The first way you can use solvents with Polychromos is with the aid of paper stumps. You can dip the stump straight into a solvent and apply it to the paper to help blend the marks easily. However, these will be subject to wear and tear. You can also use cotton buds for large areas but stumps are recommended for getting those detailed shading marks. As well as stumps you can also use brushes to get a different paint like effect- perfect while sketching outdoors. There are many ways to get the job done when it comes to burnishing. Many pencil manufacturers make their own version of a burnishing pencil. These are pencils without color and mostly contain just the wax and/or oil found in a colored pencil. You may also choose to use another colored pencil as your burnisher.

Before starting a new art piece, I ask myself the question: Will this reference help me make a compelling work of art? Pencils - For this project I used these colors: a violet, dark indigo, alizarin crimson, orange, yellow, may green, white, ivory, and caput mortuum. The fine quality of Goldfaber begins with eco-friendly growth from pine wood. The pencil is comprised of pigments and wax, finely-ground and mixed together to create soft and intensive strokes with the vibrant colors we all know and love. Goldfaber is highly pigmented for great lightfastness, and its 3.3mm lead is break-resistant as well as water-resistant and smudge proof. The pencil is labeled by the name Goldfaber, as well as UPC number and color number with its lead color painted at the end of the pencil.If you are brand new to art and don't feel comfortable creating your line drawing, feel free to use a ruler to get an exact placement for the elements in this piece.

The Polychromos pencil, is made using high quality acid free pigments, each pencil has its own number and name, the round barrel pencil is also coloured to match the pigment of the colour inside. These oil based pencils lay down soft vibrant colour tones, that can be built up with multiple layers without creating a wax shiny bloom, that is apparent in wax pencils. A special process call Secural Bonding, ensures the pencil lead is secured to the cedar wood casing, resulting in high resistance to breakage and great sharpening results. The coloured lead is 3.8mm, with 120 colours to choose from, you won't be short on colour choice. This reasonably priced pencil is our most popular coloured pencil to date. There are several ways to use Polychromos, create multiple soft layers and dimension by building up many layers of colour. The blending is achieved by using the light veils of multiple colour layers. Using a soft touch with this method is essential, holding the pencil at a 40-45 degree angle helps prevent the instinct to use too much pressure. The Goldfaber Color Pencil lives in our Creative Studio line. Not to be overshadowed by Polychromos, Goldfaber is the high-quality choice for the student, aspiring, and hobby artist. With 48 colors to choose from to let your imagination run wild, you will never get bored. My teenage daughter is a budding artist and she draws and colours prolifically so she'd wanted these for a long time. The depth of colour is brilliant and they are so easy to use as you don't have to apply much pressure so no aching hands from hours of colouring. Very impressed!” - Kim Larrad-Tye Finding the best colouring pencils, the ones that feel just right in your hand, ultimately boils down to personal choice. But that’s not to say we can’t nudge you in the right direction with our guide to the leading brands for artists.If there are simple elements in the piece that need to be changed I’ll do it. On the other hand, if there’s a significant amount of changes required, then I’ll take reference shots all over again, noting the changes I need to make.

Celebrating its 111th birthday this year, Polychromos Artist’s Color Pencil has earned its reputation of best of the best. Polychromos, our absolute finest quality colored pencil, lives among other exclusive artistic supplies for the professional artist in our Art & Graphic line. This collection could be best defined by its name Polychromos, meaning “many colors.” Available in 120 colors, there is no limit to where these colored pencils can take you. Finding a pencil that suits your particular style should be at the forefront of your buying decision. The hand of each artist moves in a slightly different way, producing their own distinctive works. Pencils vary enormously too, in the hardness of the lead, how they feel in the hand and in the variety and depth of pigment. Matching your style to that of the pencils is key. Hardness: An interrelated concern to both quality and type, this refers to the relative hardness of pencil lead. Harder pencils tend to have more pigment in them and less wax, hence they are better for drawing detail and outlining, rather than covering large areas. They are also lighter and easier to erase. On the other hand, softer pencils will provide a more opaque stroke that smudges faster, making it useful for blending colours and shading. For the longer version of this video demonstration, join the Members Circle inside Monthly Sharpener! There’s no commitment or contract to stay. You can join for 1 month and then cancel. For fur or hair, d raw repeated tapered lines alongside each other, by overlaying the chosen colours in lines at different angles. Using the right length of stroke for the subject you are drawing for a more realistic look. It is important to practice techniques, tapered strokes are created by reducing the pressure and lifting the pencil towards the end of the stroke line. Line widths can vary by using the pencil in different states of sharpness.

These cherries have a very glossy type of skin I wanted to use the burnishing technique to be able to show this texture. For whiskers, try carefully removing a line of colour with craft knife or plan ahead and indent the paper with an embossing tool prior to adding colour. You can also use a Tombow Mono eraser for more subtle highlights. These pencils are definitely in the premium group of offerings and their price reflects this. Prices per pencil go well into the premium price range, especially with the optional wood case. For some people, this might be too much for what amounts to a casual hobby but for those professionals who want some of the best, you have to pay to play. And with the right hands, you will be able to achieve some special results with these pencils that most “lesser” sets won’t be able to match. Overall ranking – 4.5/5 Colours: Of course, the range of colours in a set of pencils is an important consideration. However, you don’t want to go overboard if it’s your first set – start with 24 or fewer and work your way up. You can often buy individual pencils from the leading brands to add further range to a small set.