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Colored Pencils
Tyra Smith Cloud9@netnet.net
I always use SEVERAL Colors of pencils...and start out with the lightest color I will be using...then just apply one color over the top of the base color until I get the exact shading I want. Colored pencils are translucent in nature, so you dont actually cover up one color if you put another color on top of it. I just layer color on top of color until I get the affect I want. :-) I always do a PRACTICE card on scratch paper, just to perfect the card design and color pencil scheme. I LISTEN to my pencils when they talk to me...LOL You work from the BOTTOM of the image and come up thru to the top/surface of an image...think about it like it was 3-dish, layer after layer from bottom to top. I would suggest you read the book -"The Colored Pencil" by Bet Bogeson. That's what got me on the right tract with the pencils!!!! ANd 99% of my artwork IS done with pencils and pastels. :-) This is NOT a difficult medium (colored pencils) to work with. You really need to spend some time practicing with them...I learned on crayola brand pencils...then when I felt comfy with that...I bought the ENTIRE set of Berol Prismacolor pencils..... There is a BIG difference between the two brands, and I will NEVER use anything but BEROL now...but crayola are GREAT to learn on...AND inexpensive as well. It's really a LOT like coloring in a coloring book. You need to think about when you were a child, and you got that new box of crayons. Remember what they smelled like???? Remember the excitement and the desperate search to find a coloring book that had SOME uncolored pages??? LOL I can still remember that myself. REMEMBER above all....how much FUN you had with them. The more fun you have with your pencils the better your artwork will be. I guess it's my opinion....we all need to bring out the "inner" child... remember the FUN and get back into that frame of mind...where you're NOT afraid to try ANYTHING...LOL Besides...no one has to see you intial efforts...your screws ups....the cards you feel are not very good. LOL trash them, save them, give them away, the only thing that matters is you REMEMBER how and why something didn't work, and don't repeat it. I have a trick to using the pastels. I'll try to explain as best I can. There are 3 types of pastels (all of which come in stick form) oil, hard and soft. The hard and soft LOOK EXACTLY alike, but work differently. I use the HARD pastels. These pasetls, when colored OVER pencil work, give a very unique affect. For instance, if you color a line of trees with green pencils... then you use the pastels to create like a sunset or sunrise, you brush them OVER the trees, and above to look like sun/sky. The yellows/oranges/reds of the sun will actually look like they are shining THRU the trees, from back behind them to the front of them out and towards you. it's REALLY cool, and the trees retain their green coloring. With the pastels, and pencils too, you can layer color over color... never loosing any one color, but they do combine very well. Pencils are translucent in nature... so two colors combine well to create a third, with hints of the first and second colors still remaining. Pastels blend beautiful....either to create a third color, or to have a color peeking thru amdist other colors. This is how I use my pastels. I take a craft knife, and scrape it down the side, creating a little puddle of colored powder. Then I use eye shadow applicators and make up sponges (the cheapo ones you can get for next to nothing at dollar stores and Wal-mart) and "swish" the color on the areas I want it on. That's all I did with that background on the card. You can get as exact, or not, as you want. Sometimes I use my fingers to swish color...but you have to be careful not to get oil from your hands on the cards as you work the pastels or you end up with a very visible finger print...LOL The key to using pencils...is to NOT look for just the right color to use, but combine and layer multiple colors. You create shading and depth this way...start out very light, and work your way up to dark. You can layer a light coat of black over just about any of darker colors to create an instant shading affect...and white over a color will lighten it and blend it. I've also started using pastel pencils for some detail work when I'm using pencils and pastel sticks. They work really well for shading and little details you want to stand out.
I always use SEVERAL Colors of pencils...and start out with the lightest color I will be using...then just apply one color over the top of the base color until I get the exact shading I want. Colored pencils are translucent in nature, so you dont actually cover up one color if you put another color on top of it. I just layer color on top of color until I get the affect I want. :-) I always do a PRACTICE card on scratch paper, just to perfect the card design and color pencil scheme. I LISTEN to my pencils when they talk to me...LOL You work from the BOTTOM of the image and come up thru to the top/surface of an image...think about it like it was 3-dish, layer after layer from bottom to top. I would suggest you read the book -"The Colored Pencil" by Bet Bogeson. That's what got me on the right tract with the pencils!!!! ANd 99% of my artwork IS done with pencils and pastels. :-) This is NOT a difficult medium (colored pencils) to work with. You really need to spend some time practicing with them...I learned on crayola brand pencils...then when I felt comfy with that...I bought the ENTIRE set of Berol Prismacolor pencils..... There is a BIG difference between the two brands, and I will NEVER use anything but BEROL now...but crayola are GREAT to learn on...AND inexpensive as well. It's really a LOT like coloring in a coloring book. You need to think about when you were a child, and you got that new box of crayons. Remember what they smelled like???? Remember the excitement and the desperate search to find a coloring book that had SOME uncolored pages??? LOL I can still remember that myself. REMEMBER above all....how much FUN you had with them. The more fun you have with your pencils the better your artwork will be. I guess it's my opinion....we all need to bring out the "inner" child... remember the FUN and get back into that frame of mind...where you're NOT afraid to try ANYTHING...LOL Besides...no one has to see you intial efforts...your screws ups....the cards you feel are not very good. LOL trash them, save them, give them away, the only thing that matters is you REMEMBER how and why something didn't work, and don't repeat it. I have a trick to using the pastels. I'll try to explain as best I can. There are 3 types of pastels (all of which come in stick form) oil, hard and soft. The hard and soft LOOK EXACTLY alike, but work differently. I use the HARD pastels. These pasetls, when colored OVER pencil work, give a very unique affect. For instance, if you color a line of trees with green pencils... then you use the pastels to create like a sunset or sunrise, you brush them OVER the trees, and above to look like sun/sky. The yellows/oranges/reds of the sun will actually look like they are shining THRU the trees, from back behind them to the front of them out and towards you. it's REALLY cool, and the trees retain their green coloring. With the pastels, and pencils too, you can layer color over color... never loosing any one color, but they do combine very well. Pencils are translucent in nature... so two colors combine well to create a third, with hints of the first and second colors still remaining. Pastels blend beautiful....either to create a third color, or to have a color peeking thru amdist other colors. This is how I use my pastels. I take a craft knife, and scrape it down the side, creating a little puddle of colored powder. Then I use eye shadow applicators and make up sponges (the cheapo ones you can get for next to nothing at dollar stores and Wal-mart) and "swish" the color on the areas I want it on. That's all I did with that background on the card. You can get as exact, or not, as you want. Sometimes I use my fingers to swish color...but you have to be careful not to get oil from your hands on the cards as you work the pastels or you end up with a very visible finger print...LOL The key to using pencils...is to NOT look for just the right color to use, but combine and layer multiple colors. You create shading and depth this way...start out very light, and work your way up to dark. You can layer a light coat of black over just about any of darker colors to create an instant shading affect...and white over a color will lighten it and blend it. I've also started using pastel pencils for some detail work when I'm using pencils and pastel sticks. They work really well for shading and little details you want to stand out.
Latex Linnzie (Linn Karnaugh) linniek@prodigy.net
Yesterday, my DH took me to our county's only large arts and crafts emporium. While browsing and conspicuously consuming, I noticed the Berol Primacolor pencils on sale for $59.00. This is the box of 120, packed with a bonus book. This store also sells the pencils individually. Well, since I had never tried these pencils, I asked the salesperson if she had some sample pencils to test. She told me that I could take any of the loose ones, sharpen them, and then test them. I did and I bought them. When I got home, I immediately started to play. As Angelhrt and others have already described, the final effect of these pencils is additive. Well, since they're pretty impervious to water, I took my Studio 2 Blender Pen, and stroked over some of the areas where I wanted subtle shading, et voila...subtle shading. I also tried the Studio 2 Blender on some Derwent pastel pencil drawings and it did a rather nice job as well. Didn't mean to mislead anyone. The Studio 2 Blender does work as I described, but today I dredged up a Berol Prismacolor Clear Blender that I musta bought around four years ago After sniffing the nibs , I decided that it smelled just like the Studio 2 one, and both smell like denatured alcohol So you can take your pick: The Berol blender is much fatter, the Studio 2 is similar to a LePlumeII in diameter.
Yesterday, my DH took me to our county's only large arts and crafts emporium. While browsing and conspicuously consuming, I noticed the Berol Primacolor pencils on sale for $59.00. This is the box of 120, packed with a bonus book. This store also sells the pencils individually. Well, since I had never tried these pencils, I asked the salesperson if she had some sample pencils to test. She told me that I could take any of the loose ones, sharpen them, and then test them. I did and I bought them
a.larue@juno.com
Subject: RS: Shrink Plastic and colored pencils
After all the discussion about inks and shrinks, I thought I'd share how I resolved the problem.. .Was working on a project and did not have access to stamp stores so had to figure out a way to "makedo" with the crafters pigment ink and my colored pencils. I was doing earrings, and using a rather intricate sunshine design . The ink smeared when I tried to color in the design, and it was too detailed to do the color one side and stamp the other method. So, I stamped the sun onto a piece of paper, slid it under the shrink plastic, colored the plastic as desired, and then, I used my PIP stamp positioner to stamp the crafter ink over the already colored design. Voila...design was colored and ready for the oven with no smears. Worked like a charm.
Subject: RS: Shrink Plastic and colored pencils
After all the discussion about inks and shrinks, I thought I'd share how I resolved the problem.. .Was working on a project and did not have access to stamp stores so had to figure out a way to "makedo" with the crafters pigment ink and my colored pencils. I was doing earrings, and using a rather intricate sunshine design . The ink smeared when I tried to color in the design, and it was too detailed to do the color one side and stamp the other method. So, I stamped the sun onto a piece of paper, slid it under the shrink plastic, colored the plastic as desired, and then, I used my PIP stamp positioner to stamp the crafter ink over the already colored design. Voila...design was colored and ready for the oven with no smears. Worked like a charm.
Ellen Gordon (Evo) evo@pobox.com
Someone emailed me the other day about how to blend colored pencils, so I thought I'd share my method here. When I talk of blending, I'm referring to applying layers of color over layers of color. I'm talking light layers of color... not the push-the-pencil-down-hard-to-get-the-color-as-dark-as-I-can type of layer. And looking close, you'll actually see tiny particles of all the individual colors that you've used in the area, but the appearance from a distance is a totally different color from any of them. For instance in water ... I may start with a layer of blue... then use yellow over the blue in areas where I want more of a green cast .... or maybe red or purple over areas of the blue, depending on my mood, or work up the page into oranges and pinks and yellows for a sunset... but always in layers. When I'm using colored pencils (which I dearly love!) to color my stampings... I also like to use regular lead pencils (which I also dearly love!) to add depth and create muted colors in the shadows. For example: leaves ... I may start out with a medium green, then blend a yellow into the green where the sunlight hits, a deeper blue-green over other areas and use a lead pencil over leaves or areas that are in the back-ground or completely out of the sunlight. This method of blending works really well also, moving from light to dark... rather than starting with a middle color as I just described. And... for you monochromatic lovers... try coloring your stampings with lead pencils only! Absolutely stunning results can be achieved by moving from stark white to light layers of pencil to darker layers back to light with all the variations of darks and lights in between. Hints on artist quality lead pencils... H stands for Hard lead.... and the higher the number by the H, the harder the lead. ex: 2 H lead is hard, but 6H is much, much harder. B stands for Soft Lead... and the higher the number by the B, the softer the lead. ex: 2 B lead is soft, but 6B is much, much softer. Hints for using colored pencils.... If you want a blue sky, don't just choose a blue and color the sky in. Use several blues...add some orange or magenta or yellow or purple or green! Make that sky reflect what your feeling is for the card you're creating. Watch how your own mood changes, as you use different colors. What you feel when coloring is the feeling you inspire in the viewer of your stamped artwork. Water? Reflect in the water what you use in the sky. That's what Mother Nature does! A beach scene? Ditto! Mother nature also uses colors on the beach to reflect what she has painted in the sky. People? Yes! In the highlights and shadows of people under a sky... you see some of the same colors. We do indeed reflect our environment. Don't be afraid to experiment with color! Do what feels good to you and looks good to you. Go for it! Use pure color....blend colors... layer one color over another! It's exciting !And, again, if you're not sure you will like colored pencil and are hesitating... spring for the Crayola first. They are soft, super blendable, and user friendly.
Someone emailed me the other day about how to blend colored pencils, so I thought I'd share my method here. When I talk of blending, I'm referring to applying layers of color over layers of color. I'm talking light layers of color... not the push-the-pencil-down-hard-to-get-the-color-as-dark-as-I-can type of layer. And looking close, you'll actually see tiny particles of all the individual colors that you've used in the area, but the appearance from a distance is a totally different color from any of them. For instance in water ... I may start with a layer of blue... then use yellow over the blue in areas where I want more of a green cast .... or maybe red or purple over areas of the blue, depending on my mood, or work up the page into oranges and pinks and yellows for a sunset... but always in layers. When I'm using colored pencils (which I dearly love!) to color my stampings... I also like to use regular lead pencils (which I also dearly love!) to add depth and create muted colors in the shadows. For example: leaves ... I may start out with a medium green, then blend a yellow into the green where the sunlight hits, a deeper blue-green over other areas and use a lead pencil over leaves or areas that are in the back-ground or completely out of the sunlight. This method of blending works really well also, moving from light to dark... rather than starting with a middle color as I just described. And... for you monochromatic lovers... try coloring your stampings with lead pencils only! Absolutely stunning results can be achieved by moving from stark white to light layers of pencil to darker layers back to light with all the variations of darks and lights in between. Hints on artist quality lead pencils... H stands for Hard lead.... and the higher the number by the H, the harder the lead. ex: 2 H lead is hard, but 6H is much, much harder. B stands for Soft Lead... and the higher the number by the B, the softer the lead. ex: 2 B lead is soft, but 6B is much, much softer. Hints for using colored pencils.... If you want a blue sky, don't just choose a blue and color the sky in. Use several blues...add some orange or magenta or yellow or purple or green! Make that sky reflect what your feeling is for the card you're creating. Watch how your own mood changes, as you use different colors. What you feel when coloring is the feeling you inspire in the viewer of your stamped artwork. Water? Reflect in the water what you use in the sky. That's what Mother Nature does! A beach scene? Ditto! Mother nature also uses colors on the beach to reflect what she has painted in the sky. People? Yes! In the highlights and shadows of people under a sky... you see some of the same colors. We do indeed reflect our environment. Don't be afraid to experiment with color! Do what feels good to you and looks good to you. Go for it! Use pure color....blend colors... layer one color over another! It's exciting !And, again, if you're not sure you will like colored pencil and are hesitating... spring for the Crayola first. They are soft, super blendable, and user friendly.
Justine.Tamaro@centigram.com
I use colored pencils a lot, I also love to emboss. The sad truth is that these two just plain don't mix very well!! Even if the ep doesn't peel off you usually have a white "halo" around the inside of your image where the pencil missed. The real "cure" is to try embossing and watercolors. The watercolors get into every last little nook and cranny and leave a beautiful soft finish with shading, much like the pencils.
I use colored pencils a lot, I also love to emboss. The sad truth is that these two just plain don't mix very well!! Even if the ep doesn't peel off you usually have a white "halo" around the inside of your image where the pencil missed. The real "cure" is to try embossing and watercolors. The watercolors get into every last little nook and cranny and leave a beautiful soft finish with shading, much like the pencils.
Dawn sunrise@wolfenet.com
Use a stamp positioner. First stamp the image in a light ink. color it in with pencils. Now use the positioner to re-stamp and emboss. Stargazer taught me this. It looks great!
Use a stamp positioner. First stamp the image in a light ink. color it in with pencils. Now use the positioner to re-stamp and emboss. Stargazer taught me this. It looks great!
Ann Graham barbiec@ebicom.net
I have used the embossing pens also to go around the image and embossed. I don't care how many times I use my positioner, it never gets straight...
For information on related topics see:
Tutorials: Diamond Mosaics, Fisherman's Haven, Little Brown Church
Product Reviews: Colored Pencils
I have used the embossing pens also to go around the image and embossed. I don't care how many times I use my positioner, it never gets straight...
For information on related topics see:
Tutorials: Diamond Mosaics, Fisherman's Haven, Little Brown Church
Product Reviews: Colored Pencils