Since I have posted a ton of articles about oil paint in the last month or two, I decided to start a new series of blog posts especially dedicated to my color pencil drawing lovers. This article being the first of the batch, is going to cover some tips I learned from my early days of practice as a color pencil drawing beginner and enthusiast.
What will I talk about:
- Cleaning up pencil residue
- The best way to blend your color pencil colors
- Why do you need a kneaded eraser
- The power of toned papers
- Building your layers (with and without markers)
- Starting off with a neat sketch
- On drawing hairs
Disclosure: This blog post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission if you purchase the products I recommend. While purchasing the products I recommend won’t cost you any extra money, they will help me keep this blog up and running. Thank you for your support!
Make sure to invest in a great-quality color pencil set
My favorite, and the ones you see all over TikTok, Instagram, and Pinterest, are these Prismacolor pencils. And let me tell you, they’re totally worth the hype.
1- Use a makeup brush to clean up your pencil residue
I know that using your hands is tempting but just don’t. Never brush away the residue of your colored pencils with your hands because that’s the shortest road to smudging your colored pencil drawing. A soft makeup brush or any soft brush really does a perfect job of brushing away the colored pencil residue. Just lightly brush it away! no need to put any pressure or drag the brush over your surface. Less is always more!
2- Use a mid-shade colored pencil to blend your colors together and go in a circular motion
Color pencil drawing requires a lot of blending for the best outlook. And there are two tips I learned from my own practice. The first is that using a white pencil in a circular motion does a magnificent job of blending edges and creating smoother gradients. The second is that, if you feel like the white pencil is taking away from the brightness of your colors, use a shade that is in the middle of the two colors you have laid down. You might need to refer to the color wheel for some color theory knowledge on this.
3- Get that kneaded eraser
I know a handful of art supplies are gimmicky and you don’t really need them that much. But allow me to tell you that as a color pencil drawing beginner, you need a kneaded eraser for so many things. You can use it to erase some of your baseline sketches before you start adding color in, you can also use it to lighten your color on needed occasions and you can use it to blend away harsh lines and attain smoother finishes. It’s really useful and I highly recommend it over normal erasers.
Read this: Do I need to buy expensive art supplies to make great art?
4- Toned paper over white paper
Definitely a personal favorite though! So you may not agree with me as much on this one. I am a big-toned paper person over white paper because for some reason colors don’t come off as accurate on white paper as they do on toned paper (my personal favorite is tan). I recently discovered this vintage-toned Virgin Cotton Handmade Paper and I can’t wait to try it out.
5- Building colored pencils over markers
No idea why I have always thought it should go the other way around. But a great tip I picked up from the Copic markers‘ artists online is that colored pencil drawings look so flawless and perfect when the color is built on top of a marker base. Check out this artist on IG to see what the process and the end results of building colored pencil drawings over markers look like.
6- Always start off with a neat sketch of your idea
Can’t stress this enough but sketches create a clear roadmap for you as a beginner to work with less stress! It’s the ideal way to enjoy the creation process and make better creative decisions. You can always add changes along the way and erase what you don’t like, but starting off with a sketch prevents art blocks and frustrations from taking place.
7- Impress your paper and sharpen your colored pencils properly to draw hairs
Many artists find drawing hair, lashes, or whiskers very challenging and I’m not gonna lie it indeed takes a decent amount of practice to achieve your aimed results with hair in color pencil drawing as a beginner. However, a bit of a shortcut would be to sharpen your colored pencils properly because having a sharp tip gives you great control over your details and the second one would be to impress your paper! use the sharp tip of an empty mechanical pencil or the edge of a cutter to lightly impress your paper and then build your color over them. That will create a hair-like texture and will make your life easier as a color pencil drawing beginner.
Conclusion
Add your color pencil tips in the comments and enjoy creating <3
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