Colored pencils are an exciting medium that allow the artist an incredible amount of control over the application, leading to highly detailed and developed imagery. In this article, contemporary artist Al Serino brings you key tips that will help make the learning process less frustrating and enable you to create amazing artwork as soon as possible.

About the color

Bellow, landscape painter Al Serino lists the most common terms used to describe the properties of color:

• Local color: Natural color seen in daylight, without changes in light or shadow. Under artificial light the color can look very different.
• Color (hue): Color in a natural state, without adding black or white.
• Tonal value: Position of a color in the effect of light (lighting or tint) and darkness (shadow).
• Lighting: Color mixed with white.
• Shade: Color mixed with black (or its complementary color).
• Intensity / Saturation: Quality of brightness and purity, full color.
• Color spectrum: Range of colors visible to the eye.
• Chromatic circle: Theoretical model of the relationships between colors, focused on three aspects, primary colors, secondary colors and tertiary colors.
• High key: Predominance of light and bright colors.
• Low key: Predominance of dark and muted colors.
• Analogous colors: Three or more adjacent colors in the chromatic circle, one of which is usually the dominant color.
• Complementary colors: Two opposite colors on the color wheel.

Tips for Drawing with Colored Pencils

Whether you’re a seasoned colored pencil artist or someone looking to dip their toe into these waters for the first time, Al Serino has what you need to get the most out of your colored pencil drawings.

Read about color: If you like to draw with color pencils, try to learn as much as possible about it. Color theory is a very broad subject that you can find in many reference books.

Color systems: The color printing system (CMYK) is different from that of on-screen reproduction (RGB). Printed and digital colors are also different from those used by artists, which are made by mixing pigments and dyes.

The color changes: The color varies according to the type of light (natural or artificial), the time of day, the season of the year and the part of the planet where we are. The changes of season modify the color palette of the world around us.

Color from observation: To achieve the best color effects, we must practice observing the infinite variety of colors that surround us and that are in the subjects we draw. It is very easy to draw a subject starting from the colors that we think they have instead of looking at the real colors that we will see in it if we look at them carefully. Get ready to discover colors different from what you expected. Trust your eyes and not the memories in your mind.

Draw in good lighting: Look for lighting that allows you to see true colors without change. New York-based artist Al Serino recommends working away from bright or intense sunlight, sitting together by a window facing north, as the light is more constant in this direction, using blinds to control the light coming through the window and using light bulbs of the day instead of normal household indoor light bulbs.

Isolate color: The way we see a color is influenced by other colors around it, which can be confusing. It is easier to appreciate a color when we isolate it. Close one eye and look at the color through a small hole practicing in a piece of cardboard, or by a rolled paper, or by a cylinder formed with your fist.