Coloured pencils: layering, blending and paper choice
Colour pencils reward patience more than any other drawing medium. Here is why layering works.
What this covers
- Soft cores and hard cores
- Why layering beats pressing
- Building colour rather than picking it
- Burnishing as a final step
- Paper tooth is the limiting factor
- Solvent blending
- Watercolour pencils are a different tool
- Keeping points sharp
- Protecting finished work
Soft cores and hard cores
Coloured pencils vary in binder. Soft, wax-heavy cores lay down dense colour quickly, blend readily and wear down fast. Harder, oil-based cores hold a point, suit fine detail and layer more times before the paper fills. Most artists end up owning both for different stages.
Why layering beats pressing
Pressing hard fills the paper tooth immediately and leaves a waxy surface that will not accept more colour. Several light layers build the same depth while keeping tooth in reserve, which means you can keep adjusting. Depth in coloured pencil work is almost always layers, not pressure.
Building colour rather than picking it
A convincing colour is usually three or four colours layered rather than one from the tin. Warm greys under skin tones, a blue under shadow, a yellow under green – these change the result more than buying a larger set does. This is the main reason a 24-pencil set goes further than people expect.
Burnishing as a final step
Burnishing means pressing firmly with a light pencil or a colourless blender to fuse the layers into a smooth, saturated surface. It is a finishing move: once burnished, that area accepts very little further colour. Leave it until the values are settled.
Paper tooth is the limiting factor
Smooth paper fills quickly and suits detailed, lightly layered work. Toothier paper holds far more pigment and supports heavy layering, at the cost of a slightly grainy finish. If your colour stops taking after three layers, the paper is usually the constraint rather than the pencil.
Solvent blending
A colourless blender pencil, or a small amount of odourless mineral spirit on a stump, dissolves the binder and merges layers into a painterly finish. It is a genuine technique rather than a shortcut, but it is irreversible in that area, so test on a scrap first.
Watercolour pencils are a different tool
They behave like coloured pencils until water touches them, then they release as pigment. That makes them versatile and slightly unpredictable: the colour usually darkens when wet. Thin paper will cockle, so use something heavier than standard cartridge if you intend to add water.
Keeping points sharp
Coloured pencil cores are softer than graphite and break easily in cheap sharpeners. A sharp, well-maintained sharpener or a knife plus sandpaper block wastes far less pencil. Long tapered points suit large areas; short blunt points give better control in detail.
Protecting finished work
Wax-based pencils can develop a hazy bloom as the wax rises to the surface. Wiping gently with a soft cloth removes it, and a light coat of fixative prevents it returning. Store work flat and interleaved rather than stacked face to face.
How this applies when you are buying
Soft-core coloured pencils blend and layer well but wear down fast; harder cores hold detail and last longer. Watercolour pencils behave like coloured pencils until water touches them, so test on the same paper you intend to use, because thin paper will cockle.
Coloured pencils, watercolour pencils, pastels and metallics for work that goes beyond grey.
On the shelf at the moment
These come straight from the Little Shop of Crafts shelf as you read this, not from a list typed when the article was written, so the prices and the availability are current.
- Heshengping, Sketching and Drawing Pencils Set 26pcs, Art Supplies Drawing pencil Kit – $9.98
- Holyzuel Drawing Glove, Digital Art Glove for Graphic Tablet – $8.99
- Castle Art Supplies 40 PieceDrawing, Sketching and Charcoal Set for Artists – $39.99
Where to go from here
All of the above is the reasoning we use behind the counter at Little Shop of Crafts when someone asks. If you are weighing up two options and the listing does not settle it, ask: +1 212-531-2723 during opening hours, or contact@ucraftcorner.shop, answered within one business day.
If you order from us
Standard shipping is a flat $6.95 anywhere in the United States, and it is free once the order passes $49. Weekday orders normally leave Little Shop of Crafts the next working day, with three to seven business days in transit after that. Unopened items can go back within 30 days of delivery. Shipping Policy · Refund and Returns
Related sections of the shop
- Graphite and Charcoal Pencils
- Light Pads and Studio Tools
- Pens and Fineliners
- Sketching and Drawing Sets
Related reading
- Pencil grades: what H and B actually tell you – The letters on a pencil are a scale, not a brand code. Reading it correctly changes what you buy.
- Charcoal or graphite: choosing for the drawing you want – They look similar in the box and behave completely differently on paper.
- Waterproof and archival ink: what the labels mean – One word on a pen decides whether your line survives a watercolour wash.
Who wrote this
Written by the team at Little Shop of Crafts, a drawing and sketching supplies shop at 711 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10025. The guidance here is what we tell customers across the counter, and it is based on the products we actually stock and the questions we are actually asked. Where we are not certain of something, we say so rather than fill the gap. More about the shop · Contact us
