Using a variety of sketching pencils and tools can add zest to your drawings, inspire you to sketch more often and give you new drawing techniques to try. Here are some ideas for mediums that you can add to your sketching toolbox.
Crayon Drawing for a Blast from the Past
Remember how much fun it was to open a new pack of crayons and try out every color in the box? You can relive that childhood fun by sketching with crayons. Sound too juvenile? Not so. Fine artist Lee Hammond creates beautiful drawings using crayons. She shares her techniques in her book Amazing Crayon Drawing with Lee Hammond.
You can try a different spin on crayon drawing by using them like their fine art cousins, oil pastels. Use these oil pastel techniques and tips for inspiration.
Mess-Free Drawing with Conté Sticks
Conté sticks or crayons are much like soft pastels, except they are harder and less messy. They were invented by Nicolas-Jacques Conté in 1795 and are made of kaolin clay, natural pigments and graphite compressed into square sticks. You can use Conté crayons to make bold, expressive lines in woodsy, natural tones.
Wet and Dry Sketching with Watercolor Pencils
If you love to paint, but find carrying around a watercolor painting set for sketching tedious, try watercolor pencils. They can be used like a colored pencil or a regular sketching pencil. The marks on your paper can be wetted when you get home, though, giving the sketch the look of a painting. You can also dip your colored pencils into a cup of water for an unusual effect.
Widen Your Strokes with Woodless Pencils
There's nothing worse than having a broken pencil lead when you are trying to get a sketch down quickly. Having a supply of woodless pencils solves that problem. The whole sketching pencil is lead, so they don't need constant sharpening. Plus, they can provide your sketches with creative strokes that you're not able to make with a regular pencil. Turn a woodless pencil on its side for broad strokes, and turn it upside down for softer marks, for example.
Give these sketching pencils and supplies a try, and you will have a new array of techniques to try in your sketchbook. Let your creativity run wild. You may find your new favorite sketching tool.
Sources
- Conte Crayons. (2011). Retrieved 2011, from Dick Blick
Alina Bradford - Alina Bradford is an artist with around 20 years of experience and 12 years experience as a professional writer.
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