Colored Pencils are one of my all time favorite mediums to use and to teach. I fell in love with this medium when I was in high school (we won’t say how long ago that was), which was when I first discovered Prismacolor pencils! This pencil provided so much opportunity for growth and development, and the results were incredible! Previous to this medium I remember loving the simple process of coloring with crayons in coloring books. I would fill these books with neatly colored and shaded crayon work and found so much pride and satisfaction in the simple process of just coloring well. I applied this same crayon technique to my colored pencil usage and immediately developed my own signature style with this medium. Today, I still continue to teach colored pencil techniques in all my high school art classes, sharing what I have learned to be most successful throughout my career and through my own artistic experience.
Colored Pencils are a staple in almost every classroom throughout the nation. They can be found in elementary, middle, and high school classrooms and in every academic, not just the art classrooms! They can also be found in most homes, which as a side note, makes it easy to assign homework or give the option of having students finish colored pencil projects at home as needed. This is why I would argue that knowing proper colored pencil techniques is so important in the classroom!
Here are just a few key examples of why colored pencils are good for the classroom:
- Clean and Manageable: Unlike paints, pastels or markers, colored pencils do not easily smudge, bleed or spill. As a dry, clean medium this makes them easier to manage in a classroom setting.
- Fine Control and Detail: As a dry medium, the artist has a ton of control when it comes to accuracy and blending. Unlike other mediums, colored pencils can be sharpened to a very fine point, allowing for precise lines and intricate details. This is especially beneficial for younger students learning to draw.
- Versatile: Colored Pencils can be used for a variety of art styles from realism to more expressive designs. They can be used to create larger, highly sophisticated pieces by older students, and at the same time be well-suited for smaller, more focused drawing activities where younger students can concentrate on details rather than large areas.
- Technique Variety: With a variety of technique options, artists and students can choose the best method (for them) of using colored pencils to easily create depth and shading, enhancing their artwork. Technique examples include such things as working dark to light, layering, using a marker base, using complimentary colors for dark values, and so much more!
- Affordable: There are MANY brands of colored pencils to choose from depending on your situation and budget. Most classrooms can afford even the most basic brands, giving their students the opportunity to experiment with this medium. For example, a quick search showed a pack of 72 Prang colored pencils for under $10!
- Sensory feedback: The tactile experience of coloring with pencils can be calming and engaging for students.
- Non-Toxic: Colored pencils are generally non-toxic and safe to use. Any skin stains from colored pencils can be washed off with soap and water.
Alas, with every good thing (art mediums included), there are always Pros and Cons. Understanding the bad with the good will better prepare you as you teach this versatile medium to your students.
The Cons:
- You have to be PATIENT! Colored pencils are a very slow and time consuming medium. You have to spend time building up layers of color to get depth, blends, and textures.
- Unfortunately, colored pencils do not have the great reputation of being considered “High Art.” Many people do not think of colored pencils as a serious medium because it reminds them of “school grade art class”.
- Colored pencils are hard to erase. This makes them a bit unforgiving, especially when it comes to younger students who are still learning how to “draw light until they get it right.”
- In the end, brand does matter. While cheaper colored pencils give medium opportunity to all classrooms and homes across the nation, cheaper colored pencils have some downfalls. For example: Student grade colored pencils are often hard because they contain more filler and less pigment, which can make the colors dull and harder to blend with.
Even with the cons, I would still argue that colored pencils are such an important medium to teach in the art classroom! I do realize though, that it can be super intimidating to teach colored pencil techniques to beginning artists when you aren’t super confident with the medium yourself! I have known many art teachers, and peers, throughout my career who have struggled with using and mastering colored pencils. But like all things, it just takes a little practice and perseverance to learn anything new and once you do, your students’ amazing colored pencil art pieces will be worth it all!
Here Are My 6 Main Colored Pencil Technique Tips:
Tip #1: Erase your Graphite Pencil Lines!
Colored pencils do not go well with graphite! Before you start, make sure to lighten the graphite pencil lines by erasing them. Erase just enough that you can still see your design, but the graphite won’t compete with the colored pencil. If you can’t erase the pencil lines (maybe you drew too dark, or you’re working with young kids who would struggle with that), trace the pencil lines with black pen or sharpie before applying the colored pencils. Your work will thank you for it.
Tip #2: Color in Small Tight Circles
Surface quality matters! The first thing people see and judge is the craftsmanship. Applying a neat and smooth surface quality throughout the piece packs a real punch on the overall success of the art. When I teach I really try to emphasize this and then provide a few ways of achieving it.
First, I’ll show what not to do, which is always line direction. I don’t want to be able to tell that a student colored up and down, or diagonally. We shouldn’t see that. Instead I explain that students should smoothly color up and down and then color in the opposite direction over the work, such as right to left. By going up and down, then left to right you will be able to hide line direction. But that’s not all! I then show students how to go over the work with small tight circles. This last step is key for creating a smooth surface quality! By coloring in small tight circles, we won’t be able to see line direction at all and your strong craftsmanship will show through instead! Trust the process!
Tip #3: Make Your Work Opaque!
This one tip is a game changer. If this is the only thing your student does in all the tips you provide and the techniques you teach, your student will mostly still have a successful piece. Don’t let them turn in work that is colored poorly or with white paper showing through. Make them make their work opaque! Apply heavy pressure (you must explain that this doesn’t mean “break your pencil heavy pressure”), heavy enough pressure that the colored pencil is smooth and not transparent. The bold, brightness of the colored pencil alone will make a big impact!
Tip #4: Show Value in Everything!
This one is HUGE! If a student or artist can show a value blend in anything and everything they draw, the sophistication of their work will automatically be propelled into next-level-awesome. When I teach value blends, I tell my students once we go value, we don’t go back. They will never again be allowed to color something in with a solid 1 color application. 1 color application = flat shape, while value= depth and strong craftsmanship.
To teach value I have students practice with value strips as I demo, and they follow along. Students first have to choose colors. I require that they all choose 1 Hue and 3 colored pencils that form a dark, medium and light version of the hue. So if a student wants to work with Red, they can find a Tuscan red (dark), crimson red (medium), and an orange (light). They have to choose colors that make sense when blended, so I show a color wheel and explain that analogous colors would work here too, like Violet into Blue into Blue-green. 3 colors/values is my requirement for students when working, but I do explain that more than 3 is always better!
Tip #5: Work Dark to Light
There are MANY different ways to successfully use colored pencils, and each artist has to figure out what works best for them! In Art 2 (my advanced classes) I share 4 different ways of using colored pencils and let them choose the technique they most identified with. In Art 1, my beginning classes, this is how I teach it (and honestly, this is the way I work as an artist myself) → We work Dark to light.
I demo this as students follow along in their sketchbooks and within a value strip. Grab the darkest of your 3 colored pencils. Apply heavy pressure on the left side and as you move towards the middle, ease up on the pressure until the color smoothly fades to nothing. Then grab the medium valued colored pencil. Color with heavy pressure on the left side, over the dark color (this blends them both together). As the medium pencil moves closer to the right side of the value strip, ease up on the pressure until it fades to nothing. Then with your lightest value, color with heavy pressure over everything, making the 3 colors blend together seamlessly, and ensuring your work is opaque. By following all these steps in order, I guarantee your results will be flawless!
Check out this Colored Pencil Drawing Demo to see these 5 tips in action!
Tip #6: Know Your Colored Pencil Brand!
This final tip is important because I have to recognize the disparity between not only colored pencil brands, but also the accessibility (or lack thereof) that some schools have to the top brands. I am fully aware how fortunate I am to work at a school that gives me a budget capable of purchasing Prismacolor Pencils for my students. With a professional grade colored pencil like Prisma, creating successful art pieces is almost easy for students. They just seem to melt onto the paper! If it is in your school’s budget to purchase them, I highly recommend this colored pencil…there is nothing else like it!
If you CAN purchase Prismas, here are some tips that I have learned along the way, and emphasize to my students for optimal success and maintenance of this great colored pencil:
- DO NOT DROP THEM! The Prisma lead will crack on the inside causing the lead to crumble each time you go to sharpen it. The lead is soft and therefore fragile.
- Use a handheld sharpener or x-acto knife to sharpen them. Electric sharpeners are too abrasive and will quickly sharpen them down to nothing! These pencils are expensive… conserve them as much as possible!
- Prismas are meant to be blended! Show value, make it OPAQUE. If you can, buy a Prisma colorless blender for an optimal blending technique!
If you are UNABLE to purchase Prismacolor Pencils, that is OK! You can still apply all 5 Tips to any brand of colored pencil. To prove this, I practiced my own advice above with 3 different brands to show that you can still get quality results with any quality colored pencil. I used a No Name Brand (technically it was called “U Brands”), Prang (which I actually really enjoyed using!) and Crayola. All three blended neatly and smoothly with 3 different colors using the technique tips above, , but Prang gave the brightest results.
Now that you have a bit more knowledge of colored pencil techniques, to help you get started with planning a lesson, below we are providing a list of professional artists who use colored pencils in their own work (this also proves that colored pencils can be High Art, too!). Any of these artists would make for a great inspiration muse and can be used for a slideshow introduction to colored pencil. Click on their names for direct access to their websites. Check out their work! It’s amazing what can be done with colored pencil!
10 Professional Artists who use Colored Pencils in their works:
| CJ Hendry | Cecile Baird |
| Anne Kullberg | John P. Smolko |
| Lui Ferreyra | Jesse Lane |
| Anna Hammer | Art Venti |
| Marco Mazzoni | Kelly Lahar |
We know creating a full lesson or whole unit from scratch can be so time consuming! Below are the links to the units we use to teach colored pencil techniques in our classrooms. All of these units/ projects are tried-and-true and our students are engaged in the process while building confidence in their skills with their successful results. The units include everything you would need for a whole month or more of learning, from slideshows to worksheets, demo videos to student examples, sequence of learning events and so much more! If you don’t have the time to do it yourself, we have it all ready to go for you! Check them out!
High School Project Ideas using Colored Pencils
Important Concepts Covered: Optical Illusion art, Line, implied 3D form, Value, colored pencil techniques, Blending, composition, movement, etc.
Important Concepts Covered: Drawing basics, gesture lines, contour lines, blind contour, Value, Geometric shape, organic shape, composition, realism, negative space, Robert Wyland, etc.
Read our blog on Teaching Drawing Basics—> CLICK HERE
Important Concepts Covered: Photorealism, still life, composition, perspective, color value, colored pencil techniques, light logic, negative space, sighting, basic shape, etc.
Middle School Project Ideas using Colored Pencils
1 Point Perspective Art Museums
Important Concepts Covered: Linear Perspective: 1pt, Line: Horizontal, vertical, diagonal, orthogonal, parallel, perpendicular, contrast, pattern, texture, Art history, colored pencil techniques, etc.
Read our blog on Teaching Perspective —> CLICK HERE
Chuck Close Inspired Self-Portraits
Important Concepts Covered: Grid drawing, accuracy, Chuck Close, Colored Pencil techniques, self portraits, etc.
We hope that you found this blog helpful as you venture into the world of teaching colored pencil techniques! It is such a rewarding medium to master and with a little technique practice, I’m sure your students will be thrilled with their project results.
For more teaching tips, check out our blog on Teaching Perspective and Teaching Drawing Basics!
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