Colored Pencil Portrait Drawing of a Girl and her Cat
I’ve been experimenting a bit with colored pencil portrait drawing on various papers, and testing methods of blending.
The surprise in all the methods I tested to smooth the waxy pigments – even on toothy paper – was not the tool I expected to be the best choice – a blending pen.
I thought for sure I’d have to use one form or another of a liquid to break down the pencil’s dry pigments in order to get them to blend or to soften their edges.
Blending Colored Pencils
I’ve used colored pencil blending pens, paper pastel stomps, and brushed-on blending medium to merge layers of various temperatures and hues in colored pencils.
Who doesn’t love trying a new art supply? But after purchasing each of the manufacturer’s recommended blending options, the tool that worked the best (and easiest) was paper towels! (I use Bounty in printmaking, painting and drawing projects, because they shed less lint.)
The only caveat is that the paper under your drawing has to be sturdy. You can see my paper towel in the photo above.
I had just used it to blend blue, orange and green into the folds of the yellow butterfly dress around the neck and arm. The paper I used was not damaged after rubbing. But soft, pulpy paper will pill and roll when rubbed too much while blending the pencils.
Some of the pigment comes off the paper onto the paper towel, but plenty stays put, and merges into new colors quite nicely. My only tool then was my finger tip with the paper towel wrapped around it. Simplicity!
On this drawing, I used Strathmore drawing paper, which has a bit of tooth, and it held up beautifully against the friction of paper towel scumbling. Who knew?
Skin Tones and Colored Pencils
I find that skin tones can be challenging with colored pencils. (I’ve been using and liking Schpirerr Farben and Amazon branded colored pencils lately) It’s tempting to select one colored pencil with your best guess at skin tone, but just like with painting, there are many, many colors in skin.
I find it helps to isolate a section you’re working on and ask yourself – is this warmer or cooler in color? And then – is it redder, yellower, bluer than the skin next to it?? Is it lighter or darker? Asking that way gives a bit of Q&A structure to the blink-and-stare process of examining colors.
I usually start with a neutral color and then layer several transparent layers of color and temperature. While layering colored pencil, if one color is more potent than the other, it can completely cover the previous layers. That’s when the paper towel worked best.
The cat’s fur has brown, blue, purple, green and burgundy colors blended together in his stripes.
By buffing the uppermost colored pencil in a 2-4 layer application, I found that all four hues merged together a little more wholesomely. It took less squinting to really see the desired effect.
Colored Pencil Tools
If you’re a colored pencil aficionado, please leave a comment with your best tools. I always discover such treasures when you share details of your studio practice in the comments, and I’m grateful for that.
I don’t mean to discount other colored pencil blending options, because some of them are very cool. Have you ever tried Holbein Meltz colored pencil blender? It’s like a magic liquification tool, and well worth experimenting with. Especially on landscapes and floral drawings.
But if you’ve never tried a good old fashioned paper towel, I hope you give it a spin on your next colored pencil drawing.
Thanks for stopping by and I’ll see you in the next post –
Belinda
P.S In this post, you can learn about the difference between watercolor pencils and standard colored pencils.
Art Quote
Creative work needs solitude. It needs concentration, without interruptions. It needs the whole sky to fly in, and no eye watching until it comes to that certainty which it aspires to, but does not necessarily have at once. Privacy, then. A place apart — to pace, to chew pencils, to scribble and erase and scribble again.
But just as often, if not more often, the interruption comes not from another but from the self itself, or some other self within the self, that whistles and pounds upon the door panels and tosses itself, splashing, into the pond of meditation. And what does it have to say? That you must phone the dentist, that you are out of mustard, that your uncle Stanley’s birthday is two weeks hence. You react, of course. Then you return to your work, only to find that the imps of idea have fled back into the mist ~ Mary Oliver
Hi Belinda! Long time follower, hardly ever commenter…🤷♀️😬. That said, I truly love your work!
Your pencil work is beautiful, but if I may offer a couple of suggestions. Colored pencil always has limits with layering and one of my long time frustrations with colored pencil has been the waxiness that eventually comes around. I have found hot press watercolor paper (Arches is a fav of mine) is the best paper for me to work on. Because it doesn’t have as much tooth, the pencil goes down smoothly and one can add layers almost without blending (at least not having to blend for a longer time). When I did have to blend, a larger smudge did the trick, but often I would actually burnish with the Verithin colored pencils— I think the slightly harder lead did the trick for blending the best for me; I simply used the next color I wanted with the verithin and found an excellent burnishing quality. If you find a need for solvent, many will do…I tended to use rubbing alcohol. I did find one has to be really careful with any solvent as once the colors get melded together by being liquified, they can get muddy…just a word to the wise on that.. Okay, and now how to cheat….sorta…I sometimes would put a very thin layer of pan pastel for the back ground as a first layer.. It gets worked into the paper and the colored pencil goes right over it and I do not think it inhibited layering at all.
Finally, there is an organization for everything, right? Well, the Colored Pencil Society of America (CPSA has artists with jaw-dropping work, but also a lot of very good information on light fastness and helpful things to know about the various brands of colored pencil and there benefits and limitations. I hope this is useful to you!!!
Dear Nancy, Thank you for this very excellent Wagin load of resources and great ideas to try. I am a huge fan of hot press paper – but for watercolors. Ive never even considered it for colored pencil, but as I read your comment, I thought “Of course! Smooth paper – easy pigment transfer!” Thank you for that. Thanks also for the tip about using a harder pencil over the waxy softer pencils as a blending method. Mechanically, and materially, that makes perfect sense. And rubbing alcohol? Who knew?! What a treasure you are! And your work is just lovely! Thanks so much for your visit, and your tips and your generosity. You are a gem. (A wise gem. Is there such a thing? I think it’s you.) It’s good to meet you. 🙂 Belinda