Rich Blacks with Water Color Pencil

Black pigment can often appear lifeless and dull in a painting or drawing, so it's a great practice to mix your own.  I still haven't had a chance to find the picture I want to use for my next drawing in my colored pencil drawing class, so this morning I just took my journal and decided to play with a picture of orchids.

I did a quick sketch of my orchid blossoms and decided to use water color pencils for the background.  My first layer of color was magenta.

My second application of colored pencil was a dark violet.  The strokes were applied randomly in many different directions.

The third layer of color was black.  It was applied evenly over the previous colors, again in a random fashion.

Here's the page after water has been applied.  The strokes have been blended and traces of magenta and violet bleed through the black and give the darkness some life.

The final layer was made even richer and darker by adding a layer of indigo blue colored pencil.  These are just one way of creating a rich, black for your artwork.  You can also try a combination of alizarin crimson, pthalo green, and prussian or ultramarine blue to create a deep, rich black.  Don't be afraid to experiment as you "Celebrate, LOVE, and Create!"

PHOTO OF THE DAY

"Charlie"

Charlie came to visit our colored pencil drawing class today.  He was rescued  from the pound  from  his new friend, Tina