Color Pencil
Layering and Blending
Layering builds on the technique of shading. Once you have mastered shading, you can add other
colors on top of another color. The results are something like mixing paint together but not as
smoothly. Since color pencil is a dry medium, the colors do not blend together well. The trick
to good blending is to gently shade over the paper, gradually applying a little pigment at a
time. If you press down too hard, the pigment will become too opaque and cover up the other
color you are trying to blend.
For example, to create purple, one can start with a base layer of yellow and lightly shade over that yellow with blue, until the desired shade of green is achieved. A blender can be used to help out with blending. It is basically a color pencil with a colorless wax core. Its function can be compared to that of water used in mixing watercolors together. The colors that can be achieved through layering is literally infinite. Don't be afraid to add more than one layer, experiment and use your imagination!