Additional Information and Recommended Supplies

Thank you for joining me on my recent Drawing and Coloured Pencils Workshop. I hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did! As promised I have provided a little more information for you but if you have any questions do not hesitate to get in touch at hello@gaelhillyard.com, and don’t forget to subscribe at the bottom of the page for updates and news.

Coloured pencils

Coloured pencils fall into roughly two types: normal, non-soluble, and watercolour or aquarelle.

Normal pencils are either wax or oil based, with wax being slightly softer but easier to lay over each other (for example Prismacolor pencils). Oil pencils hold their point longer and are easier to get in the UK and open stock (i.e. single pencils) can be found for about £1.90 each or in sets up to 120 pencils. One of the best is Faber Castell Polychromos (round barrels) which are professional quality but reasonably affordable and come in 120 colours. They also complement the Faber Castell Albrecht Durer pencils (hexagonal barrels) which are watercolour.

Watercolour or Aquarelle Pencils

Watercolour pencils have a soluble binder and can be used as a handy, and quite affordable alternative to watercolour paint. They can either be used like a regular pencil, and then activated by applying a small amount of water using a brush, or the colour can be scraped from the pencil onto a palette and mixed with water, or you can take colour directly from the pencil by using a brush to pick it up from the lead.

Watercolour leads are softer and more difficult to bring to a sharp point, and they can also smudge slightly easier. They do however work well with regular pencils and these can be used over the top of watercolour pencil work to add definition where needed.

Paper

Smooth paper such as Bristol is often the best as it gives the finest result and a cleaner image. Alternatively, use hot press watercolour paper which also allows greater use of water and watercolour effects from Aquarelle pencils. Different textures lend different looks, and the thicker the paper the more easily you will be able to manipulate it with scratching or creating indents to provide texture and highlights.

Toned paper in tan, grey, or black can give your work a totally different look, especially if combined with a similar palette - it is a great technique for architectural drawings.

You can of course use any paper you like, and coloured pencils lend themselves very well to delicate substrates such as old book pages or tissue. Build up layers gently to create vibrant and eye catching pieces, or use finer paper such as tissue, brown or wrapping paper for ‘frottage’ techniques such as leaf or coin rubbings.

Tips

Blending: use either a soft cloth or a small piece of tissue or kitchen roll to blend colours without damaging your paper

Highlights: before colouring scratch the surface with a cocktail stick or with a point to create an indent that the pencil will skip. After colouring use a sharp blade such as a penknife or scalpel to scrape the surface of the pencil marks to reveal the paper underneath. This will take a little practice.

Use the back of sheet of vellum or tracing paper to draw a tonal study and then colour on the front of the page for an easy, and effective way of creating shade and highlights. This also looks good when the sheet is layed over white or colour paper.

Before you start colouring produce a colour chart on a small piece of scrap paper, preferably the same type as your drawing. Take a little time to map out the colours in your subject to give you a reasonable idea of what colours will be needed and where.