As artist and teacher Ann Swan says:
“Coloured pencil is an ideal medium… It is immediate, portable, easily manipulated and very forgiving, making it useful for both the beginner and the more accomplished artist.”
Some people believe that coloured pencil artwork always has a light, grainy appearance and is not lightfast. This is only true of the inexpensive, hard pencils for children you might find at the paper shop. Artists-quality coloured pencils are lovely to work with and can produce rich, beautiful drawings. A softer pencil lets you get more colour down and a bit harder (but sill softer than a cheap pencil) let you keep a finer point for creating intricate detail. Artists-quality coloured pencils will state the lightfast rating, either on the pencil or on a colour chart, as each pigment will be different.
There are many advantages to using coloured pencil as your art material. They are less toxic to use and don’t generally present a dust-breathing hazard (still be careful with pastel pencils). You don’t have to wait for them to dry. They take up little space and are not messy or smelly. They are easily portable. Using a variety of techniques: dry, wet, with solvent, burnished, embossing the paper, and more, you can find a method that works for what you are trying to create.
Coloured pencils are generally divided into three groups based on the core of the pencil: oil/wax, water-soluble, and pastel. The types can be combined with each other and with other media. Water-soluble pencils can be used dry or only partially wetted. Pastel artists might use soft pastel for the majority of a painting but then use pastel pencil for intricate areas where they need more control.
Surfaces and accessories: There are papers that many coloured pencil artists prefer, sharpeners that are cut at an angle designed to reduce breakage for fragile pastel pencils, a variety of blenders for wax pencils and different types of cases for storing pencils. All of these are covered in more detail below.
Two great sources of in-depth Coloured Pencil information are:
penciltopics.co.uk
makingamark.blogspot.co.uk
In the UK the body for coloured pencil artists is the UK Coloured Pencil Society (UKCPS)
The paper was embossed with lines with the dull side of a stanley knife before being drawn over.
Coloured pencils that are available at Jackson’s Art:
Jackson’s Art stock over 30 ranges of coloured pencils in the Drawing Materials Department.
Oil/Wax-based Coloured Pencils
All except the bottom two have lightfastness ratings.
- Caran Dache Pablo
120 colours in singles and sets (wax and oil based) - Caran d’Ache Luminance
76 colours in singles and sets (the softest pencil, with a very popular white) - Faber Castell Polychromos
120 colours in singles and sets (wax and oil based) (consistently the favourite brand in the Best coloured Pencil poll on Making a Mark) - Derwent Coloursoft
72 colours in singles and sets - Cretacolor Karmina
36 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Artists
120 colours only in sets - Derwent Studio (the same core as Derwent Artists but slim hexagonal barrel)
72 colours in singles and sets - Koh-I-Noor Polycolor
72 colours only in sets - Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor
72 colours only in sets (wax and oil based) - Staedtler ErgoSoft
24 colours only in sets (no claim to lightfastness, easy-grip, special layer in the wood reduces breakage of the core, easel stand) - Derwent Academy
36 colours only available in sets (no claim to lightfastness, they are a bit hard, student quality)
Watersoluble Coloured Pencils
Water-soluble pencils
Left side is dry, right side is wetted in parts
Blue and red are Museum Aquarelle, the black and yellow are Lyra Aquarelle. Note how the Museum dissolves more easily and completely.
Can be used dry or wetted.
All except the bottom one have lightfastness ratings.
- Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle
76 colours in singles and sets - Faber Castell Albrecht Durer
120 colours in singles and sets - Cretacolor Marino
36 colours in singles and sets - Koh-I-Noor Mondeluz Watersoluble
72 colours only available in sets - Koh-I-Noor Progresso Woodless Watercolour
48 colours only available in sets - Koh-I-Noor Wax Watercolour
24 colours only available in sets - Lyra Rembrandt Aquarell
72 colours only available in sets - Derwent Watercolour
72 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Inktense Pencils and Blocks
72 colours in singles and sets - Cretacolour Aqua Monolith Woodless
72 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Aquatone Woodless
24 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Metallic
12 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Academy Watercolour
36 colours only available in sets (no claim to lightfastness)
Pastel Pencils
Dry ‘chalky’ pencils. Harder versions of soft pastels.
All have lightfastness ratings.
- Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils
84 colours in singles and sets - Conte Pastel Pencils
48 colours in singles and sets - Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils
60 colours in singles and sets - Derwent Pastel Pencils
72 colours in singles and sets - Faber Castell Pitt Pastel Pencils
60 colours in singles and sets - Conte Dry Drawing Pencils in Sanguine and 2. Sketching Colours
5 colours in singles - Cretacolor Dry Drawing Pencils
6 colours in singles - Koh-I-Noor Gioconda Pastel Pencils
48 colours only available in sets
Coloured Pencil Blenders
For wax/oil pencils.
Some of the available Coloured Pencil Blenders
- Derwent Blender Pencil
Available individually or in a pack with Derwent Burnishers - Derwent Blender Pens
Available in a pack of two sizes - Marker Blender Pens or any alcohol marker, especially transparent light colours
In the comparison charts I used a Shin Han Marker (Milky White) - Caran D Ache Full Blender
Woodless pencil with no colour, only wax - Paper stump
used dry to rub areas to blend and burnish - Paper stump soaked in Zest-it solvent
Zest-it regular (Oil Paint Dilutant and Brush Cleaner) is the same liquid repackaged as the Pencil Blend, Nib Cleaner, Washaway and for other uses. You can use it to refill the sponge pot
Comparison conclusions:
The blenders perform differently on each brand of pencil and on thin or thick applications of colour.
- I found that the Caran Dache Full Blender adds a waxy layer that can be difficult because it is hard and drags colour around in a clumpy way and it adds so much wax it is hard to work on top of.
- The blender pens and markers dissolve the wax, and it is easy to go too far, very quickly and they also take up a lot of the colour into their felt nibs and so colour is removed from the drawing and left on the pen to contaminate the next colour. The colour becomes matte and you can easily work on top.
- The Derwent Blender pencil is drier than the full blender and doesn’t build up a layer of wax, it leaves a matte finish.
- I like the dry paper stump, it blends and burnishes in a controlled way. It works best when lots of colour has been laid down.
- I like the paper stump with the end dipped in Zest-it better than the blender pens and markers because it is dissolves the wax more gently so I have more control. As with the dry stump it still burnishes.
Comparing Coloured Pencil Blenders
Notice how the Full Blender drags clumps around and the blender pen completely dissolves the colour.
The bottom 3 are comparisons of the solvents.
You can see the burnishing here.
Papers recommended for Coloured Pencil Drawing
The durable surface of these two papers stands up to repeated erasures and reworking. The heavy weight combined with the vellum surface allows for the application of multiple layers.
- Stonehenge paper
Available in white in pads of five sizes and a roll, and in white and colours in sheets. - Strathmore 400 Series Coloured Pencil Paper Pads
Available in pads in three sizes
Pencil Cases
- Jackson’s Pencil Cases
Sturdy nylon – in small pocket cases to larger briefcase sizes. - Global Pencil Cases
Attractive small to large cases in canvas or leather - Jakar Pencil Wrap
- Derwent 1. pouch, 2. carry-all and 3. cases
- Blake Brush and Pencil Roll
Combining both a pouch and looped sections, available in two colours.
Pencil Sharpeners
If your coloured pencil keeps breaking when you try to sharpen it is may have been dropped and the core has broken inside. There is not much you can do at that point.
Pastel pencils are a bit fragile and sometimes require special sharpening. A pastel pencil sharpener usually has a more shallow angle.
Pencil sharpeners come in a variety of sizes.
Sandpaper pads and blocks are used for sharpening all types of pencils.
Knives are also used for sharpening all types of pencils.
Click on the underlined link to go to the current offers in the Drawing Materials department on the Jackson’s Art Supplies website.
Postage on orders shipped standard to mainland UK addresses is free for orders of £39.
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