I’ve used colored pencils in my drawings for over forty years and still consider them an integral tool in the visualization process. Colored pencils are sold as individual colors at larger art supply stores and are also available in sets of 12, 24, 36 and 72. I’ve been promoting Prismacolor pencils over all other brands as the waxy soft core of the pencil is easy to apply and has wonderful blending characteristics. (The rural scene above is by the talented color pencil illlustrator Peter Roper).
The problem with colored pencils is no different than with colored markers -- how do you pick the ideal colors from the 100’s of colors offered? Easy answer. I’ve done an analysis from my stockpile of colored pencil stubs and have identified the best 36 colors for you to own. They fit in one hand and are listed below and on my website drawingshortcuts.com.
I utilize colored pencils in three basic ways; 1) for quick thumbnail sketching, 2) for developing conceptual designs and, 3) presentation renderings. Those categories are shown below with further explanation.
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36 Ideal Prismacolor Pencil Colors
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Thumbnail Colored Pencil Sketches
Quick Splash of Color. These rough sketches for an aquarium design were first drawn with a Pentel Sign Pen on tracing paper, then colored with a few Prismacolor pencils. The texture of the pencil was very effective in illustrating the foggy mist in the forest scene and lighting gradation in the underwater scene.
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Conceptual Design with Colored Pencils
Quickly Drawn, Rapidly Colored. This wonderful design concept drawing was first sketched in pen by architect Seth Harry, AIA then traced over in pencil and colored with Prismacolor Pencils by the talented Peter Roper. His loose hatching style and bold use of different colored pencils gives the drawing a great “in progress” look for the residential project in its early design stage.
Colored Pencil Drawing Series. This set of four images were from a set of twelve concept drawings illustrating a mixed use riverfront development. I created the series of 4”x6” images (cropped versions are shown here) using a felt tipped pen on trace, copied with a standard copier on high quality bond paper and then colored with Prismacolor pencils. I chose not to color the entire image area and left portions of each drawing intentionally white.
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Colored Pencil Presentation Renderings
Coloring Large Drawings with Pencils. I’ve found that colored pencils are very effective for coloring small drawings but can be very time consuming and laborious when coloring larger drawings. This beautiful rendering of a college student center by Kirk Fromm (above) was drawn in pen and ink, then copied and colored with Prismacolor pencils. Kirk actually saved time by recycling a color pencil sky he had created for another drawing and “spliced” it into this drawing using Photoshop!
Blending Colored Pencils. This Swiss mountain scene was first drawn on illustration board with a fine point pen, then colored with Prismacolor pencils. I applied the pencil in thick layers that were blended with a white pencil to create an effect of mist in the distant mountains and the contrasting mix of sun and cloud cover in the foreground. Yes, I used up many pencils coloring this larger 12”x16” rendering!
Look for other interesting articles on my blog, visit my website www.drawingshortcuts.com and read my new book Drawing Shortcuts Second Edition.
NEW! - The 2010 Blog Collection , a 116-page catalog of my best blog posts from 2010 is now available on Blurb! http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1963744
I have gather some points for my article and I have to say it does help me
a lot on the research. I published an article on complete solution available
for stage lighting as well. Please check up when you are free.
Posted by: artistic controls | 11/08/2012 at 03:45 AM