COLORED PENCIL WITH MIXED MEDIA with Sarah Becktel Supply List: Lesson 2: Adding Fluid Acrylics to Colored Pencil Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Board or Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Paper This board or paper should be toned with a wash of fluid acrylic as demonstrated in Lesson 1.
Artist-grade colored pencils There are many high-quality brands available, so you can use whatever works best for you and your budget. Many colored pencil lines are available as both sets and open-stock (meaning you can buy individual pencils.) Look at the colors available in both the sets and open stock to choose what will work best for you based on the subject matter you want to draw. Fluid Acrylics Artist grade acrylics are recommended, but you can also use student grade. You don t need a huge range of colors. If you don t already have these, you can start with red, yellow, blue, and white. I ll be using the palette of color listed below but use the colors that you feel most comfortable with. My palette: Golden Fluid Alizarin Crimson Hue Golden Fluid Ultramarine Blue Golden Fluid Tranparent Yellow Iron Oxide Golden Fluid Van Dyke Brown Hue Golden Fluid Titanium White Golden High Flow Shading Gray Round watercolor brushes I typically use synthetic brushes in sizes 2, 4, 6, and 8. The size I use will depend on the size of my work (the larger the number, the larger the brush.) If you ve never used watercolor brushes before and aren t sure, I d go with a 4 and an 8- that will give you some versatility. I will be using Princeton Velvetouch Round Brushes. HB graphite pencil Kneaded eraser (and any additional types of erasers that you like using) Paper towels Small plastic container or bowl for water White paper plate I use this for my acrylic palette, but you can use whatever type of palette you prefer I use a paper plate that is slightly shiny or coated so that the paint does not absorb into the surface of the plate. Easy-to-remove or low-tack tape (3/4 to 1 wide) Blue painters tape is a good option I typically tape down my art so it stays put while I m working. If you re working in a pad, this is unnecessary.
Optional Supplies: Sketch Paper I like to draw out my compositions on sketch paper first, then transfer that drawing onto mixed media board or mixed media paper. But you can work directly on the mixed media surface if you prefer. 3B or 4B graphite pencil I use a softer pencil when transferring my drawings from sketch paper to the final mixed media surface. Instructions: In this lesson, we ll be focusing on enhancing colored pencil with fluid acrylic. I ll be working on Strathmore s 500 series mixed media board that was toned with fluid acrylic. I demonstrated how to tone boards in lesson 1, so please check out last week s video if you need a refresher on this process. I ll be working on a drawing of a white-tailed jackrabbit today. I try to keep my surface as pristine as possible before I get started, so I drew out my jackrabbit on sketch paper and I ll transfer it onto my mixed media board. To transfer my sketch, I scribble on the back with a 3B graphite pencil, making sure to completely cover the back of all my drawn lines. I place my sketch on the top of the board, use a small amount of tape to keep it in place, and I use a sharp HB pencil to trace over the lines of my drawing.
When I remove the tape and lift off my sketch paper, the jackrabbit has been transferred onto my mixed media board and I m ready to start applying colored pencil.
I begin shading my jackrabbit with short linear strokes, applied in the direction of his fur. At this point, I want to get in the basic shapes of my light and shadow areas, but I m not really concerned with getting tight detail like individual hairs. I prefer to work on the entire drawing at once rather than finishing one small area at a time. This gives me the benefit of seeing how the full composition is progressing, and I can continually compare my values throughout the entire drawing.
After my colored pencil layer, I ll apply a layer of acrylic to deepen the colors in my jackrabbit and push the values darker. I use a round brush to mix transparent colors thinned with water. I m not adding any white acrylic yet because the titanium white acrylic is more opaque then the other colors. If I were to add white into these transparent washes, the color would look chalky and washed out. After the acrylic has dried, I go back in with my colored pencil to add more detail. The acrylic pushed my dark values darker, so now I m working on heightening my light values with a white colored pencil. I m
also putting more texture into both the light and dark areas of his fur to make him look fuzzy, and I m adding more detail to his facial features and ears. When working on toned paper, it s difficult to achieve pure white highlights with only colored pencil. I ll add white acrylic to areas of my drawing where I want brighter white. For my brightest highlights, I ll apply my white acrylic slightly thicker so it stays more opaque and intense.
In areas where I haven t applied thicker white acrylic, I can continue to go back and forth between acrylic and colored pencil. I m adding a few detail touches in the fur and a shadow underneath to finish my jackrabbit.