Helen Carter looks at the materials and tools you’ll need to begin your journey with coloured pencils and drawing.
One of the benefits of coloured pencils is that the you only need a few materials and tools to get started. The main choices are the pencils themselves and the surface. Let’s start with the pencils, since they may affect the paper you need.
The pencils
Coloured pencils, watercolour pencils and pastel pencils all look similar, but they are each different. Coloured pencils are a dry medium. They don’t spread or become paint like watercolour pencils. Unlike pastels, they don’t create dust and you can’t blend the colours together with your fingers.
When choosing pencils, if you’ve never tried them before, buy the best quality you can afford. Perhaps just buy a small amount at first, if you can. Most established brands will offer a variety of tin sizes from six to a whopping 150 colours. They will also sell pencils individually so you don’t have to spend a lot to try a few.
There are no ‘best’ pencils for beginners. Each pencil feels and behaves differently to the next. Faber-Castell Polychromos, for example, have a much harder core than Derwent Lightfast and are great for tiny details. Yet the Lightfast pencils are good at creamy blending into silky smooth colours.
The ‘best’ pencil will depend on what you are drawing, what surface you are using, and how hard or soft you are pressing. This is why professional coloured-pencil artists have so many pencils!
For complete beginners, go for something more soft than hard. Choose vibrant colours so layering is relatively quick, and blending is a little easier. Derwent Chromoflow pencils achieve this.
The paper
The paper you draw on probably has more of an impact on your colouring than the pencils. Just like the pencils, there is no ‘best’ paper.
Colour pencils rely on the ‘tooth’ of the surface. Tooth is a series of microscopic fibrous peaks and troughs that catch or snag pigment as you rub over it with the point.
When you colour over one spot multiple times, the pigment snags and breaks off to fall into the troughs. A back-and-forth action squashes the peaks, flattening them - this is called ‘filling the tooth’. The key factor when choosing paper is finding one that has the right level of peaks and troughs.
Paper surfaces
There are two good starting papers to try. First is hot-pressed watercolour paper.
It has a smoother surface so it is a good choice for harder pencils and sharper points, which are great for small details. It has a good amount of tooth that also allows for many layers. This paper is not the best for erasing, and some 100-per-cent cotton versions have a little more texture. It then takes time and effort to cover completely, but that extra robustness will be helpful as you learn.
Go for a thicker paper, such as 300gsm. There are many hot-pressed choices to suit many budgets.
If you're new to drawing, don't stop here! Explore our other beginner-friendly guides to learn all you need to progress and develop your drawing skills.
The second surface that’s great for beginners is Pastelmat by Clairefontaine. This is one that most coloured-pencil artists will try at some point. It's a particularly forgiving paper and therefore can be easier to learn on.
The Pastelmat is a strong card-like paper that is ‘toothy’ but feels velvety. The texture allows you to add many more layers before it smooths out completely and you can’t add any more colour.
Mistakes are easy to cover on this paper and it is even possible to add light colours over dark. This is often more difficult on other surfaces. However, the texture takes some getting used to.
Whatever paper you choose, avoid thin slippery surfaces, like printer paper, and you’ll be good to go.
The sharpener
Sharpeners are a must-have item, but they don’t need to be fancy. There are hundreds to choose from, and the only real consideration is whether your pencil will fit. You should also note that softer nibs, such as Derwent Chromaflow or Coloursoft have a sharper point and usually break less. Avoid the extra-long-point sharpeners until you feel more confident.
A hand-held twin-hole sharpener is adequate for beginners. The benefit of a twin-hole is that your pencils will fit and you’ll make a standard point length.
Erasing tools
Erasing is not easy with coloured pencils because pigments stain the fibres and become stuck in the paper texture. Eraser pens are a great choice since they are often small and contain a white eraser. Coloured erasers might affect your paper, and those hard ink-erasers will most likely tear it.
Another form of eraser is the kneaded or putty eraser. These erasers, after kneading, warming and shaping into a point, are great at lifting little bits of colour in a gentle way. They are also great at helping to clean up smudges with a light dabbing motion, without damaging the page.
The third technique is the tape technique, more of a hack, but since erasing is tricky, this might save a drawing! Use low-tack clear tape, such as Scotch Magic Tape, to lighten defined areas by tracing onto the back of the tape. When you remove the tape it will lift some of the pigment under where you traced. But be careful not to stick it down completely.
Blending tools
Blending is where you work in layers of different colours to create a smooth finish. Often this is done just by working layer upon layer, but there are ways to speed this up. You can use blender pencils, which contain a colourless core, where you push and squash your layers together dry. You can also use blending solutions, usually solvent-based, where you apply with a paintbrush, wet.
My favourite are blender pens, which contain a solution that soften the layers of pencil together to help with the smoothing out and blending. They are much easier than the pencils and less smelly and portable than the liquids.
Indenting tools
Indenting is a technique for creating small or thin highlights within a coloured area. A ball stylus, or even a sharp white pencil, pressed into the paper will make an indentation that the pencils can’t get into. They will skip over it when you are colouring around it. Any pointy object will work, just make sure it’s not sharp enough to cut or tear the page.
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