See Linda Lucas Hardy’s “Brushing Up” column in The Artist’s Magazine‘s July/August 2007 issue to view a step-by-step demonstration of her colored pencil techniques. Here the artist shares more of her detailed colored pencil tips for getting the best results in using her techniques:
- Always work across the grain of the paper. Never work parallel to the grain unless you are after texture or an effect, as the colored pencil pigment will sit on the top of the tooth of the paper.
- The second layer should be laid in at a diagonal.
- The third layer in the opposite diagonal.
- Work dark to light. I prefer to work dark to light for 3 reasons: I believe you can get better colored pencil values and achieve a more painterly look; the pigment floats across the paper, which makes it dirty; if you lay in your light areas first, they will get contaminated.
- Unfortunately you are going to find flaws in the paper. Some areas have a little more tooth than others do. When you find an area that seems to have more tooth, resharpen your pencil and add pigment very slowly until the area is covered.
- Timing is critical when it comes to how much pressure you use with your colored pencil, so start with light pressure. As you build layers of pigment, increase pressure. If the pigment is laid in too heavy too soon, the pigment will rest on top of the tooth of the paper causing streaking which is difficult to correct. Ideally in the first few layers, you want a considerable amount of pigment to rest in the valleys. This is especially noticeable when using white and light colored pencils, therefore when you use the lighter colors you will achieve better coverage if you work in small circular motions.
- Constantly keep in mind that you are building layers of value and color sandwiched between each other and every mark will show, so keep your strokes even and consistent in pressure and direction.
- Keeping your colored pencils sharp will help you get even coverage. After you make a few strokes, roll your pencil. Even though working on sandpaper will make a point it’s still necessary to sharpen often.
- Save your white. If you use white you have no where to go if you need something bright, white and light. It’s better to use French Gray 10% as it‘s the next lightest color in the Prismacolor colored pencil palette.
- Since you are working on a toned surface you can use pressure to increase or decrease the intensity of your lights. If you want something really white start with light pressure. Build toward medium pressure, being sure you are getting even coverage, and then bear down heavily until you get the desired amount of light.
- In the initial laying in of colored pencil pigment, keep the areas that are going to be light larger than they need to be. Likewise make your darker areas smaller than they need to be. You can always increase a dark area but you cannot erase or bring back a light once its lost.
- Erasing pigment generally does not work. If you’ve made a mistake or if there’s something that needs to be removed, attach a piece of cellophane tape to your finger, gently lay it over the area, apply a little pressure with the back of your fingernail, or if it’s small, go over the area with a colorless blender, then lift the tape.
- Brushing does not work. If you get bits of trash on the paper remove it with tape.
- Before adding colored pencil pigment to the larger areas that are to be light it’s best to clean the paper with tacky stuff then erase with a magic rub eraser. For small areas use tape.
- All sandpaper is acid free because it’s a silica, unfortunately the backing on the Ersta is not, there are however several products on the market that can be sprayed on the back only to make it acid free. I use Krylon Make it Acid Free.
- If you’d like to protect your work, enhance the color and do away with wax bloom spray the front with, Krylon UV Resistant Clear. Please note: Once you spray with UV Clear you will not be able to work on the surface. It is a clear acrylic coating that is permanent.
Linda Luca Hardy from Omaha, Texas, is best known for her award-winning paintings featuring fruit wrapped in diaphanous clear plastic. Her work has been shown in more than 30 national and international exhibitions and can be found in public and private collections nationwide.
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