Draw With Colored Pencils
Drawing with colored pencils can be fun, but turning the colors you pictured in your head into reality can be more difficult than you would think. To find out how to draw with colored pencils, read on!
Steps
- Buy a good set of colored pencils. Most arts and crafts shops will sell these, and they do not have to be expensive. Avoid the ones aimed at children, these often have a slightly waxy texture and don't draw properly, instead pick out some cheap artists' pencils with a large range of colors.
- Learn how to hold your pencils properly. Hold the pencil between your thumb, pointing finger and middle finger. Do not put pressure on your pointing finger and don't bend your fingers any more than is necessary to hold the pencil. Holding your pencil properly will give you more control.
- Practice shading. You can get a lot of colors out of one pencil just by changing how heavy the shading is. You can achieve a better color by pressing down lightly and coloring over the same area many times to build up a colour than by pressing down hard.
- Experiment with textures. You don't have to colour everything in a flat, even color, experiment with different textures to bring your drawings to life. Some examples of common textures you can try are:
- Hatching. Drawing parallel lines with white spaces in between. You can control the depth of color by changing how far apart the lines are.
- Cross-hatching. Like hatching but using two or more sets of parallel lines, with the lines crossing at an angle.
- Directional strokes. These are used for things like hair, fur and grass where the object is made up of tiny strands going in a particular direction. Practice getting all of the lines going in the same direction following a curve while drawing the lines lightly and quickly so that they are smooth.
- Circulism. Commonly used for drawing skin textures, this consists of lots of tiny overlapping circles. Press down lightly when using this technique, you can always go back over it if it's not the right shade when you're finished.
- Don't be afraid to experiment and find your own textures. Play around and see if you can create any other textures you could use.
- Plan what you are going to draw before you start a picture. Unlike graphite pencils, colored pencils cannot easily be erased, so it is best to have a good idea of what you are drawing before you start to avoid mistakes.
- Keep your pencil strokes going in the same direction. Unless you are using a particular texture or following a contour, try to stick to one direction of pencil strokes. If each section of your picture has the lines going in a slightly different direction it can look odd.
Related Articles
- Use Water Colour Pencils
- Avoid Smearing Lead when You Draw
- Draw and Shade With Pencil
- Draw with Realistic Shading
