Colored pencils are wonderful tools for creating artwork of all types. . . if you’re doing a vignette-style composition, however, the last thing you want is to spend a lot of time on the background.
Today we’re going to explore a few of the background treatments that have worked well. . . read more
The kinds of surfaces suitable for colored pencil are nearly endless. If a surface will accept dry media of any kind, it will work for colored pencil, often with a minimum of preparation. . . read more
As much as I love working with colored pencil, the medium can be unforgiving. When I was first learning the craft, any serious mistake meant the end of a painting - just tear it up, throw it away, and start over. . . read more
One of the greatest challenges facing most landscape artists is getting natural greens. For colored pencil artists whose blending options are limited, getting the right green can be especially difficult.
In a previous article, I demonstrated how to create umber underpainting with colored. . . read more
I’ve been using colored pencils for fine art for many years, and one of the most difficult things I’ve ever tried to draw/paint with colored pencils are natural looking landscapes.
Over the years, I’ve tried a lot of things to make painting a landscape easier, and have narrowed my. . . read more
Majestic, intricate, dominating, mysterious, complicated. . . These are the words that I look for when I’m at the foot of a building. Each one is a feast of hidden proportions that I need to solve, like a code passed from architect to architect.
To add to that, I want to view my subjects as. . . read more
For today’s tutorial I will be demonstrating how to render a finished drawing in graphite. The images used below were taken from a portrait study done on Stonehenge printmaking paper.. . . read more
In today’s tutorial I’ll be using pastels to create a realistic portrait of a dog. I like to use soft pastels for blocking in color, and hard pastels (combined with pastel pencils) for creating detail. . . read more
In this tutorial I’m going to show you the quickest and easiest way to create a nice, moody, black and white portrait with charcoal. Here are my tools of the trade. . . read more
Pencils are just one of the many mediums in which artists communicate. They are also the most basic of mediums. They are easy to control and use and usually set the foundation for your artwork - remember outlines?. . . read more