Colored Pencil

8 habits of studio (on Almelien Studios Facebook site)

Composition Habits
1. Bull’s Eye
2. Pyramid/Triangular
3. Cluster
4. Simplicity—zoom in
5. S or C curve
6. Framing
7. Leading lines
8. Rule of 1/3s

First assignment for drawing:

Moves craft to art form
Man and nature impacted, background, middle ground, foreground
Not here to be a camera product
Prussian blue with yellow ochre—background
Ultramarine blue with cadmium yellow—middle ground
Cerulean blue with hansa yellow light—foreground
Draw the mini outline with complimentary color
Rule of 1/3s. Want the point of interest in the sweet spots
Block out whites with high pressure blending, use crosshatch with high pressure.

Tools that Kathleen prefers:

Brass with blick sharpener, double holed
Container for shavings
Bristol paper—most brilliant paper there is
Blended pencil-- Blender is wax without pigment, stick and pencil form.
Prismacolor numbers are continuous through media (sticks, pencils, felt markers, etc)
#901 prismacolor is Kathleen’s favorite
Binder clip on the end of an xacto knife.
Smooth paper is brighter than texture paper.
Anything over 80#
Blenders (stick and pencil) Blick Donates colors-- Use 1 side for cool and 1 side for warm colors
Electrical eraser (Blick)
*Canson paper
Prismacolor blender marker is trupenoid without pigment. Can mix colored pencils just with the marker.
Bee paper, they also have sanded paper
Velum (Stonehenge)
Canson sanded paper
Grayscale paper (medium already established)
Green subject using warm colored paper
Pencils:
Cadillac—prismacolor
Chevy—blick
Paper rules for poundage:
Ream = 500 sheets
24 x 36” is the manufactured default size
Golden’s Acrylic Pumice can be used to create own sanded paper.
Squeegee it on
Silk screen it on and squeegee it on for even more fine and consistent coverage.
*Ice cube tray for paint tray
Baby wipes loosen the color and move the wax a little

General Media Techniques

Hold pencil on its side for blending and arm work
Plan the value scale—4 values like the notan.
White, black, dark gray, light gray
“Flavor the paper”—imprimatura (color or “flavor” the entire paper before working on composition)
Kathleen used Derwent Ink tints, opaque and matching sticks used on 600 grit sandpaper
*Kinderfest Dollies on sandpaper (were alternative for economic sake, I didn’t try these)
1. Layout with orange
2. Squirt water on sandpaper
3. Use Derwent ink sticks on side. This should also work with trupenoid in water bottle and
colored pencil
Erase with tape. Put 2 sticky notes together to protect the rest of the paper.
3 Layers of colored pencil can be used before the paper muds and the paper can’t take anymore.
4 squirts of workable fixative can be used to “bring paper back” if overworked.
1. Apply the fixative
2. Work again.
When you introduce color to piece—make sure you use in 3 spots around composition. Repeat color in
a triangle form
Details done at the end, shapes and blocking are done first.
Ultra marine should be used overhead in sky—ultramarine at very top, lighter blue in the middle, dark
blue by the horizon line. This gives the illusion of the roundness of the earth’s atmosphere.
Powered graphite can be used to rub all over paper to make gray, can take darkness (or draw with the
light) away with electric eraser.
Grass is longest at the toes, as it goes away from you it gets shorter.
Mask lines with playing card
Lift with tape or moo eraser or sanded eraser-- kneaded eraser only lightens
Hatch versus cross hatching versus blending
Blender—burnishing—a spoon can be used to do the same
Sgraffito—scratch thin with metal tool
Impressing—use tracing paper to cover art, then draw into paper with deep pressure, then go over the
signature using a lighter pressure to basically leave “valleys” in the paper for signature
Point of interest can be full of detail and busy, it can also be a place to rest your eye if everything around
it is busy.
Derwent ink tints work well for highlights at the end
Critique Stamp
Reflection point
Time invested in the success of the observation
Unusual view
Fill of page space
Detail
Value (shading)
Natural Light
 Not from 12—1:15 (because the light is overhead)

Interesting, Fun Things that Kathleen and Others Offered:

Henry Moore’s duplicate of sketchbook was referred to in class and looked really fun. Lots of sheep.
“If your composition isn’t good, you’re not close enough”--- Kathleen
“Buying a new color is like an author buying a new word.”--- Kathleen--------- TOTAL FAVORITE LINE
FROM CLASS!!!!!!! CHANGED MY THOUGHT PROCESS ON COLOR!!!!!
“There’s no crying in baseball.”--- Jim
“I want to be an artist when I grow up.”--- Jim
Amy Sharar—mosaics, glass
Diane Nemec—stained glass, sat across from me in class
Paula Tomlison—painting class in DM, Pam’s class, huge landscapes and Jesus painting