These are just a few of the questions I have on drawing with colored pencils. I'll probably post more later as I think of them.

1. When you want to shade objects to make them look round, what color do you use? Black, a darker version of the object's color, or the color's opposite color?

2. I read you are supposed to have a lot of layers of colors on your paper. How many is recommended/average? How do you choose the right colors? If you have a colored pencil that is exactly the right color as the object, can't you just use that and make that the first layer of color, then for the second layer draw the shadows?

My questions are probably confusing and really basic, but I've been wondering these things for a while and it feels good to let it all out.

Recently there was a colored pencil class on the forum.

http://www.drawspace.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=3029

There are some PDF files in the first post that are very helpful. This is what got me started in colored pencil. And in answer to your questions, it's generally wiser not to use black for shadows because it ends up looking very flat. A lot of times a darker version of the main color or indigo or a dark purple. It depends on the object. Seek out examples of other colored pencil artists and look at their work.

As for the second question, it depends on the artist. Some only use 2 or 3 layers, some use dozens. The amount of pressure on the pencil each time you run it across the paper determines how much tooth is left and how much more the paper will take. Light layers built up can lead to dozens. How you choose the right color has never been answered satisfactorily to me. However, nothing is ever one solid color, not even a plastic toy. The light hitting the object makes for many shades of, for instance, a red ball. So using a single colored pencil will not do justice to the object you are drawing. That being said, if you are not drawing things realisticly, then anything goes as with any other media. The other thing to keep in mind is that the colors in the pencils are not opaque, they are translucent, and as such the color you put down first will affect the color you put down next. That's why it's helpful to have another sheet of the paper you are using handy for trying colors out. Also if you take and layer pink then red then orange for instance, the final color will be different than if you reversed it, or put down red first. Sounds weird, but try it on a scrap of paper, you'll see what I mean.

I hope I was of some help answering your questions. Hopefully some of the more experienced colored pencil artists will stop by and correct me if I'm wrong or maybe explain it better than I did. Good luck.

Debby

Thanks for all of the information. I have seen the Colored Pencil Class before, but I just sort of glanced through it because it looked long. I'm going to go back and read it more carefully.


Nice to know I'm not alone. But this reply helped a lot, thanks!

Not sure if this helps .. but I use colored pencil alot and I use on a average of about 7 layers ..when I look at a object or a picture I am drawing I see more then the obvious color .. like a apple will have many shades of red and even some oranges and yellows ...by layering for me it brings the drawing to life ...I use to use black for shadows and now sometimes I will but for areas that are clearly black...most shadows are not black just darker tones .

you are more then welcome to check out the thread on the human eye ..it will be done in colored pencil .

Purplepaperwing...When I do a colored pencil painting, I try to stay away from black all together. Not saying you cant use it but I think personally it is better to try to use a colors complimentary color or a darker hue. There is a lot of controversy with using black and I know alot of people who only use it when doing certain parts of animal fur or for pupils in the eyes of animals or humans. As for layering, its time consuming but I would say on average starting out very light it takes 7 or more layers to bring a colored pencil painting to life. I say when you are trying to color match a picture you want to do, make color swatches and mix your colors together to see what works best for you. Hope that helps.

Choosing colours for your drawing is something that comes with practice. No single colour in a stick will meet all your needs to create the colour in a specific object. Yes you can use layers of the same colour to deepen your values but you'll miss out on a lot when you do that.

Layering your colours means that each translucent layer will be seen to some extent and form the final value. The golden rule is to use a minimum of three layers and colours on an area - the average is around 10 and I've gone up to 15 and more.

CP is not a fast medium and to create drawings that you are pleased with, you have to be prepared to take your time and build it up slowly. I promise that if you do this, you will get results. If you rush it, you will become discouraged as you won't get the effects that you want.

Objects are created of many colour combinations which reflect the environment around them. Careful observation and practice will show you what colours to choose. You keep within the range of your colour, but you can also go wayyyyyy outside of that and use colours that aren't expected. Purple shadows, green in fair hair, etc. What you are trying to acheive is to trick the eye to see the image as a whole and to mix the colours optically. Up close it will look odd, from the appropriate distance it will work beautifully.

As for black...it has a place in drawings, but not in shadows unless your object is in deep deep shade and even then it would need to be lightened with other colours in your drawing. My shadows tend to be a combination of many colours that are in my drawing as well as some darker colours, but not black. By using pure black, you lose the depth and richness of a shadow.

Look closely at the shadow of something - anything - really look at it with creativity in mind, and see the colours that are in it. The colour of the surface it rests on, the reflected colour of an object next to it, a bit of reflected light, etc.

Thanks everyone for replying; and I'll definitely try to follow those tips in the future when I have time to draw.

This morning (7:30 am, keep that in mind) I was using colored pencil, trying to use more layers.
I attached the picture.

Any suggestions are welcome! Looking back at it, I realized I probably should have made the color more smooth. Also, I'm pretty sure I need to use more layers still, or just draw darker, because I had to darken the picture digitally since it didn't show up well.

I think you are definitely getting there. Perhaps try add more layers of color, and don't forget that even with colored pencils you can draw with your eraser which can come in a lot of handy for bringing light back out of a piece when certain areas get a little too dark.


In my personal opinion I find that if you play with different techniques and stuff you'll learn a lot more about your material than just talking about it, although that really helps, b/c there really isn't just one set way to use your materials.

When using color (in any medium whether it be paint, pastels, colored pencils, etc) I generally don't use a lot of black, unless it is in painting, but only to blend and make the colors darker. In life shadows and contours are not just basic black, they are anything to blue, to dark yellow, to deep red, and on and on and on. Shadows are rarely ever black, and even if they are, there are a lot of different gradations of gray in the whole spectrum of the shadow.

I think perhaps you should try to sit and play for a little while with your pencils. Don't draw anything, just sit down and concentrate on your materials, and play with your colors. Try doing several layers of one color and then see what happens when you put other colors into it. Play with going from dark to light in your the different hues of your colors too...like do dark blue to light blue to better understand different gradations of color. And then play with different pressures of how hard you put your pencil to the page. First try making pencil strokes light, and then dark and then try a medium pressure.

Get to know your materials well by playing with them, and blending them, and I promise you'll learn a lot, and when you go back to using the pencils in an actual drawing you'll know a little bit more of how to better use your materials, and it'll make a great difference in how your pieces turn out.

Okay- I'll try to play around with my pencils more.