Medium: Color Pencils

I used to think that I would like colored pencils until I finally owned some. At the time I found them irritating to work with; they constantly broke and I spent too much time needing to sharpen them. I also found blending difficult though believe this is mostly because of my lack of skill with them. I am finding this to be true for most new things I try.

I was asked to use color pencils to complete this 4 part piece. My personal preference would’ve been to do a watercolor piece but my client knew what she wanted.

I learned that working with colored pencils is very similar to watercolors in that you need to plan ahead with your color application becasue there will be a lot of layering and cross hatching. In terms of photorealism, I am learning to approach an image with a plan. Much of my color planing happens while I am outlining the images on my paper. While I am thinking about outlining my dark areas and “lines” I am also thinking about what makes those areas stand out (the contrast) and how I would do that with my colors.

I still need to develop how I would like to use colored pencils and I am willing to practice and do more work using them.