Putting the Fun Back into Colored Pencils
Drawing with colored pencils can grow tedious, especially if they’re your business. Learn how to put the fun back into colored pencils.
Choosing Colors for Outdoor Drawing
I’ve been developing the habit of drawing outside for a couple of years, now. It began with the first Colored Pencil Plain Air Drawing Autumn Challenge in 2016. I talked about a lot of things related to plein air drawing back then, but there is one topic I neglected: Choosing colors …
How to Draw Crisp Edges with Colored Pencils
Welcome back to our year-end question and answer month. Today’s question comes from Penny, who wants to know how to draw crisp edges with colored pencil. Hello, Carrie. I find keeping a really crisp edge, tricky. I do use a well sharpened pencil but find shading spoils the line of …
Getting Past the Amateurish Look
One thing most beginning colored pencil artist struggle with is getting past the amateurish look. Tips to make your art look more professional.
4 General Colored Pencil Tips
Today, I want to share four general colored pencil tips resulting from reader questions. Topics include tips for drawing water, drawing fur, drawing on colored paper, and a question about color theory. Four General Colored Pencil Tips 1. What Tips Do You Suggest for Drawing Water? The best tip I …
The Grid Method of Drawing Explained
If you’re a portrait artist, or any artist working in realism, an accurate line drawing is essential. There are many ways to produce accurate line drawings, including the method I’ve used for most of my artistic life. The grid method of drawing. The plain and simple fact is that I’ve …
Can You Make Colored Pencil Permanent on Fabric
I’ve gotten a few questions from readers asking how to make colored pencil permanent on fabric. Almost to the person, the problem has been colors that either fade with use or wash out when laundered. This isn’t a typical topic for this blog, but it’s a holiday day (happy Labor …
How to Keep Colors From Fading
Do you wish you knew how to keep colors from fading on your colored pencil drawings? You’re not alone. I recently received the following reader question. I have been dealing with a problem with my colored pencils in that after I color a leaf or something, the color starts to …
Get Smooth Color with Water Soluble Colored Pencil
Over the past few months, I’ve talked about using water soluble colored pencils or watercolor to speed up the drawing process for colored pencil work. In a recent tutorial, I even described the process step by step. One thing I didn’t really talk much about was how to get smooth …
How to Make a Color Lighter
Is it possible to fix a colored pencil drawing that’s too dark? 3 tips on how to make a color lighter, even if you’ve burnished it.
