Let’s talk about paper showing through color layers in your colored pencil work. Is it good or bad?
Today’s post arose from a recent reader question. The reader didn’t actually ask about paper holes, but I thought it was a good topic because there are differing opinions on letting paper show through colored pencil artwork.
Paper Showing through Color
Bad
For those of us who like our work to look realistic, letting paper show through color layers seems like a bad thing.
I started out as an oil painter, so I prefer color that covers every inch of the surface (whatever the surface is.) That was easier with oil paintings than with colored pencils, because oils are wet. They tend to “sink” into a canvas. But I’d sometimes still see pinpoints of light shining through my finished canvases when I held them up to a light source.
I hated that!
So it’s no surprise that my personal preference is to have no paper holes showing through color layers on my colored pencil pieces. For me, paper holes are to be filled in. No question about it.
Most of the time.
Good
But letting paper show through color can be helpful, too.
Here’s one of my finished pieces, Afternoon Graze. Seen this way, it looks like I’ve filled all the paper holes, doesn’t it?
But look at this detail.
See all those tiny little white dots in both horses? That’s paper showing through.
Yes, I’ve filled in the paper holes in some parts of the horses, and in most of the background.
But many other areas, the paper is not completely covered. The dark horse in particular shows a lot of paper holes.
Is that a bad thing?
Not at all.
Letting paper show through layers of color lightens the values in those areas. The color of the paper itself helped me show distance, reflected light on the black horse, and texture throughout the composition.
Letting the paper show is also a great way to show distance. It naturally de-saturates the color, making it look more distant than whatever is in the foreground. This detail (also from Afternoon Graze) shows the line of trees in the middle distance. Look between them at the trees that are far away.
Yes, I used lighter colors there, but there’s also paper showing through those colors. That keeps the colors soft and lighter in value, and that makes the shapes look very far away.
I’ve used the color of the paper to draw mist or fog, too, and it’s great for that, especially if you lightly layer color, then lift it with mounting putty.
In all of these situations, letting paper show through the color layers was good. It achieved the look I wanted AND saved time. I didn’t have to do as much layering or blending!
Getting Rid of Paper Holes
So you can see the advantage of letting paper show through layers of color, but you want to fill in all those nasty paper holes anyway. What’s the best way to do that?
My favorite method is lots and lots of layers applied with light pressure. The more layers you add, the more paper holes you fill in. It’s also a good way to develop value and color depth if you alternate two or three different colors.
Mixing the types of strokes you use from one layer to the next can also help fill in paper holes.
In this simple illustration, I layered green over a fairly textured paper. I started with light pressure, then gradually increased the pressure as I added layers. By the time I finished, the color covered all of the paper.
You can also use solvents to blend. Solvent liquefies the pigment, letting it soak into and stain the paper. The paper holes may not be filled in with pigment, but they are no longer white (or whatever color the paper is.) Just make sure the paper you use can handle solvent without warping, buckling, or falling apart.
Burnishing is also a good way to force pigment down into the tooth of the paper. You also crush the tooth when you burnish, further filling in paper holes.
You need to burnish toward the end of the drawing process, though. It can be difficult to add more color after burnishing.
What Finally Helped me Get Past Paper Showing Through Layers of Color
You might have to do what I eventually had to do. Stop holding those canvases up against the light and looking for pinpoints of light!
In other words, I stopped looking at my art work so closely.
I know. That’s hard to do when you’re working on it. Using colored pencils is such a personal thing.
But I eventually figured out that my works looked pretty good when viewed at normal viewing distance of six feet or more. I still didn’t like seeing paper holes, but I couldn’t see them from across the room.
That’s why it’s important to take a step back and view your work from a distance. If you like the way it looks from a distance, then maybe it’s okay if paper shows through when you look at it up close.
