Q & A

Every month we post one of the best questions that come up on one of our correspondes.

Listed are our previous Questions & Answers.

Subjects:

Grisaille
Protecting your surface
Protecting your surface revisited
Artist's Block
Wax Bloom
Fixatives
Protecting your Digital Images
Copyright Infringement
Technique
More Intense Colors
Lightfastness
Colored pencil makes my wrists ache
Water-soluble Pencils
Commission Contract
Paper for Beginners
Impressing
Burnishing
Scraffito
Organize Your Pencils
Best Paper for Water-soluble Color Pencils
Erasing Colored Pencil
Removing Scratches on Paper
Color Wheel for Colored Pencils
Copyrights Revisited
Colored Pencil Books
Stonehenge Paper
Perspective and Composition
Color Theory
Slides of Your Artwork
Animal Fur
Drawing Cat's Eyes in Colored Pencil
Questions Answered About Colored Pencil
Detail on Reference Photos
Reference Photos
Copyright Infringement & Things You Can Do About It
Scribble Talk Forum

Subject:
Grisaille

Question:
What is the Grisaille and how does it apply to colored pencil

Answer:
Grisaille, pronounced greezeye, is also known as Imprimatura and dates back to the 17th century. It is a method whereby the artist tints the drawing or painting surface before beginning color work. If you use a tinted surface you are already using a form of this technique. Another way to apply this technique would be to complete your drawing monochromatically, tinting the drawing before adding your color.

Subject:
Protecting your Surface

Question:
What are some ways to protect my drawing surface?

Answer:
Make sure you remove all jewelry as they can easily scratch or indent your surface. Remove nail polish to insure it doesn't rub off on your drawing. Use a piece of paper to lean your arm and hands to protect against smudging, you could also use an arm rest. Use a large brush to remove small slivers of color from your pencils. Lastly, be aware of what is around your drawing areas , especially if you plan to leave your artwork, this can be anything from a glass of water to the kids.

Subject:
Protecting your Surface Revisisted

Question:
I am a beginner with Colored Pencils and I think must be resting my hand against the paper. With graphite I probably do the same thing, but that is easy to erase when it smears. What should I do? Do I need to hold my hand differently or how can I fix this?

Answer:
I use a piece of plexi-glass about 15" by 15" in size. I lay that over my work so I can lay may hand and arm down. What's nice about the plexi-glass is it protects your drawing but you can also see through it, at the rest of the drawing, while working on another section. The other thing that helps is to continually brush off your drawing while you are working. You can also lay another piece of paper, over the drawing, to do the same as the plexi-glass but you can't see through the paper, that's why I like the plexi-glass better.

Subject:
Artist's Block

Question:
What ideas can you share for overcoming artist's block?

Answer:
I think almost all artists have experienced "Artists Block" at one point or another and just knowing that it is natural your not alone can help. It seems that the best thing to do is not to put any pressure on yourself. Just sketching each day can help bring you around. Try something different - like a new subject, style or method. I think it is also important to look around at what other artists are doing, buy a new art book, browse the online and local galleries, even some of your own artwork. Something is sure to strike inspiration in you.

Subject:
Wax Bloom

Question:
Presently I'm working with Prismacolor artist's brand but I'm worried about wax bloom. Will spraying the finished portrait with a fixative stop wax bloom?

Answer:
Yes it will. It's the only way to stop the blooming effect.  Be sure to test whatever brand of fixative you have on a test piece (same colored pencils - same paper).  As with "fixing" pastel work, your artwork may change in appearance.  Several light coats are much better than one heavy coat. Have fun!

Written by Adam in response to a question on our bulletin board asked by visitor Angela

Subject:
Fixatives

Question:
What fixatives are the best?  Are there any precautions I should take when using them?

Answer:
There are lots of brands to choose from, I have experimented with a few and found that the cheaper ones "yellow" after a while. Less popular brands may sit on a shelf longer than they should, and have inconsistencies when you apply them. Aerosols are easier to use than liquids but have greater health concerns. I prefer a "workable fix" which allows some corrections or enhancements to be made after it dries, if a light coat is applied.  Choose a quality brand, and use a test piece before you apply it to a finished work.  Wear a mask if you choose, but always spray in a well ventilated area.  Remember dust and hair can stick to the tacky surface before it is dry.

Written by Richard Tooley in response to a question on our bulletin board asked by visitor Lyn ~ thanks Richard!

Subject:
Protecting your Digital Images

Question:
How can I protect my digital art from online "art thieves"?

Answer:
There are several things you can do to protect your art.  One of the most common ways is to add a watermark to the digital image. If you are concerned with obstructing your art you may choose to only add this mark to your larger images and not your thumbnails.

Another way you can protect your art on your web site is to add a Java Script  that does not allow visitors to right-click on the page where your art is displayed.  This is not fool-proof but will discourage most attempts.  Be aware though, that is may cause crashes on some browsers.

The easiest way to aid in protecting your images is to let your visitors know that your art is copyrighted and that it is illegal to copy from your site without your permission.

Subject:
Copyright Infringement

Question:
I would like to use a photograph found in a book for reference but do not want to infringe on the copyright of the image.  How can an artist tell if they have "crossed the line" legally?  How long does a copyright last?

Answer:
This is a very common question among artists.  The test for copyright infringement is whether an ordinary observer, looking at the original work and the work allegedly copied from it, recognizes that a copying has taken place.    The term of copyright under the 1978 law is the artist's life plus 50 years.

Subject:
Technique

Question:
Being relatively new to using color pencil, I wonder how folks feel about layering (or is it still called glazing in CP art?). To layer or not to layer, that is the question. I tried layering and it was a complete disaster. I couldn't get the colors I needed and the colors I had smeared together. It turned out with the right colors, but it lacks the "depth" I see in layered work. It also leaves a lot of paper tooth showing. How do you handle this type of thing?

Darrin Dickey
Murfreesboro, TN

Answer:
I think layering is one useful technique, but it is certainly not required. Typically, it can be used to enhance the range of colors available, and to make color areas more "gray" by mixing. However, if you find that pure colors are the best approximation of what you're trying to do in a given area, there's nothing wrong with that.
In my experience, the best approaches for getting rid of visible paper tooth are:

1) use a solvent, such as turpenoid, rubber cement thinner, etc. to dissolve the colored pencil into a wash which can be spread around.

2) burnish with a white or colorless colored pencil to smooth out the areas.

3) to add to what Peter has suggested to reduce paper show-through, I've found that softly going over an area with a facial tissue will deposit some of the cp "dust" into the valleys of the paper tooth, slightly blending the difference between your colored area and the paper.

4) A colored or toned paper might help pull your palette together, too.

Peter Davis  www.pfdstudio.com   &
Nancy Barnet  www.jps.net/nbarnetart

Subject:
More Intense Colors

Question:
I just love working on toned paper.  Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas for getting intense, saturated colors on toned paper? - Peter Davis www.pfdstudio.com

Answer:
I often lay down some white or other light, creamy pencil before applying the colors I had planned to work in. The lighter, more opaque color helps to blocks out some of the color of the paper. I also plan out all of my color mixes on a scrap piece of the same colored paper, realizing that the color of the paper will become a part of my mix, choosing colors that will give me the most vibrant end result. Hope this helps. My problem with colored paper is that I sometimes run out of paper (tooth) before I'm done.
Anita - Posted in the Colored Pencil eGroup

Subject:
Lightfastness

Question:
I keep hearing about lightfastness.  Can someone help me to understand what this is and what it means to me as a colored pencil artist?  Thanks!   Jacklyn

Answers:
Lightfastness is the ability of a color pigment to stay true to its color over a period of time, while exposed to light. A good quality of a color pigment will remain true to its hue for years.  Molly

Subject:
Colored pencil makes my wrists ache

Question:
I love colored pencil!! But lately I have discovered my right wrist aches so much after putting in large dark areas that I can't work for a week. My last piece was 15" x 19" with 1/3 almost solid dark. Does anyone else have this problem? I would surely appreciate comment by other artists.  Sincerely, Marie Wise

Answers:
Have you tried art sticks? They can really save some time. You can also use them with a solvent for your base coat. Anita  

I have had to take breaks from it for hours or sometimes wait until the next day, especially when filling in darks areas.  I sometimes think the solution is to 'just not press as hard,' but then to fill in the area like I want will take all that much longer.   Lainie    (these are only partial answers)

Response:
Thanks for the replies. I took a workshop from Ann Kullberg this weekend. It was wonderful. She said it helps to work on a slanted drawing table (never a flat one), and to keep all the pencil movement in the fingers, not the wrist. I tried it and it takes concentration for me, but with practice may improve. The slanted drawing surface DEFINITELY makes things easier on my ands, arms and BACK! I can't believe I couldn't figure that out before! Marie Wise

Subject:
Water-soluble Pencils

Question:
Does anyone out there use watercolor pencils?  Seems like most everyone and most all of the books (except for Gary Greene's new book) dwells solely on the traditional colored pencils.  I would love to know who uses the water-soluble pencils and how they integrate them into their works.  Kate

Answer:
I started using watercolor pencils last October and I LOVE them!  I also got the book you mentioned -  I would suggest the book.  It goes into great detail about the various techniques you could use.  Although I will always love Colored pencils and continue to do colored pencil work, sometimes I get frustrated at what a slow-working medium it is - I find the more I work with Watercolor Pencils, the quicker my techniques are getting and yet results I
still like. I hope to be able to generate a bit more work with using both watercolor and colored pencil. Good luck and enjoy watercolor pencils.  LainieSmith

Subject:
Commission Contract

Question:

I am trying to develop a contract for my commission work.  What do I need to make sure is included?  I want it to cover all the bases for my protection as well as my client.

Answer:
I am a portrait artist and after getting burned many times I finally learned my lesson and decided to draw up a contract for commissions on my art.  I couldn't afford to hire a lawyer to draw up the contract so I started researching and came across a wonderful book called "Legal Guide for the Visual Artist - the Professional's Handbook by TAD CRAWFORD.  This book contains many contracts, copyright and many other legal papers.  They are kind of a "fill in the blank" forms so that you can make copies and use them.  It also contains tons of information on sales licensing, taxes, organizations and a lot more!  You think I had stock in this book but I cannot tell you how many times I have grabbed for this book, it's just a must-have for an artist.  Another good book made or Published by the same publisher is; "Business and Legal Forms For Fine Artist's" and also authored by, Tad Crawford as well. - (thanks Jerry)
One last note - I thought that it would feel impersonal to give my clients a contract to sign but actually it makes them feel protected and you look more professional. Good Luck, Sally

"Legal Guide for the Visual Artist"
&
"Business and Legal Forms for Fine Artists"

Subject:
Paper for Beginners

Question:
I am just beginning colored pencil drawing with a set of Prismacolor.   I have several colored pencil books, but neither recommends particular brands of paper.  I would appreciate some specific recommendations on some reasonably priced papers that would be appropriate for the aspiring colored pencil student.

Answer:
Beinfang or Strathmore drawing Bristol with a regular finish is good to start with.  Make sure you don't get the plate or smooth finish, you need a little tooth to the paper.  The colored pastel papers are nice to try also and you can usually find an assortment in a pad.

Written by Anita in response to a question on our bulletin board
asked by visitor Donald

Subject:
Impressing

Question:
What is Impressing?

Answer:
Impressing is making shallow grooves (impressions) in the drawing surface so that when a colored pencil is stroked flat across the area, the pigment will not get down into the grooves, and the grooves will show up as lighter lines. This process can be used to make light colored (or white) whiskers on a cat or animal.

Subject:
Burnishing

Question:
What is Burnishing?

Answer:
After laying in color, especially dark color, you can rub over it hard with a light color, such as white or yellow, to get a veiled, pearly effect. You might use this to get a satiny sheen on a shiny object in your painting. Sometimes artists burnish an entire picture to give it an over all satin finish.

Subject:
Scraffito

Question:
What is Scraffito?

Answer:
Scraffito refers to the incising, or scratching of lines into, a surface and is often associated with cutting through layers of color to reveal other colors beneath. It is often applied to colored pencil works to achieve some unexpected and fascinating results.

Subject:
Organize Your Pencils

Question:
I have received a few sets of colored pencils off ebay and from family, large, small, different brands, etc. What do you do with the different brands or colors and values to keep them organized while drawing?

Answer:
I have a couple of Carousels with several compartments. I organize them according to brand and color. I got the carousels from Sandra Angelo's site. Here is a picture of the carousel that I scanned from one of Sandra's books.

To order this Carousel click here!

Subject:
Best Paper for Water-soluble Color Pencils

Question:
What is the best paper to use when painting with Water-soluble Colored Pencils?

Answer:
Although I have been painting with watercolor (WC) for some time, I am new at using WC soluble pencils. I have noticed that WC pencils react different on WC paper than WC paints. In fact, my favorite paper to use with WC paints (handmade St. Armand HP 200lb) does not perform as well as I expected with WC pencil. As a result, I decided to experiment a little to find a WC paper that works best with WC pencils. My mission was to find a paper that would help me achieve the same finished effect with WC pencil as WC paints. The results of my test were a bit surprising to me and I thought that I would post them for you. Please keep in mind that each artist desires a slightly different “behavior” from a paper, and everyone should complete their own experiment. For instance, if you are looking for the more pencily/lined-effect in your art, my test results would not be of much help to you. However, if you want a WC pencil painting to have the finished look of WC paints my test may help you in narrowing down choices to use in your own experiment. Obviously, there are many more papers available on the market than I included in my little test. I only tried what I had on hand left over from a much more intense study I did comparing papers using WC paints. If anyone has any exceptional experiences with a type of paper that I did not include in my test please let me know because I would be anxious to give it a try!

Although the gram weight is the accurate gauge of paper weight, I choose to list the weight in pounds simply because this is what most artists are more familiar with. Please keep in mind that many people have the misconception that a particular paper in 140lb will achieve the exact same results in a 300lb weight except with less buckling. In fact, the same paper in different weights are two completely different “birds” with their own independent qualities such as: whiteness, ability to take and hold brilliant colors, ease of fine detail, smoothness of washes, amount of sizing on the paper, ability to mix colors on paper, ability to accept a hard scrubbing to lift excess color or mistakes etc… For instance Arches CP 140 is not even close to being the same exact product as Arches CP 300lb they have different strengths and weaknesses.

I have listed the papers that I included in my test alphabetically, and I have ranked papers based on there performance on only the characteristics listed below:
1. Ease of dry application
2. Control of wash when wet
3. Evenness of color transition when drawing a wash from paper with WC drawn on it to white paper.
4. Ability to go back and rework wet areas and achieve controlled results.
5. Ability to scrub and lift color with a fritch scrubber (stiff brush used to lift paint) without marring the paper
6. Brilliance of color

I used a simple three level scale of my results as follows:
excellent, adequate, and poor

Arches CP 140lb - excellent
Arches CP 300lb - poor
Arches Bright White CP - poor
Arches HP 140lb - poor
Arches HP 300lb - adequate
Albrecht Durer Hahnemuhle CP 140lb - adequate
Cason Montual CP 140lb - poor
Cottman CP 140lb - adequate
Fabriano Artistico CP 140lb - poor
Fabriano Artistico CP 280lb – excellent
Fabriano 5 Classico CP 140lb - poor
Fabriano Uno CP 140lb - excellent
Fabriano Uno CP 300lb - excellent
Kilimanjaro CP 300lb - poor
Lanaquarelle CP 300lb - adequate
Langton CP 140lb - poor
Muldau CP 140lb - adequate
Punjab CP 640 gm - poor
Panjab CP 1,200gm - poor
St. Armand CP 200lb - poor
St. Armand HP 200lb – adequate, but takes familiarity to use
Strathmore Aquarius II CP 80lb - poor
Saunders Waterford CP 140lb - poor
Saunders Waterford CP 300lb - adequate
Twin Rocker CP 400gm - poor

Pencils used in the test were Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer. For the watercolor look I find for Faber-Castell are clearly superior to Prismacolor, Derwent, and Staedtler Karat Aquarell WC pencils because of their intensity of color and smoothness of washes without pencil lines. I plan on testing additional brands of pencils in the future. Again, as with papers, any feedback on types of pencils I have not tested is greatly appreciated. I am expecially interested in trying Lyra brand because it is said to be more transparent than Faber-Castell.

This wonderful study was done by Feather and posted on the Scribble Bulletin Board, Thank You Feather!!

Subject:
Erasing Colored Pencil

Question:
I'm very new to Colored Pencil. I've done some graphite but am pretty new to the art scene in general ... so being so new, I make mistakes... and I need my little handy eraser... well it doesn't work so well with Colored Pencil. Is there something else that I should be doing, other than NOT making mistakes ...lol?

Answer:
You can lift color off (rather than erasing) with re- usable adhesive, called Handi-Tak. It is very difficult to erase Colored pencil, it's better to lift it off so you don't ruin the paper. You can find Handi-Tak in the adhesive section at your Office Supply store and some arts and craft stores. I do have an electric eraser that I seldom use. Usually, the only time I use the electric eraser is if I'm trying to erase a very small dot (like maybe in the eye to get back the highlight area). Becareful with the electric eraser, I have ruined pieces before by trying to erase to large of an area with it.

This question was posted on the Scribble Bulletin Board by Donna, Thank You Donna!!

Subject:
Removing Scratches on Paper

Question:
I have a drawing I'm working on and somehow the paper has gotten a scratch (an impression) on it, and of course I don't want it there. It's in an area that I haven't put any color on yet. Do any of you have a trick to get ride of these lines/scratches or do I just have to work around it somehow? I'm using Stonehenge paper?

Answer:
1. The CP Solution book recommends to use the wax colorless blender. Get it really sharp and fill the impression with wax, then color over it as normal.

2. Use a very sharp pencil to color in the line and be careful when coloring over that area so it doesn't leave a dark impression.

3. Turn the paper over onto a piece of clean white mat board and using the clean end of a wide stumple, burnish the indent till your arm hurts.

Subject:
Color Wheel for Colored Pencils

Question:
Is there a color wheel available for colored pencils?

Answer:
I have a little book called "the Colored Pencil Artist's Pocket Palette -Jane Strother. It is a handy reference guide for mixing colored pencils & water color pencils. Check it out.

Note: This book may be hard to find it is out of print, I found a used copy on Amazon, Gemma Gylling.

Question by: Yvonne Ogden, ogden@abbinc.com
Answer by: Lynn, pawtuckt@nex.net.au

Subject:
Copyrights Revisited

Question:
Numerous times questions have come up about Copyright laws. I thought I would post a web page that may answer many of you questions?

Answer:
Here's a link to a website that may answer your questions on Copyrights: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Subject:
Colored Pencil Books

Question:
I'm just getting started in Colored Pencil and I was wondering what books do you recommend for a beginner?

Answer:

Subject:
Stonehenge Paper

Question:
I'm having troubles finding Stonehenge Paper, where can I buy Stonehenge?

Answer:

Subject:
Perspective and Composition

Question:
Is there any information on the web about perspective and composition?

Answer:

Subject:
Color Theory

Question:
A question on Color Theory constantly comes up, ie, what is the complementary color of this color or define value???

Answer:

Subject:
Slides of Your Artwork

Question:
How do you get good quality slides of your artwork?

Answer:

Subject:
Animal Fur

Question:
How do you create animal fur with colored pencils?

Answer:

Subject:
Drawing Cat's Eyes in Colored Pencil

Question:
How do you draw Cat's Eyes and make it look so real?

Answer:

Subject:
Questions Answered about Colored Pencils

Question:
Where can have my questions answered about Colored pencil?

Answer:

Subject:
Detail on Reference Photos

Question:
How do you see the detail in a smaller reference photo?

Answer:

Subject:
Reference Photos

Question:
I love to draw animals but it's hard to get reference photos, where do you get your reference photos?

Answer:

Subject:
Copyright Infringement & Things You Can Do About It

Question:
Several of you have asked me what kind of recourse you would have if you found that someone has copied your work and is selling the copies online.

Answer:

Subject:
Scribble Talk Forum!

Question:
On numerous occasions we have been asked to start a pencil forum.

Answer:
Well here it is!! You can get to it by clicking on the Scribble Forum pencil to the left of this page.

Or by clicking on this link:
http://www.scribbletalk.com

At this new site you will find everything for the pencil artist. We have several forums on subjects, materials, composition, color and simply a place just to chat with other artists like yourself. The pencil artist can post their work for advise, critiques or just simply to share your techniques. So don't forget to go visit and join in, the subscribtion is free and it's a great place to meet people.

This site has been selected as a featured site in Lightspan's StudyWeb®
as one of the best educational resources on the Web!