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Applying layers of colour When working on a drawing, coloured pencils are applied in thin layers, beginning with light pressure and in a variety of directions. With each layer, pressure on the pencil is increased to deepen the final colour of the drawing. Using a variety of colours in layering also adds interest. Any white areas in the drawing need to be left uncoloured to expose the white of the paper. When layering is complete, to create a more even finish of colour, blend the pigment that is already on the paper with a paper blending stump. Simply work the tip of the stump over the whole drawing with heavy pressure in the same way that you would colour with a pencil. Let’s now apply all this theory to drawing a pansy with coloured pencil. 5 Start Art FEBRUARY 2020 www.painters-online.co.uk The colour wheel A useful exercise to learn the basic principles of colour mixing is to make a colour wheel. 1 Copy the colour wheel template (below) onto sketch paper. 2 Colour the three primary colour sections: red, yellow and blue. Primary colours, as their name suggests, are pure colours that cannot be mixed from any other  A light layer of red over the right side of the green sample tones down the intensity of the green slightly (left) while a heavy layer of red over a section of green creates a strong grey (right). RED Primary YELLOW Primary BLUE Primary ORANGE Secondary PURPLE Secondary GREEN Secondary colour combination. Use medium pressure on the pencil, as pressing too lightly will not lay down enough colour, whereas pressing very heavily will fill up and flatten out the natural texture of the paper (its tooth) and not allow layers to be added later. 3 Secondary colours are made by mixing primary colours together; with pencils, this mixing is achieved by layering. In the section between the red and blue primaries, colour a layer of red then a layer of blue on top (or vice versa). The merging of these two primary colours will create purple, a secondary colour. Repeat this process around the colour wheel by layering yellow and blue to create green then layering yellow and red to create orange. 4 The colour wheel is also helpful in showing you opposite colours, also known as complementary colours. Therefore, the opposite of red is green, the opposite of blue is orange and the opposite of yellow is purple. This is useful to know when you want to tone done the intensity of a colour. A light pressure layering of its opposite over the top of a colour will tone down its intensity. A heavy layer over the top will actually mix a grey. RED Primary YELLOW Primary BLUE Primary ORANGE Secondary PURPLE Secondary GREEN Secondary  Paper stumps help blend layers of colour in the final pencil drawing START RT 1 2 3 4