How to Use Coloured Pencils
Updated: Aug 4, 2021
Hey friends, welcome to my blog! Today I'll be sharing with you different techniques for coloured pencils (aka pencil crayons). Also, I'll give you some insight into some of my favourite brands that I use for my own artwork. This blog is for any creative person, whether you're a professional artist or just getting started on your artistic journey.
How to Hold Coloured Pencils
Hold your pencil in the middle or near the end. This encourages you to not put a lot of pressure on your coloured pencils, since too much pressure too quickly makes it difficult to erase and could potentially indent and damage the paper.
Holding your pencil near the middle or end also allows you to make bigger marks on the paper.
If you hold the pencil at a bit of an angle, it will be easier to colour big areas quickly and you won’t need to sharpen your pencil as often.
How to Create Tints and Shades
Tint refers to how much white or lightness there is in a colour.
To lighten a colour, gradually add more white and less of the original colour.
Shades refer to how much darkness is in a colour.
Shades are when black or another dark colour is added to the original colour.
The chart below is an example of tints and shades that you can practice at home. Tints are on the left, from numbers 1-4. The original red is number 5. Shades are on the right from 6-10.
Blending
Gently layer two or more colours on top of one another to blend them. Blending two colours together will also create new colours.
You can use white to blend colours together. Be mindful that white will also lighten colours
Instead of white, you could use a colourless wax blender. This blender looks like a pencil crayon, but it has no colour, only wax. The wax will blend colours together without lightening them.
You do not need to push hard to layer or blend, as the pressure can cause your paper to warp and the wax to be compressed, making it harder to blend and add other colours.
Keep in mind that coloured pencils blend differently than pencil, charcoal and chalk pastels, and tend to take more time.
Highlights
Highlights are areas that are lighter and reflect light.
To create highlights, as you colour, plan where your highlights will be and leave some white paper showing.
You can also colour and then erase the pencil crayon to create highlights. A fine tip eraser is great for smaller areas.
Another way to add highlights is to use other media on top of your drawing. Gouache and acrylic paint works great for highlights, just make sure to not add a lot of water, as the water can warp and damage paper. A white gel pen also works well for highlights.