This web site and it’s contents are  COPYRIGHT to Peter Weatherill © 2009 : 2010 : 2011 : 2012

Other artist’s work is also copyright to the named artist            see site information for more.

There is a GOOGLE site search engine

available to help you find a topic containing your search word.  

This is located on the bottom of the Site Information Page

In the ‘Readers Gallery’ section of the site you will find a selection of images and links to artist’s web sites and blogs, You can join in - have a look at the opening page of the section and see how to have your picture included.

SITE NAVIGATION

MAIN SECTIONS

PETER WEATHERILL

Personal site link

This web site looks at Coloured Pencil Techniques. It provides a guide for the new and intermediate Coloured Pencil user and, hopefully, a free basis for learning and for discussion.

This is probably the largest existing free Internet resource of information on techniques and products for the new Coloured Pencil user,

with nearly 300 pages ( some of them long ones ) covering a multitude of individual topics and tutorials.

The site has been running since January 2009 and has no financial sponsorship from any manufacturer.  All the information and tutorials are available to you at no cost.   However, because the site produces no financial benefit, updates and additional entries are made only when time permits.  You may therefore find some topics in the early stages of completion, still in need of more data or a final edit.

These incomplete topics will usually carry a note to that effect.

The site was originally based on teaching notes for students attending my Coloured Pencil courses and set out to cover some specific topics which were discussed during the course sessions - the earliest data was composed around the start of 2007.  

Since being set up in January 2009 this Internet site has become generally accessible and used Internationally from over 90 countries, most months.   

If you are outside the UK, please remember that the site was designed for UK use and the information given here is very UK based.  

However, feedback from the USA  and elsewhere in the World indicates the information is very helpful to all who start out to learn about Coloured Pencils and the ways to use them.  Further contributions from Readers for adding to the site are welcomed, as are ideas for further content.

Be aware that the site does not set out to be exhaustive, it is a personal view and is not sponsored.

All images are subject to Copyright and copying is not permitted without approval.  Most images are Copyright © Peter Weatherill and others are copyrighted as indicated on the page they are seen on ( such as those in the Readers Gallery )

You are free to use the Pencil Topics Tutorials to work your own versions BUT those completed versions may not be sold for profit without direct approval from the copyright owner

BELOW -  on this page

You will find some simple guides for those new to the site to help you get started

Diary Notes which record some recent events on the Site ......and possibly the reasons for them !

Site Statistics and Information on the most ‘referred to’ pages.

After this HOME page

The contents page lists all the main areas of interest and provides internal links to take you to the items

Above this frame (Top left) is a section list which are visible on most main pages like this one,

and sub headings are also revealed if you hover your mouse over the main title.

You can always navigate back to here .... or to the Contents page wherever you are on the site

If you would like a quick check on what is new please see the following page

And following on from these pages

There are pages describing how the site works in more detail - in site information

A glossary of Pencil Terms,  a list of PDF files included

and a running detailed record of major content  updates as they are made.

ARE YOU NEW TO USING COLOURED PENCILS ?

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE VERY BASIC TECHNIQUES ?

THESE PAGES COULD BE THE BEST PLACES TO START ............

If you are going to BUY pencils -

look at the brands page and also the page on price and content

There is also an individual page for each of the main pencil brands available in the UK

You might also be interested in the section on colour comparisons.

HOW TO USE COLOURED PENCILS?

See the page on dry point 1 for information on basic techniques for wax type pencils

A whole range of pages follow on with a selection of techniques and  ways of using.

The page on aquarelles 1 for basic information on water soluble coloured pencils is also followed by a number of separate sections - including the 8 basic ways the watercolour pencils can be used

There are sections on pastel pencils

and mixed media

as well as pages about the most suitable paper to use.

A look at the contents page will also give you more idea what the site contains.

With over 150 pages of information, the site is a gold mine of data that you need to explore,

and with around 5,000 individual visitors a month, you are in good company.

Don’t worry, you won’t need a compass, and if you do get lost, just click on a contents link and find your way back to the core of the site

October 2011

HAVE YOU SOME EXPERIENCE OF USING  CP ?

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MORE TECHNICAL INFORMATION ?

HAVE A LOOK AT THE ‘CONTENTS’ PAGE

Most of the information on Techniques for using Coloured Pencils and the different surfaces appears in the early sections of the index to the left hand side of the Welcome Panel.

More specialised information on Coloured Pencils appears in the ‘General CP Techniques’ section and in the ‘Landscape Techniques’ section

Also there is a wide selection of items in the section on  ‘Art Points’ that covers things like Perspective, Composition, The Golden Section, Using a camera, Drawing from life and scanning and printing out copies of your masterworks

Finally there is the Gallery of images from artists who work in Pencil and who have web sites where you can find even more pictures and information.

October 2011

I get regular readership statistics from www.One.com, my Internet Provider.  These help me plan and update the site to meet the demands of readers.  

I get details of the countries readers come from, the pages they look at, and the average number of pages seen at each visit.

The readership figures are fairly constant since the later part of 2011 at around 170 visitors per day and around 5000 visitors per month.

Unless the statistics change a great deal, I do not propose to post regular updates and will probably only amend the figures shown here if they vary by more than 20%

CURRENT READERSHIP  OF THE TOPICS SITE

United Kingdom Readers  43%

USA based Readers  16%

European Union ( outside UK ) 12%

Rest of the World Readership  29 %

End of April 2012 totals

April 2012 monthly visitors : 5396 from over 90 different countries

Since January 2009 ( when the site was established)  :  Pages read : 382,280 by 123,665 visitors

WHAT DO MOST READERS OF THIS SITE LOOK FOR ?

The list below gives a few of the pages most accessed   

(JANUARY 2012 - out of 5791 visitors)

NOW IN OUR  

FOURTH YEAR

‘TOPICS’ sees steady growth again in 2012

It is pleasing to see so many readers returning time and again to the site

with over 5000 visitors a month in the first months of the year

Please pass on your requests for pages which you feel could be

refreshed or extended.  It helps me to plan to provide what readers require.

SO WHERE DO I START ?

The contents have been assembled over several years and have come from many sources.  

All sources are acknowledged where I know them and I am happy to add further useful information which readers of the site wish to contribute.

There is an introduction to the site below and more information about  how the site works.

©  PETER WEATHERILL 2009:2010:2011:2012

MIXED MEDIA

‘The Cottage Entrance’   

from an old black and white photograph

Coloured Pencil over Pastel pencil on a black background

See the step by step illustration of this picture being worked

In the Mixed Media section

ANNECY REFLECTIONS  © Peter Weatherill 2011

PASTEL PENCIL

A detailed Step by Step Exercise based on the testing of new Pastel Pencils being launched by Caran d’Ache of Geneva this Spring.  The Company have given permission for the artwork and commentary to be published here.  

More information will be given when the product is launched.

One or two changes to make life a little simpler for both you and for me !

Firstly, the Courses &Tutorials section has been updated to include virtually all the step by step examples shown on the site. The old page only listed the more formal tutorials, and there were a number embedded in articles that were not shown on the old list.

I hope that I have picked up all the examples, but if I haven’t, let me know, and I will update the list as and when required.

There are some more to be added shortly.

Also,I have decided that as the site statistics do not change a great deal and the percentage figures are quite constant, I will only update the list in future when major changes are seen.  This means that the ‘Favourite pages’ list will only be updated 6 monthly.  Let me know if this is a problem.

Hopefully I will get time this next month to do some more topic updating and extending. I will note any major updates here and on the ‘New Content’ section.

Peter

SITE READERSHIP STATISTICS

The Step by Step listing now includes 18 examples of stage demonstrations of methods of working with Coloured Pencils.

There are more to come, but you may find the current extended listing useful

Link to listing

Peter

Just had a first look at the new Stonehenge Kraft paper pads.  Vellum finish, 250gsm, so a good weight and a neutral pH, acid free 100% cotton paper as well.

Looks a nice  surface - very similar to the traditional Rising Stonehenge but a warm golden brown colour.  Potential for an alternative to black as mid dark background.

UK supplies are expected to become available over the coming months so keep an eye on the usual Stonehenge suppliers and their listings.

A test summary is shown here:

http://www.penciltopics.co.uk/page138.html

Peter

April 2012 :  I have just compared the January list with the list for the first three weeks of April, and the running order and subjects covered are virtually the same.  These are still the top 26 pages of the full 299 pages on the site, but virtually every page has been looked at in the last three weeks !.

The topic on coloured papers has now reached critical mass with the page reaching the limit of 1 metre long.

I have therefore split the information into coloured paper and black paper and refreshed the information on coloured paper suitable for dry point pencil use.

Please let me know of any errors and omissions in the data included or any links that do not work.

Adding pages always brings the risk of bugs crawling out of the woodwork !

Peter

New Coloured Papers page

Old Black paper page

Caran d’Ache Pastel Pencils are now on sale at Artifolk and Pullingers in the UK, and I am told that the Stonehenge Kraft pads will be rolled out by the Distributor in the UK to retailers in early June