The way I use colored pencils is simple: I start with light pressure and the largest shapes I can see, then gradually build color, value, and detail through multiple layers. I don’t try to find the perfect pencil for every color or press hard enough to finish an area on the first pass.
Colored pencils become much more versatile once you treat them as a layering medium rather than something used to fill an outlined shape.
I draw from observation, whether I’m working from life or a reference photo. I look first at the large relationships of light, shadow, color, and form. Smaller textures and details come later.
This guide walks through that process from the first pencil marks through layering, blending, burnishing, and finishing the drawing.
How I Use Colored Pencils at a Glance
- Choose paper that can accept several layers.
- Study the subject before choosing colors.
- Establish the largest light, dark, warm, and cool areas.
- Begin with light pencil pressure.
- Layer different colors instead of relying on one pencil.
- Increase pressure gradually as the drawing develops.
- Add small details only after the larger relationships work.
- Burnish selected areas if you want a denser, smoother finish.
What You Need to Start Using Colored Pencils
You don’t need a huge collection of supplies.
- A useful set of colored pencils: 24 to 36 colors gives me plenty to work with for most drawings.
- Drawing paper with some tooth: enough texture to hold several layers without becoming overwhelmingly rough.
- A reliable sharpener: especially important when I need controlled details or use softer pencils.
- A subject or reference: something with readable light, shadow, color, and form.
If you’re still choosing materials, compare my best colored pencils for artists, colored pencil sets, and best paper for colored pencils.
Step 1: Look at the Subject Before Choosing Colors
I try not to begin a colored-pencil drawing by immediately searching the box for the pencil that seems to match the object.
First I look.
I sometimes squint at the subject or reference until the smaller details disappear. That makes the large value and color relationships easier to see.
I ask myself:
- Where are the lightest areas?
- Where are the darkest shapes?
- Which areas feel warmer or cooler?
- Where are the strongest color changes?
- Which edges are sharp and which almost disappear?
Those observations give me a better starting point than thinking only in terms of object names such as “green leaf,” “brown fur,” or “blue sky.”
Step 2: Begin With Light Pencil Pressure
I use relatively light pressure at the beginning of a drawing.
This isn’t because the first marks need to be timid. Light pressure simply leaves the paper available for more layers.
If I press extremely hard immediately, I can flatten the tooth of the paper and make it harder to add additional pigment later.
I would rather build the drawing gradually.
| Pressure | How I use it |
|---|---|
| Light | Early layers, color experiments, establishing value |
| Medium | Strengthening color and defining forms |
| Heavy | Final accents and selective burnishing |
Step 3: Establish the Large Color and Shadow Shapes
Before I get involved with eyelashes, feathers, leaves, fur, bark, or other small information, I want the big visual masses to work.
I may begin a shadow with a muted blue, violet, brown, or another color that relates to what I actually see rather than automatically reaching for black.
The first layer doesn’t need to reproduce the finished color.
It gives me a foundation that later colors can interact with.
Step 4: Build Color With Layers
Layering is the part of colored pencil that changed the medium most for me.
Instead of trying to find one pencil that exactly matches a color, I can create that color by combining several pencils.
A green area might contain layers of yellow, blue, olive, and brown. A warm shadow might contain violet beneath red or brown. A muted color can emerge when I layer colors that push against one another rather than using a single premixed pencil.
I keep the early layers relatively open so some paper still shows through. Each additional layer modifies what is underneath it.
That’s very different from putting one opaque color down and considering the area finished.
How Many Layers of Colored Pencil Should You Use?
I don’t count layers while I’m drawing.
Some areas may need only two or three passes. Other areas can contain many overlapping colors.
What matters more is what the drawing needs.
I stop layering when the value, color, texture, and surface feel appropriate rather than working toward a predetermined number.
Step 5: Change the Direction of Your Pencil Marks
I don’t always shade with the same generic back-and-forth stroke.
The direction of the mark can help describe the subject.
On fur, feathers, leaves, fabric, skin, or a curved object, I can let the pencil movement respond to the form I see.
Sometimes I want those marks to remain visible. Other times later layers soften them considerably.
For more ways of applying the pencil, see my separate guide to colored pencil techniques.
Step 6: Mix Colors Directly on the Paper
Colored pencils don’t mix on a palette before they reach the page, so much of the color mixing happens through overlapping layers.
I can put a warmer pencil over a cool layer, shift a bright color toward neutral, darken an area with a complementary hue, or subtly change a shadow without covering everything with black.
This is one reason I don’t feel the need to own every color available.
A smaller set teaches me more about how colors influence one another.
Step 7: Increase Contrast Gradually
As the drawing develops, I begin strengthening the darkest areas and clarifying important edges.
I don’t darken everything equally.
Some passages may stay relatively soft and unfinished while the area I want the viewer to notice receives greater contrast, sharper edges, or more color saturation.
This keeps the drawing from becoming equally loud everywhere.
Step 8: Add Small Details Last
I save the smallest information until the larger drawing is working.
Depending on the subject, that might include:
- Individual hairs
- Feather edges
- Leaf veins
- Small reflections in an eye
- Bark texture
- Small changes in a contour
If the overall proportions and value relationships don’t work, these details won’t rescue the drawing.
Once the larger structure is convincing, however, a surprisingly small amount of specific detail can have a strong effect.
How to Blend Colored Pencils
I do most of my blending through layering and pressure rather than automatically reaching for solvents or blending tools.
At first, the individual layers may remain visible. As more pigment is added, the colors begin interacting and the white of the paper becomes less prominent.
I can then use another pencil with slightly more pressure to smooth the transition.
A lighter related color, cream, or white can sometimes help soften the surface, although it can also shift the color underneath it. I choose the pencil based on the effect I want rather than assuming white is always the correct blender.
What Is Burnishing With Colored Pencils?
Burnishing uses heavier pencil pressure to compress the layers and produce a denser, smoother surface.
I usually save it for later in the drawing.
Once I’ve built the colors I want underneath, I can use a pencil with firmer pressure to push those layers together visually.
The important trade-off is that burnishing reduces the tooth available for additional layers. That’s why I don’t normally use heavy pressure at the beginning.
See my full guide to burnishing with colored pencils for a deeper look at the technique.
How to Avoid White Spots in Colored Pencil
Small white spots often come from the texture of the paper showing between pencil marks.
That isn’t always a problem. Early in a drawing, I often like seeing some of the paper because it keeps the surface open and lively.
If I want a denser finish later, I can:
- Add more layers from different directions
- Use a slightly softer pencil
- Increase pressure gradually
- Burnish selectively
- Choose a smoother paper for the next drawing if I want less visible tooth
I go deeper into this problem in how to color with colored pencils without white spots.
Prismacolor vs. Polychromos for This Process
I use both Prismacolor Premier and Faber-Castell Polychromos, but I don’t expect them to behave exactly the same way.
Prismacolor Premier feels softer to me. It puts down rich color quickly and works particularly well when I want smooth, dense blending.
Polychromos feels firmer and gives me more control over small marks and gradual layers. It also holds a sharper point longer.
Neither approach changes the fundamentals: I still begin lightly, layer gradually, compare values, and increase pressure only when the drawing needs it.
If you’re choosing pencils rather than learning technique, use my artist colored pencil comparison.
The Paper Changes How Colored Pencils Behave
Paper has a major effect on how many layers I can build and how visible my marks remain.
A smoother surface generally makes it easier to produce crisp edges and fine detail. A surface with more tooth catches more pigment but also leaves more visible texture between the marks.
I generally want enough tooth to accept several layers without having the paper texture dominate the drawing.
If you’re struggling with layering or blending, I would test the same pencils on another surface before assuming your technique is the problem.
See my guide to the best paper for colored pencils for more on choosing the surface.
Should You Keep Colored Pencils Sharp?
It depends on the mark I’m trying to make.
A sharper point is useful for small details, narrow edges, hatching, fur, feathers, and precise texture.
A slightly duller point can be useful for broader areas where I don’t want every stroke to become a narrow line.
I don’t keep every pencil needle-sharp all the time. I sharpen according to what the next part of the drawing requires.
If sharpening and breakage are giving you problems, see my guide to the best pencil sharpener for colored pencils.
Common Colored Pencil Mistakes
Pressing Hard From the Beginning
This can fill the paper tooth before I’ve had a chance to develop the color. I begin lighter and save stronger pressure for later.
Using Only One Pencil Per Color
A brown object doesn’t need to be drawn using only a brown pencil. Layering neighboring and complementary colors gives me much more control.
Adding Details Too Early
I want the large values, proportions, and color relationships established before spending time on tiny textures.
Making Every Area Equally Smooth
Some areas can remain visibly drawn while others become more blended. I don’t need every part of the image to have an identical finish.
Using Black for Every Shadow
I look for the temperature and color inside the shadow rather than automatically darkening everything with black.
A Simple Colored Pencil Exercise for Beginners
If you’re new to colored pencils, I would practice layering before attempting an elaborate finished drawing.
- Choose a simple real object or clear reference photograph.
- Identify the largest light and dark shapes.
- Choose three to five pencils rather than the entire set.
- Establish the largest color areas with light pressure.
- Add a second color over part of the first layer.
- Build two or three additional layers while watching what happens to the color.
- Use more pressure on one small area and compare it with the unburnished sections.
This gives you experience with pressure, layering, mixing, paper texture, and blending without requiring a complicated subject.
When you’re ready for specific subjects to practice with, see my colored pencil drawings for beginners.
Colored Pencils Don’t Have to Look Photorealistic
I don’t think the goal of learning colored pencil has to be eliminating every visible pencil mark.
I often like seeing the layers, changes in direction, bits of paper texture, and marks that reveal how the drawing developed.
Some areas can be highly developed while others remain loose.
That flexibility is one of the reasons I enjoy the medium. Colored pencils can be used for detailed finished drawings, quick observational sketches, color studies, nature drawing, mixed media, or anything between them.
Once You Understand Layering, Everything Gets Easier
The biggest change in the way I use colored pencils came from stopping myself from trying to finish an area immediately.
I work gradually. I look, add a layer, compare it with the subject, shift the color or value, and then add another.
That gives me time to make decisions instead of committing to a heavy final color before I understand what the drawing needs.
From here, you can move into more specific methods in my colored pencil techniques guide, or browse the full colored pencils hub for guides on materials, paper, blending, mixed media, and drawing ideas.