Colored Pencil Medium

One of the quickest ways to get started with using color in your drawings and on the canvas is to use colored pencils. Seriousness in color pencil art is fairly new. Nowadays, there is a far wider variety of colored pencils available for use, making it an increasingly popular medium for fine artists. All colored pencils can be used with other media, such as ink and paint, and wax- and oil-based pencils can be used together.

Wax-based colored pencils are made from a mixture of pigment, clay and filler, bound together with gum. Their smooth drawing ability comes from soaking the colored stick in wax, before being pressed into rods and encased in wood. The quality can vary. Professional-grade pencils have a much higher lightfastness because of the percentage of pigment and a greater resistance to UV rays. 

You can now find colored pencils in a vast variety of colors. There are many available pre-selected sets. Some are tailored to specific applications, such as portrait or landscape drawing. Some brands also offer the ability to purchase single pencils, known as “open stock”. Also, brands vary considerably in the range of available tones and in the quality and proportion of pigments, binders, clays and waxes they contain. Some have soft and crumbly leads that produce a broader, more grainy mark. Others have hard, waxy leads that can be sharpened to a long, fine point; ideal for fine details.

Watercolor Pencils

These pencils have a water-soluble binder, usually gum arabic, that is neither wax- nor oil-based. You can use them dry but, the leads are much harder as they are designed to be activated by using a brush for a watercolor effect. You can also combine watercolor pencils with many other media, including graphite, pen and ink, wax-based pencils, pigment pens or brushes, and watercolor paints. Interesting textures can be created by building multiple layers of dry pigment and water-dissolved color.

Wax-based Pencils

These are the most common type of colored pencil. The leads are primarily made from colored pigment and a wax binder, which acts as the vehicle for the pigment. Wax-based pencils can be applied and erased easily. However, their leads are prone to breaking, and may shed pigment debris. There’s also the problem of “wax bloom” that results from the binder migrating to the surface of the drawing, resulting in a hazy white residue on the paper.

Oil-based Pencils

Oil-based pencils are the most expensive and less common choice. As with the wax-based pencils, leads are made of colored pigment and binder, but the binder is mainly oil. Oil pencils break less easily than wax-based pencils, and they retain their point longer. They will dispense a lot of color at once. This can make layering and erasing more difficult. The major advantage for most artists that use wax pencils is the lack of pigment debris and wax bloom.

Blending 

Blending or burnishing involves merging layers of color for a smooth, solid finish using one color or overlapping colors. Burnishing requires heavy pressure, so use a burnishing pencil, or apply a final top layer of a colored pencil of your choice. There are tools to use for blending (besides your finger). Blending tools such as colorless wax blender pencil, a burnisher pencil, or liquid solvent pen can be used on wax- and oil-based pencils, although, different pencils can react differently so, it’s best to test them first.