Colored Pencils . . .

. . . I have a few. More than a few. This is about 2/3rds of my Prismacolor pencils. This lovely holder flips that right side over like a book page to reveal more elastic bands to hold more pencils and I've filled one side of that. I started with a small recommended set of colors and a book that supposedly would tell me how to blend them to create all the other colors I'd need, but I was soon frustrated with that process. When individual pencils went on sale, I bought every color I did not have of these regular ones or in the additional 12 pack of Prismacolor Verathin pencils - a harder version for detail work. Then there's the set of 24 Prismacolor Premier pencils that my cousin gave me (very soft and highly pigmented - they flow like butter). And of course, the set of Derwent Inktense water soluble pencils. I even have a single solitary watercolor pencil (and now know the difference between it and those Inktense ones)! Is it any wonder I would be enticed by a Sketchbook Skool class devoted to learning how to use watercolor pencils?

I still haven't gotten past the first week of videos of the class but already I've learned a few key things. Primarily, using colored pencils is not for the impatient! It requires laying down layers of color usually using a light hand, not pressing down hard, and constant sharpening of your pencil to keep a sharp point. I can see now how I misused my pencils when I started coloring in my "sit and rotate" sketch and why I was struggling a bit. In the photo above, you can see the two-step process I'm now using to create the dark raspberry color of my couch. The first pass was made with the side of the pencil fairly lightly as seen on the left, and now I am working on the second pass more with the point and more pressure to get into the valleys of the paper's texture and lay down more pigment. I've been working on this off and on while listening to commentary that doesn't require my eyes to be glued to the screen, and I've realized that I find it somewhat meditative much like I find hand quilting and other hand work. I'm the patient personality that can enjoy these pencils!

Another thing I like about working with these is the challenge of matching the pencil color to my subject. Even with so many colors, one still needs to occasionally layer a second color over the first, and this is another reason it is important not to use too heavy of a hand on the first layer. Not all in that photo above is done with pencil though. I'm working some of it in brush pen, especially anything black or grey. The red in the draped shawl was first done in red Pitt Pen that is more of an orange red or burnt orange than true red. I decided to try "painting over" of that area with my new Pigma Micron brush pen which is a very bright red. They blended very well to create a color closer to the actual color of the shawl. And may I say, while everyone seemed to be recommending the Pitt or Pentel brush pens and no one mentioning these Pigma ones, I've struggled to master their use but find the Pigma one so much easier to control.

Yes, I am enjoying this a great deal. And once I've got the basics down, I look forward to the teachers who will be showing how to use colored pencils with other media like watercolor and inks, and how to use those Inktense water soluble ones too. But just so you don't think I'm abandoning my textile work, I took some pics of myself at the machine and was quite pleased at how comfortable and confident I look there! And in the background, all those fabrics that were spawning ideas and have been waiting patiently for my return . . .