Further Adventures in Colored Pencils

My Derwent Coloursofts arrived this week. A beautiful set of 72. I decided to avoid intermediate quantities based on reviews by Bob and Katherine.

I’m quite familiar with how Prismacolors function. There are some super-creamy ones, such as Indigo, Canary Yellow and Tuscan Red, that glisten off the pencil onto the page; others, such as Vermilion Red, seem to have been made with micah and won’t leave a trace on the paper without a lot of effort, without almost scrubbing the color into the paper.

The Coloursofts are, in general, much chalkier than Prismacolors, but are very smooth. Their waxy bloom is slower to grow. The result is a little brighter (see apple on left as opposed to right).

I tried working at the Farmers’ Market this morning. A drawing of this size takes a long time, and people were constantly moving in and out of view, barring the cooperative gentleman in the black vest. It’s better to have an obvious sitter or obvious photograph to work from.

The cats, on the other hand, spend a long time in each position. I was able to do this drawing this morning, in Prismacolor. Black cats are hard to draw and this black was a combination of indigo and tuscan red with a little burnt sienna thrown in. (The warm colors are on top as the cat was close to me, not further away, in which case I’d have done the routine the other way around.)

This sort of discussion seems so arcane when most people around me are talking about megapixels, digital Nikon lenses, and the need to buy external hard drives. I am pondering relative softness of leads and the long, slow, buildup of layers. It’s a different world.

(Note: all the paper used for these drawings was Canson Mi-Teintes, wrong side.)