I don't know about you, but when I started using colored pencils for serious art, I faced a number of challenges from the beginning. All of them looked HUGE at the time. Some of them had me scurrying back to oil paints! But fortunately, none of them turned me off colored pencils completely or permanently. Over the years, I've found solutions to most of those problems, though I'm constantly on the lookout for better, more efficient methods. (Who isn't, right?) Many of my students deal with…

Prismacolor pencils offer artists beautiful, dynamic colors and artwork, but the best paper for these colored pencils bring out all the vibrant elements of these pencils. Here's where to start.

Does baby oil blend colored pencils? Can Vaseline be a useful art tool? Is hand-sanitizer a good blending alternative to gamsol? Today’s video has all the an...

Even though I do a lot of black and white pencil sketches, I just love grabbing my colored pencils. They are so dreamy and fun to work with. But, let me tell

By Carrie Lewis in Art Tutorials > Drawing Tips Most professional colored pencil artists recommend that new artists buy the best pencils they can afford. I usually make that recommendation as well. Starting out with the right tools gives you a much more accurate picture of the medium, no matter what the medium is. But there are times when the better choice is to start with something other than the best. So today, I want to give you six reasons to consider […]

Ready to take your coloring skills to the next level? Our video tutorial, #7 in the series, teaches you how to color blend like a pro! Check it out now.

Many colored pencil tutorials teach blending techniques using 5+ pencil colors. Blends make it hard to transition to realistic pencil art because you're limited to just the colors you own. The artist’s approach is to layer colors to create new colors, like a painter. Amy Shulke shows how to change y

Layering versus blending. Is blending the best way to create realistic artwork, or is layering the best method for colored pencil work?