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WORKING THE SURFACE

SECTION A

WORKING METHODS

 

A  /   Ways of Working CP

There are a number of Coloured Pencil techniques which form a group of ways and means to develop an artwork which do not directly involve the application of a Coloured Pencil to paper.

I term this ‘Working the Surface’ as most of them involve some treatment of the working surface either before or after the colour is applied.  Many will be obvious to anyone who draws, but I have included as many as I can to ensure that the topic is thoroughly covered.

 

The paper surface can be indented, protected, and scratched.  Colour can be added via other means than the pencil point, and once applied can be moved about, polished, burnished or erased (fully or partially).

Let us have a look at these ideas briefly and in turn.

Firstly, it is worth remembering that any work to the paper surface will only be effectual if the paper itself can take the treatment. Very thin, hard papers can be difficult to work for some techniques.  The surface of thick soft papers can tend to lift and tear.  

Always practice a technique first on a scrap of the same paper you will be using for your artwork.  A 300 gsm (140 lb) weight HP watercolour paper has probably the best chance of putting up with serious ill treatment

 

INDENTED LINE   A method of impressing a line into a relatively soft paper surface before adding colour.  The later applied CP then ‘misses’ the area within the groove and leaves it white (or whatever colour was there before).  This is a good method for fine lines such as rigging for boats, grass stalks, white hairs in fur and hair.  It does need to be planned for in advance.  It works over layers of CP where the line needs to be a coloured one. The line can be applied either with a sharp pencil point (use a relatively hard brand of CP for a fine line) or a stylus such as those sold for parchment craft.   Derwent sell a pack of pencil tools that includes two styli

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROTECTED.  Primarily the use of white or light CP to protect the paper surface when dark colours are to be added very close by and the light area needs to be retained as a highlight. Some CP colours stain the paper and therefore do not lift totally with a powered eraser, so a white pencil layer in a highlight will prevent dark colours attaching firmly to the paper surface.

Remember that the first layer of CP on the paper locks on the new surface, is the thickest layer of pigment, and makes up around 70 % of the final colour as later layers will be very much thinner as the paper tooth disappears.  

You can use a clear wax pencil to protect the surface.  A line drawn with the Lyra Splender pencil or the Derwent Burnisher will put down a protected surface that resists later layers of colour. This can enable a pale line to be included easily in a picture ( think lines of mortar in brickwork ).  Derwent tell me that this also works with later watercolour pencil washes - but experiment with your own aquarelle brands first - not all work equally well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SCRATCHED. (the Italian word for it is Scraffito). The soft surface of a work in CP lends itself to the surface being manipulated in a number of ways.  Scratching into the surface of applied CP with a sharp point can remove a layer of colour and show a fine line for grasses and small areas of fine pattern in the colour below.

Be cautious about using too sharp a point or blade on soft paper or thin paper, the underlying fabric might be damaged.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POLISHED.  I use this term to cover the use of a small pad to apply a fine layer of colour to the paper. This is useful if you are looking to apply a very delicate tint to the white paper surface ( as with a gentle blue sky ) and wish to avoid any line appearing from a pencil point.  First lay down an area of dense colour on a scrap of fairly rough surfaced watercolour paper.  The rough surface will enable the most CP to be laid down quickly.  Take a small pad of white felt (or soft felt like paper) and rub it on your CP ‘palette’ to lift some pigment.  Apply to the paper surface of the artwork and rub in gently.  For skies, keep the motion circular to avoid forming any clear lines.  It may take a few layers to achieve your aim, but the result will be far better than trying to get to the same stage with a pencil point (however flat).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BURNISHED.  The method of blending CP and intensifying colours by the gentle application of a unifying colour (or white) over the top.  Blending pencils – made from a transparent wax - are also sold to do this sort of job and whilst they do work well, they can seal off the surface for any further work.  I prefer to use a lighter shade of the colour being worked on, or a white of the same brand of pencil.  This is a good way of settling the previous layers back into the paper so that further work can be done on top.

You finish up with a much smoother surface and can remove any little light specks still showing from the paper surface

There are two main brands of blending pencils on sale in the UK and Europe,  The Lyra Splender Blender and the Derwent Blender and Burnishers which are sold individually and also in a pack together.

See below  in Techniques section B for a look at how they work

 

 

DISSOLVED  -  the dry ( oil or wax based) colour can be softened with a solvent and lifted and blended.

Apart from removing colour, this can be used to ‘wash’ colour into the surface.

As far as correction techniques are concerned, this will reduce the amount of colour on the paper, but will not remove it.  A number of solvents can be used, but many are either dangerous to health or inflammable.  

The safest is Zest-It which is citrus based and non inflammable. This can leave a temporary stain in the paper but the solvent quickly dries out and the paper surface can be re-worked.  The effect is very similar to using watercolour pencils with water, but the solvent works with both wax based and oil based coloured pencils, so is a valuable resource.

 

 

SOLVENTS

The whole area of solvents and their use will be covered in more detail in a separate topic within this section which is being developed summer 2011.  This new page will steadily accumulate more information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ERASED. Don’t forget that your eraser is a very effective tool for producing art.  I include here all the various methods of removing and lifting colour.   

WhiteTac is most useful for gently lifting a layer of colour

without rubbing the surface. It enables you to reduce

the intensity of colour already applied.  

The blob of tacky putty can be moulded into the right size

and shape for the area to be removed/reduced in intesity.

Plastic Erasers are also useful for cleaning off larger areas.  

Be careful though as they can smear layers of colour at the

edges of the area cleaned.   You can see this in the sample shown.

Powered erasers are now sold for very little cost, and are

excellent for lifting and cleaning in small areas and lifting out small

highlights.   In the sample you can see how easy it is to remove an

exact area cleanly

low tac tape can also be used to selectively lift CP pigment when

the tape is laid over the surface and a harder pencil used to press

down on to the area to be lifted. I see that the SAA currently sell a battery eraser for as little as £3 8so that even after you have bought batteries, you are still in pocket under £5 .

Remember that you can use a guard to control the area to be erased.  It is still possible to buy the Linux typists eraser guards that used to be used when typists used typewriters.  If you want to make your own, look out for thin stiff plastic that can be cut to size.   If the plastic is not too thick, the eraser will not remove the colour accurately.

 

BRUSHED   A stiff bristle brush is useful for achieving a smoother effect for skies and other subjects in pale colours.  A stiff brush can be used to blend in layers of powdered pigment and  bed it into the paper surface ( see  backgrounds ).   A brush can also be used to blend and merge layers of colour. ( see Managing Pigment in section 3 of this topic  )

The samples are worked on Daler Rowney 300gsm Langton HP watercolour paper.  The  Left hand sample shows a Cream fine pointed Polychromos pressed into the paper surface and then worked over with a darker colour.

The middle sample shows broader strokes that are not impressed so strongly into the paper and thus the later darker layer partly colours the earlier surface and leaves the lines less defined.

The Right Hand sample shows the much clearer result of indenting the line with a tool designed for the purpose.  The metal ends in a small ball so the tool does not scratch the paper

The white is the white of the paper

Derwent supply one in their tools set.  - See below

Pergamano also sell one for craft work which is excellent

First of all a transparent block of Lyra Splender Blender and a  rectangular block of white Polychromos CP were applied to the paper.

You can see the outlines shown highlighted at the top and you might just be able to make out the slight colouring of the paper.

 

A Horizontal block of violet was then worked across the two areas.

Some colour has been taken but generally the earlier layer has provided protection from the later strong colour

Here three layers of colour have been firmly applied to white paper to cover complete coverage of the single colour.

A scalpel is then used to scratch out the letters shown.

And finally the scratched marks are highlighted with a white Polychromos which makes no impact on the violet colour but beds down the scratches and leaves a smooth surface with the letters clearly shown

This technique is shown more fully in the section on Backgrounds.

The white clouds here have been erased from the layer of gentle colour left by the pad

A Dark red Polychromos on Fabriano Classico 5

Blended with Zest-It solvent

Latest revision August 2011

WORKING the SURFACE

WORKING THE SURFACE - moving the medium about  :  SOLVENTS  Dissolving the wax and pigment  :

BLENDERS and BURNISHERS     and     Other ways of MANAGING THE PIGMENT