• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Reviews of the Best Stationery
  • Home
  • Best
    School & Office Stationery
    Wooden pencils
    Mechanical pencils
    Pencil erasers
    Manual pencil sharpeners
    Electric pencil sharpeners
    Pencil cases
    Pen and pencil sets
    Scissors
    Manual staplers
    Dry erase markers
    Brush pens
    Graphing calculators
    Highlighters
    Rulers
    Gel pens
    STAEDTLER pencils
    Correction tapes
    Printer paper
    Binders
    Folders
    Dry erase boards
    Transparency film for inkjet printer
    Arts & Crafts
    Colored pencils
    Paper for colored pencils
    Crayons
    Pastel pencils
    Acrylic paint
    Drawing pencils
    Carpenter pencils
    Watercolor pencils
    Sketchbooks
    Watercolor paper
    Adult coloring books
    Art markers
    Kids easels
    Paint for murals
    Paper for Copic markers
    Art sets for 6-year-old kids
    Gouache paint
    Copic markers
    Alcohol based markers
    Craft storage
    Desk lamps for artists
    Office & Craft Equipment
    Laminators
    Paper shredders
    Paper shredders under $100
    Heavy duty paper shredders
    Die cut machines
    Printers for graphic designers
    Standing desk chairs
    Best Offer
  • Reviews
    School & Office Stationery
    rOtring 800 pencil
    Pentel GraphGear 1000 pencil
    LAMY 2000 pencil
    Pentel Sharp Kerry pencil
    HP Prime graphing calculator
    TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator
    Casio FX-9750GII graphing calculator
    Jinhao 992 fountain pen
    Crave PowerPack portable battery
    Wing Sung 698 fountain pen
    Wing Sung 601 pen
    TI-Nspire™ CX II graphing calculator
    Pelikan M200 pen
    Pelikan Pura (P40) fountain pen
    Arts & Crafts
    Canson XL watercolor paper
    Pentel Clic eraser
    Prismacolor Scholar colored pencils
    Sargent Art colored pencils
    Ohuhu markers
    Touch Five markers
    Moleskine Art Plus sketchbook
    Master’s Touch acrylic paint
    Crayola colored pencils
    Melissa & Doug Deluxe easel
    STAEDTLER colored pencils
    Arteza watercolor pencils
    Arteza brush pens
    Faber-Castell watercolor pencils
    Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils
    Huepar laser levels with green beam line
    DeWALT (DW089LG) line laser
    Shinhan watercolor paint
    Office & Craft Equipment
    Bonsaii shredders
    Fellowes shredders
    Fellowes laminators
    GBC laminators
    Fellowes Powershred 79Ci shredder
    Cricut Explore Air 2 die cut machine
    Canon Color imageCLASS MF733Cdw printer
    Canon PIXMA MG6620 printer
    Xerox Workcentre 6027/NI printer
    HP DeskJet 2622 printer
    Best Offer
  • Articles
  • How to Draw
  • Contact
    • About Yuliya
    • Job with Us
  • 🖼️ Top Art Museums (USA)
  • 🏫 Top Art Universities (USA)

How to Use Prismacolor Colored Pencils: Great Tutorial

Home / 📑 Articles
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (4 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)

Last updated: April 1, 2020 by Yuliya Skryp

How to use Prismacolor colored pencils

Pretty often people use their colored pencils as regular writing tools. However, for more realistic look of your drawing some more professional techniques should be applied. But are the professional techniques more difficult than just simple hatching? If you constantly ask yourself how to use Prismacolor pencils for better results, then this tutorial was specially designed for you by WoWPencils! Here you will find useful tips that you might have never known about and blending tendencies that will make your piece of art greatly stand out against the other works.

You still don’t have these amazing colored pencils or you have some doubts whether to buy them? There is a great chance to make a firm decision after you read about Prismacolor Scholar colored pencils review.

Blending Techniques

Blending colorsStraight to the point, there are a few methods that will be observed individually. The first one, the most common, is blending.

In fact, you might assume that there is nothing difficult with that, but when it comes to the real picture, everyone can come in nowhere because of being not familiar with its principles and basic rules. Luckily, they are all collected here.

Layering Colors

The simplest technique is layering. You can experiment by adding and covering the existing layer with a completely different color. Moreover, the parallel strokes add volume, and as a result, the existing drawing will look significantly different.

Nevertheless, there might be confusion since you can blend colors by layering them as well. Thus, whether you blend or layer, this technique is considered «layering».

Burnishing

Believe it or not, but burnishing is another way to make your art much prettier. However, usually this effect is achieved with the special tool – colorless blender. It plays a huge part: it blends colors together and the outcome shade becomes more saturated.

The reason is that this blender covers the whole surface of the paper. And if the surface is rough, all the blank patches are going to be evenly filled with pigment, so that they are uniform.

Don’t worry if you don’t have such a tool. As a replacement, you can use a pencil with slightly lighter shade of the main colors you used. The effect will be the same.

Bristle Brush

Painting brushesAnother method is blending colors together with the stiff painting brush. However, for this technique, the waxy colors have to be liquid. Is it possible? Of course!

In order to make the pigments liquid you need to cover them with the special art solution. Once the colors become malleable, you can adjust the blending as you want.

Smudge Colors

Blending can be performed with various hand materials, such as fabric, for example. Its application is quite simple, the only thing you need to do is to cover the surface with the waxy pigment and then smudge everything around it with a piece of fabric. That’s it!

Depending on what outcome you want to achieve, you need to adjust the pressure and the frequency of smudging. If necessary, you can layer other colors and smudge again. You are welcome to experiment.

Mineral Spirits

This material is even more unusual. Using mineral spirits, which is usually used for wiping out the nail polish, will deliver an outstanding result.

Basically, the patterns appear because the wax texture of colored pencils is soluble and malleable. Thus, under the influence of liquid solution they begin to melt and form inimitable design.

Texturing Tips

TexturingTexturing is another trick that significantly influences the final result. In fact, making the particular texture with waxy colored pencils is much easier, than with a brush.

Hand tools can help you with your art project. For example, rough surface put underneath the paper can transfer rough texture while you operate your pencils as usual.

The same effect can be achieved even if the surface is already colored. For this purpose you can use a piece of sandpaper, just gently rub across the colorful film until you get what you expect.

In fact, impressive surface is also reached through coloring on paper with a lot of tooth. However, there is one simple rule, you constantly need to adjust the pressure you apply, since the more you press, the more smooth and even the surface will be. And vice versa, if you want to get more patchy area, then you shouldn’t press too much.

Finally, if the above-mentioned methods didn’t work, you can try another one. But make sure that you apply this method only when paper is already covered with waxy film. The next step is to take a stylus and make some grooves by scraping the film.

Sharpening Prismacolor Pencil

You might think there’s nothing difficult in sharpening Prismacolor pencils, since you can just use a regular sharpener for this purpose. However, sharpeners don’t always work as expected. In fact, because of the waxy texture and relatively wider core and wooden body of Prismacolor pencils, they become quite fragile. As a result, not all the sharpeners are good for them.

If you are already an owner of Prismacolor pencils, then you have already tried this out and know how challenging sharpening is. Thus, users constantly search for better tools, so you need to be prepared for this. As an alternative, you should know that many artists still use an old-fashioned way – sharpening with the knife.

In fact, there are numerous brands that produce sharpeners for a particular type of pencil. Speaking about Prismacolor pencil, you can find cool manual pencil sharpener by reading our overview.

Erasing Advice

Art erasersYou need to know that erasing the waxy pencils texture from paper surface is quite a tricky task. The regular eraser will only smudge it over the area rather than erase it.

That is why there are lots of art erasers that are specially designed for such purpose. However, there are a few alternative techniques, which can at least fix the problem a little bit.

The first one is an artist tape. Cutting a small piece of this tape then sticking it to the surface will delicately lift the waxy film.

The final recommendation is to be careful with your strokes. Always try to cover the area you color with light strokes, otherwise, it will be much more difficult to get rid of them when you need to fix some imperfections.

If you don’t already own an eraser, an additional portion of information might be needed. Luckily, there is a separate overview that will help you find top pencil eraser.

Fixatives and Prismacolor Colored Pencils

When the art piece is ready, you may want to have it for a long time without it being ruined or having changed much. For this purpose, there are special art supplies that can keep your picture the way it is for a long time.

The final fixative is usually a spray that seals all the layers and protects the picture from ruining. Once you have covered your picture with it, you can’t do anything else afterwards.

However, if you still work on your picture and you want some changes, though you don’t want to smudge the layers with the top ones, then it’s better to use the workable fixative.

Other Useful Methods and Utensils

It’s quite difficult to summarize all the methods according to their purpose. The reason is that they are usually applicable for various techniques. There are some simple rules that will help you make your drawing last long:

  • Always make the first and basic strokes gently with no excessive pressure on the tool. This will help you make your drawing more malleable in case you decide to change something.
  • Never try to achieve solid color. Instead, always experiment by achieving the same colors with mixing completely different shades, and don’t forget about gradients. This principle will add depth to your drawing.
  • The same works for achieving black color. Try to mix darker shades of different colors in order to get deep and exceptional color.
  • It doesn’t matter whether you start with, a light or a dark shade, especially if you are making a gradient.
  • If there is no professional solvent, you can use some hand sanitizer instead.
  • Don’t forget to apply watercolor pencils. You will definitely get an inimitable result.
  • Don’t limit yourself by picking the right colors, since texture can significantly change the final look. Thus, try to work on various surfaces such as metal, wood, sand etc.
  • The type of paper tooth can even replace some other surfaces if you don’t have them.
  • If you are running out of your favorite pencil – don’t worry! Just insert a piece of the pencil that you have left into the special metal extender.
  • Waxy pencils can be an auxiliary tool while you are working with oil paint. They will add more details to your art piece.

These tips and recommendations are not the limit. Lots of them are achieved while you are experimenting and trying something new. And, as you might have already known, you can get more experience only if you experiment.

In Closing

Colored pencils are wonderful tools for art purposes. Despite the fact that they are so nice and popular among numerous users, the majority still doesn’t know some things that significantly can improve the result that they are used to. That is why WoWPencils has created detailed overview of art techniques and tips, so that you know everything about them. Hopefully, it will inspire you to try them all, and who knows, maybe the next piece of art from you will become a world known masterpiece.

References

  • Colored Pencils – Prismacolor – https://www.prismacolor.com/
  • Drawing: How should One Use Prismacolor Color Pencils Effectively? – https://www.quora.com/
Related Posts
  • Best Paint Mixing Trays (2021)Best Paint Mixing Trays (2021)
  • Best Rulers for School, Office, and Designers [2021 Review]Best Rulers for School, Office, and Designers [2021 Review]
  • Copic Ciao vs Copic Sketch Markers (2021)Copic Ciao vs Copic Sketch Markers (2021)
  • The Best Watercolor Paper: Top 13 Brands to Use in 2021The Best Watercolor Paper: Top 13 Brands to Use in 2021

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Disclosure

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links. I get some commission paid directly from Amazon Company, when you purchase through affiliate links. Thank you for your interest and support to my site!

About Yuliya Skryp

Yuliya

My name is Yuliya. I am a designer with many years of experience, the mother of a little student, and the author of articles on WoWPencils.com. Writing and drawing tools are an important part of my creations. I write detailed reviews about them for people who want to know what to get. Find the information you need in order to create your best! Also, visit my page on Facebook or contact page to know me better.

Recent Posts

  • Art Supplies by Arrtx [2022]
  • Best Oil Based Colored Pencils [2022]
  • Arrtx Markers Review (2022)
  • Arrtx Skin Tone Markers [2022 Review]

Table of Contents

  • Blending Techniques
  • Texturing Tips
  • Sharpening Prismacolor Pencil
  • Erasing Advice
  • Fixatives and Prismacolor Colored Pencils
  • Other Useful Methods and Utensils
  • In Closing

Reviews of the Best Stationery

DMCA
PROTECTED
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Cookie Policy
Accessibility Statement
Sitemap
About Yuliya
Job with Us
Contact

WoWPencils.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon(.com, .co.uk, .ca etc) and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Copyright © 2023 · WoWPencils