or even geometric figures that will later serve as lines of the guide is enough; also do not forget to show the direction and zones where the light will most impact on the drawing.
- Use more than one color and create capably. It is challenging to find pencils with the color you want, for them, expert cartoonists use the famous layer technique, that is, they use several tones, coloring in the order of the darkest to the lightest to create new hues.
- Remove the excess graphite from the paper. For this, the professionals commonly use special brushes. However, a useful and cheap solution (it won’t cost you a penny) is to put the paper in a vertical position and give it small strokes on the table.
- Create shadows from the light. Remembering the principle of “the shadow is the absence of light,” do not forget to highlight the sun before the shading. With this advice, in addition to helping you get darker shading, they will be much more realistic.
- Don’t lean back on paper. Typical Error. When drawing try as much as possible not to support the wrists of the hands-on the article. If it costs you a job, use a sheet of paper to recharge.
- Use textured drawing paper. When you think of a white sheet, most of us come to mind the traditional printer sheets. The reality is that this kind of paper kicks graphite over time. To prevent your drawing from looking bad with days, use drawing paper; if you are willing to invest a little more in materials, it is also highly recommended to use graphite fixator when the work is finished.
- Use the eraser as little as possible. The rubber wears out the paper, apart from the fact that it can leave very unpleasant spots. If you have a mistake, try to correct it at the moment.
- Keep the pattern of the strokes uniform. Unless you want to create a very peculiar effect, it is always advisable to keep the design and direction of the strokes throughout the drawing. If you like to mark and color with diagonal strokes or in circles, try to keep them in all your work. Visually it’s much more attractive.
- To cover mistakes, keep coloring. The famous “”white pencil”” of the colored boxes is useful, unlike what many of us believed when we were kids. When the drawing is almost finished, and you want to correct something, keep coloring. The most common correction is to play with shading and light, that is, using black and white pencils.
- Take breaks and don’t finish the drawing all at once. A fundamental part of being a good artist is indeed disciplined; however, do not force yourself to complete a job ‘suddenly,’ especially when you are already overwhelmed. With small breaks, your mind will clear, your creativity will increase, and you will probably see details you have not seen before.
- Extra tip: Check again that the pencil is sharp. We know that this was already mentioned in point 1, but it cannot be forgotten. Every once in a while, pass your index finger over the tip to see if it’s sharp enough. As an extra tip, Use a cutter instead of a pencil sharpener (tadalafil, slicer, sharpener, etc.).