Coloured Pencil

In this post we’ll look at some of the wonderful examples of picturebook illustration done with coloured pencils (or pencil crayons as they’re called in Canada.) Some of the following examples are pure pencil crayon and others layer coloured pencils over graphite drawings and/or watercolour or gouache underpaintings.

 

The Smallest Girl in the Smallest Grade, Christian Robinson

Strokes can be more or less visible, depending on your style. Compare Molly Idle and Suzy Lee (Ask Me) below.

Flora and the Flamingo, Molly Idle

Flora and the Flamingo, Molly Idle

 

Ask Me, Suzy Lee

Devant Ma Maison, Marianne Dubuc

portrait of Jane Goodall by Rebecca Green

Using visible strokes and soft blending together is very common.

As in the work above by Roslyn Schwartz, Seng Soun Ratanavanh in Time for Bed, Miyuki varies the pressure of pencil application to achieve different results. You can achieve optical mixing results by overlaying different colours with less pressure to give the impression of a third mixed colour.

Time for Bed, Miyuki by Roxanne Marie Galliez and Seng Soun Ratanavanh

Pool by Chi-hyŏn Yi

Pool by Chi-hyŏn Yi

 

Kaya Doi uses soft blending and creates outlines by leaving white paper showing.  

Chirri and Chirra in the Tall Grass by Kaya Doi

Here she uses soft blue to make outlines in a mostly white scene.

Bonne Nuit, Anne, illustrated by Geneviève Godbout

Bonne Nuit, Anne, illustrated by Geneviève Godbout

Bonne Nuit, Anne, illustrated by Geneviève Godbout

As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman

As the Crow Flies by Melanie Gillman

The Dutch version of Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, illustrated by Lieke van der Vorst

Lieke van der Vorst

Lieke van der Vorst

from Picturescape by Elisa Gutiérrez. An exploration of Canadian paintings in the Vancouver Art Gallery

Applying more pressure gives a more solid colour.

Bike ride home by Cynthia Nugent

Cécile Berrubé

Mixed Media: coloured pencil over gouache by Cécile Berrubé

Watercolour and coloured pencil in Bear and Wolf by Daniel Salmieri

Virginia Wolf, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

Gouache overlaid by coloured pencil by Rebecca Green

from “Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How A Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet,” illustrated by Rebecca Green

from “Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How A Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet,” illustrated by Rebecca Green

from “Iqbal and His Ingenious Idea: How A Science Project Helps One Family and the Planet,” illustrated by Rebecca Green

How to Make Friends with a Ghost, Rebecca Green

Felicita Sala

Felicita Sala

from The Jacket, illustrated by Dasha Tolstikova

Pencil drawings with coloured pencil.

Seven Pablos, illustrated by Chiara Carrer

Lisa D’Andrea, A Most Mysterious Mouse

Cécile Berrubé

Magic Little Words, Delaunois and Manon Gauthier

Light-toned coloured pencils look great on tinted paper

Also consider that:

• Paper with a tooth lets you add more layers of coloured pencil than smooth paper
• Sharpening by hand makes your colours last longer
• Professional coloured pencils are creamier and have more pigment

Now try it out yourself with the following tests and exercises from Beginning Colored Pencil by Eileen Sorg

Some more techniques

• use gouache for highlights 
• frottage: colour over textures. Try it with a coin or corrugated cardboard.
• scratching:  use a knife to scrape out
• impressing: dent the paper to create lines before colouring
• different textures of paper allow for more or less layering
• burnishing

Try making careful copies of the following two images from Devant Ma Maison by Marianne Dubuc. Notice the optical blending, leaving the white paper showing, and the instances of lighter and heavier pressure.

from Devant Ma Maison by Marianne Dubuc

from Devant Ma Maison by Marianne Dubuc

 

 

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