Why I Love Coloured Pencils
Why I Love Coloured Pencils
Coloured pencils are easy to use
Open the box, sharpen the pencils (if necessary), grab a piece of paper, and start drawing. You don’t need to prepare a painting surface, mix a palette, or—best of all—wear protective clothing.
Coloured pencils are clean, you don’t have to worry about getting them on your hands, clothing, or the things around you. You won’t find traces of them some unexpected place in the house because you brushed against wet paint without knowing it and transferred that colour to other parts of the house.
No drying time
One of my main complaints about airbrushing or oil painting was waiting for paint to dry. That’s not a concern with coloured pencil drawing.
Unless you use solvents to blend or work with watercolour pencils.
All those luscious colours!
What artist doesn’t love colour? And there are so many!
Coloured pencils go everywhere
Coloured pencils are easily transportable. Throw a few supplies into your bag and you’re ready to go. Anywhere. Everywhere.
No smelly solvents (unless I want them)
I can make a beautiful drawing without having to breathe solvent fumes.
I can create a range of affects from soft focus to tight detail
Fine art coloured pencils are much more versatile than the coloured pencils I used at school. Almost everything that could be done with brush and paint can be done with coloured pencils.
Coloured pencils look—and work—great on so many different surfaces
We all know about drawing on paper. A lot of us have tried mat board, too. But what about sanded art papers, wood, canvas, or even Mylar? Coloured pencils work on all of them and produce unique and interesting effects on each type of surface.
Nothing else captures ‘found’ texture quite as well as coloured pencils
I’ve added interesting and unique textures to more than one drawing simply by laying the paper on a textured surface and lightly—or maybe not so lightly—shading over the paper. What a great way to add visual interest quickly and easily.
Coloured pencils are perfect for making small format and miniature art
The thing that turns so many people away from coloured pencil is the very thing that makes them ideal for small format and miniature art. The thin colour core. What better medium for drawing details on artwork that’s 4×6 or less?
Bonus: You don’t need special tools…except for maybe a magnifying glass.
Coloured pencils are perfect for drawing hair
Coloured pencils are also fabulous for drawing hair. One of the things I love most about drawing portraits is drawing those details in the hair. I find it hard to paint details with and airbrush, oils and very small brushes, but coloured pencils are far more satisfactory.
Let me know why you love colour pencils in the comments below