The Colored Pencil: Key Concepts for Handling the Medium

Perhaps no other medium affords such aesthetic freedom as so colored pencils, which enable the artist to create works that incorporate aspects of both drawing and painting.

Through this authoritative text accompanied by 106 color and 52 black and white illustrations, the art of using colored pencils is presented in a fascinating yet easily understandable fashion.

In Part I of The Colored Pencil, the history, manufacture, and varieties of colored pencils are explored, as are basic materials such as paper, pencil extenders, and fixatives. Also included are informative discussions of colored pencil characteristics and handling, of color mixing, and of how color defines structure.

Part II focuses on mastering specific techniques - linear, tonal, construction of dark values, sgraffito, impressed line, burnishing, and colored pencil on colored paper. Here too is valuable information about using solvents, transfer methods, and preserving finished works.

Drawing a still life using linear technique; drawing flowers on paper with a gesso surface; executing a portrait on toned paper; using colored pencils over colored art markers - this is but a sampling of the thirteen step-by-step demonstrations that provide a close-up study of each technique.

The Colored Pencil will greatly add to an appreciation of this flexible medium that makes possible an incredibly broad range of expression.