Series: Advanced Coloured Pencil Techniques. PART 3: Finalising your art

1. Introduction: I'm Jen, And welcome to the final part in this three part series on advanced coloring pencil techniques. If you come from the last class, you shoot half you're during Philly, transferred onto paper and have a good face off color laid down ready for you to start with the final details here. Um, what we're going to cover in this class is working from why you are working heavier with pencils, adding more details anymore. Texture throughout, um, working with highlights and low lights and learning how to blend of pencils and then adding some final embellishments with pencils as well. Um, in addition to that, if you have a chronic paints will also be adding Mikelic embellishments at the very end. So using refined brushes on telling equal it's to add an extra level. Children and Shari, that's not compulsory part of this for us. It's just, uh, that's extra. He's a detail that I like to add to the so drums. So the final plants from being did you have to add that sparkle and you're sure to work. So follow along. Um, I hope you enjoy it. If you haven't taken earlier classes, then feel free to take the other two. They're not super long and very straight forward to follow a good starting point for a fabulous piece of artwork. I hope you enjoy on. I'll see you on the bus. 2. Refining Details and Using Texture: If you've come from part two of this series, you should have your drawing now created with the base layer laid down and have a good sense of where your color scheme and your textures and patterns are going to go. So as you can see on this video here, the base layer is already down on now. I'm just going in with the similar colors over the talk, Um, really working with pressing a bit harder with the colors now some more comfortable about what I'm doing and remembering toothy textures that, um, practice in the earlier videos. So playing with those textures on blending in, um, with different colored pencil friends, I always recommend keeping well reference material on hand. Since this way, you're really gonna get into details off, adding that texture off the author or feathers or scales whatever you're doing. So making sure that in order to be realistic, the fair is going in the right direction or base in a natural way that is following this, will it be enough to any of the animals? So keep those reference images to hand on That will help you create a more realistic looking animal when you're working on a really colorful piece like this is easy to new stripe, of which pencils we were using for what? So I tend to keep a fistful of them whilst I'm working on a particular section so that I can remember what color they done for us and then the next one on top of that, in order that both sides of image are similar in some way, shape or form. Um, for most of making sure that I'm exploring using interesting posts which is adding the purple into the top of the there, that which would be quite a sort of find light throughout. So just keep a fistful of colors and make sure that you're not losing track of what you used where, as I'm working out the details here, I am always quite careful to leave that paper. Showing through incident areas possess will really help the patent come through since wires on on the top of the head. But the highlights on the darkest part in low light, um, being with sort of darkest and like to spot of the composition. So that will really help the FBI in on, um so making sure you keep parts of your paper clean when you're using your people or colored paper light People letting it show through like that allow, um to create a more dynamic compositions, so try not to so lay too much color on everything. A piece of paper or every single part of the paper said, It's just gonna get muddy, and you're gonna lose that natural highlight. All know like that the paper is gonna get You also remember to switch between different techniques when working on this. So we explored lots of texture options in nearly classes. So remember to work with those as you're bringing in the details here, whether you working on cross hatching well, im just soft blending using spirals or curbs. Play with thoughts throughout because that's where you get help with your position and sort of guide. The eyes contributes so giving, giving what to variety throughout its bill. So maybe in a place that's bravery, details such as the eyes on this there might want to leave the surrounding area. Quite simple. I will say this to the area. Don't be afraid to make your colors. He is so the president of color pencils are really great at nearing blending, so it might seem of the extreme to do start with a purple base and then work on top of that . If you work quite lightly on, then bring another, um, more natural layer. On top of that, another natural color, like the brown. You're gonna start to see the purple shining through over the brown, and it was really interesting color combinations. So explore with your colors on dumb to see what you can create. And if you're unsure than just take a piece of paper to the side and explore it before putting it onto your final piece, they said. You know what the outcome is going to be like If you're not familiar with using the colors together, Another thing you can do is which light color down first and then go over on top with a doctor or medium range father and that you can see here so that can help, um, dark and not like color of it on and make the highlight a bit more subtle. So if you've gone on the love of over the top with it, then you can reduce it a bit with the dark color. Just remember that depending on the type of pencil that you're using, you might have troubles with If you press down too hard, This enemy a limit to how many that you could put on top. So always keep that in mind and work in graduating lease rather than pressing down hard right from the get go, you may 1 in troubles. The only place where I do tend to press the road at the beginning is when I'm working on the eyes and doing these fine details. It really needs to be sharp and Chris that in that area I don't find a blending work. So while just go for it industry professing their hearts and what the beauty shop, you might notice that occasionally I have a big brush in my hand. Um, and I sweep it over the paper. So, um, that's just to take away that little flakes from the pencil that come off with this particular type of pencil because they are quite, um, fibres, I suppose, is the word eso. They leave little flakes of color all over the paper from time to time, especially depending on how you sharpen them. So I don't like to use my hand to wipe away that dusk. They just don't want to add more oil to the paper. So I just use an old makeup brush and swipe it off. So, uh, that's a handy little trick. If you get stuck with stuff like that always remains 1/2 fun when you're working with views as well. On there's a lot of Lindsay and news sites of artworks on special using write columns in the mountains and what not. So play around with different options and explore how you bring in a playful into some position. That's what makes it all more interesting on, uh, you using that helps that a lot. Uh, this is also the safety of those time consuming. So once you got your base layer down, as we had in the last video, this stage can extend from us flies Teoh. 10 or more hours, depending on her fashion would. So, um, don't expect to get it done with the more 20 put into it more satisfying, The end result is going to be 3. Highlights, Lowlights and Blending: the highlights and low lights stages. Really, the fun stage of this whole thing. Worry even more fun than it already has been, because you really get to play with the colors a lot more on dumb. Get some strength off the colors, um, a lot stronger as you press down harder throughout. So from our previous the video, we had a really nice base to work from. Um, now it's a multi. Select your lighter colors for your highlights on DSA. Richard calls for your shading in order to give a lot more texture on depths to peace. One thing I would consider is actually avoiding uh, your typical bright white on a lot for anything to do with my lights and no lights is that's just going to make it very start. Probably flattened out twice a lot. Um, when you look at things in nature often quite rare to see those pure, pure white black place appearing. What you're more often to see is depending on the 20 day in the light situation of shadows are often going to look violet or blue in what circumstances and highlights, depending on what they're shining on, all through going to a different color. So with an animal with service such as the day we have seen about when the light is shining through expecting to refer, which isn't always opaque around unities. So that's gonna catch the light in a different way than just coming off white white. So I usually add white right at the very end, which was showing the next few videos only for the tiniest sort of end of the highlights. So what you can see here is actually going in over the textured, already laid down with a slightly lighter color on dictating where the flow of the Harris going somewhere in what areas it's catching money. I'm how it's curving over the form so you can do that just by using the touches that we've been practicing line and gradually bringing that sense of feeling for a while. Then it looked just plot, as it was before then. Agency. I'm going in with a purple, which would be a sort of low light situation on then, um, finishing off with a mid tone brown as well. So those three colors what Reagan and I'm using on this section on that really gives it a investing cotton. It may not be 100% realistic, but it helps imply for is lying in a certain way propensities way. But it still looks like from the feeling. Sir, as you've seen in other parts of the videos, each section of this animal has, um, consistency to it. So I'm always not trying to deviate too much. Within each section, you'll have their certain color scheme in certain texture patterns. So that's what gives it a really sort of designed to look rather than a random look to it. Um, so in this section, I'm just using with working with the yellows and purples and browns of that in this section above that, I've got a a selection of warmer pinkish browns and golden browns. So, um, that will help the piece look intentional and well designed as well. If you make those decisions and worked in certain sections for the call a section of a bear , I kept the, um, floral Patton pretty loose on. I'm just filling in at this late stage. I don't want this area to be hugely detailed or destructing. Um, it needs to be more, but just a decorative element that adds to it and doesn't take away from the fuse. So I'm not going into too much detail with flowers. It's more just a hint of what they are by the use of the shape and their color on grass around them. So I get into too much detail with them. It may distract from the face, which I don't want to do so bad. Those types of design things in mind when you're working on composition that you want to bring a focal point Teoh position on them. That's a to move, sort of dictate how you go about making sure that I says he's popular working on the flowers. I'm also using this sort of bendable nature off the nipple offenses here. So really working with multiple layers and colors within the same family in order to get that really smooth that off of, um, there's a few pence is in this set flat below that on their own. The color isn't that amazing. One day used to blend other palace, they seem to work well. Almost make it glow, um, more so. The pale pinky purple offensive a usable in this section is one of those blunders that seems to just work with a girl on all kinds of colors. So if you have a fairly buried set, then maybe explore some of those colors to see what Mike blends ago, Um, and then basically, I'm just working in in bios and softly building up from there often something with mid tone and then beginning, like to tell to a couple that another new doctor, it's home. It's suffering on top of that. So then they all start to run together. Let's see. So now that the drawings pretty much done, what I'm doing is just going in on adding some, um, final sort of middle highlights of that So term, um, throughout the drawing, just touching up areas that need a little bit more attention on adding a bit more texture here and there, especially with those sort of unique lending comments that I mentioned before. So, um, this is the final stage, pretty much with the colored pencil. Um, in the next section, I'll be going into using me the highlight Pence's that I was talking about the white, um, to bring in the final sort of embellishments. Whiskers, fine hiss all that kind of stuff. So here I'm just bringing in some final touch ups to appease Now that I've had a chance to look at it a bit more closely on bond, bringing in some of the colors also from the rest of composition. So some of that light green and just brought in on the purples and what not. So, um, this is just the extra level off detail ing I like to bring in, and then nets will be adding final intelligence. 4. Embellish with Pencils: At this point, we're just adding in the final embellishments to the peace. So using your lightest Kalou's um, I've got my bright white here, and obviously you need to make sure it's nice and shop for the stage because we're gonna add in a really fine hairs and highlights just the right edges off the peace. Um, I'm Justin Imply. Where this the tips of the highlights might be a theory. It's again, I don't want to overdo in here. I think subtlety is best in these cases because it tends not to ask too much of a view too much off the white eso where they just add a little bit of sparkle, um, to the highlighted areas. And that will really make each, um, sort of three D parts so off the page. And if you're a bit more but has seen volume, um, I'm also going in with some other lighter colors, just embellishing here and there, where needed. Um, it's always good to step back from your piece for a while and come back to it. We have fresh eyes on that. Help you see some of the areas that might need final refinements. Um, but again, making sure you working really sharp princes here on you confessed them quite hard. Um, to make sure that the colors come through really noticing and strong. As for refining the dark areas off your artwork, I often use my darkest indigo blue color. So, um, I try and avoid using buck, because again, I find that it just sort of flattens a piece that makes it quite unnatural. Seeming so, um, the dark blue really gives it of the rich tone. Um, and just helps refine the dark areas such as the people are around the eyes around the nose . So often I line up, um ah. Highlight with a low light, as you can see around the nose because I won't really make the sharpness pop off the page there. So, um, the dark pencils are great for that. And then here, just going into the eyes, you can see that more of the details there, um, release playing with the colors on adding some final highlights and details to the edges of the eyes. So obviously being super careful because it's very easy to go wrong here. And I bought all your highlights on you should have a piece that looks pretty much finished . Then you could call it done at this point, if you don't have any equivalents, um, you should have a really nice composition. Now, if you do have acrylics, then head on over two nights video and I'll show you the next step. 5. Add Acrylic Highlights: these last two videos are about adding the final embellishments to the artwork. You're not 100% necessary, but, um, I find when you're especially working on the black paper, adding, the acrylic highlights really helps bring out the highlights to the peace. Um on. And the metallic embellishments also just really give a unique look to them on courses them to just sort of change color, depending on the light that they're displayed in. So it makes it a really unique piece. The paint's that I use for this section are acrylics. Um, you don't need expensive paints for this. Most craft shops have metallic acrylics that worked just fine. I have a selection of golden acrylics and also crafted bullets that I used just because of the colors that I could get a hold off for them. So I always have use white in mind, and then, depending on the composition, I'll have gold. Copper is an iridescent blues I use on some of them on then, um so this one I'll be using some purple metallic purple metallic green. So depending on what you've done for your composition, you can use your different colors. Teoh accent piece. What's nice about using the talents is that it will catch the light in different ways, depending on the time of day and where it's displayed certainly adds a unique quality to peace. Um, just adds up finishing look, switching on the thought paper. It really helps bring out those highlights that might have been difficult to get a shock. You want miss just a pit supreme. If you're working on a mammal, then you have the opportunity to add in whiskers and I lunches. At this stage, I find the softness of the personal Paula's mean that it is difficult to get a super fine wine with Pence's. So using the plates means that I can get that really bright lying about Eliska and make it really, really Chris. So that's what I do in these final stages here. Also, as you can see, adding the highlights to the I really helps on that extra level off lights to the eye and realism. Um, make sure you look a reference both Mr where light tends to catch on the I. How it looks, even I, with these animals with the darkest dinner on their arms, they tend to have my lights appearing just under the eyes. Well, so always use your reference material if we can, on the areas where I described the sort of curving shape to the hair on the very light to spot off those textures on Adam. Just little glimmers of light. So it's almost as if the hair shiny and it's just catching the light at the very top of the curve. So depending on what you're doing with the animal, a creature that you're during that's going to be different. Um, so, using reference material again to see how fur and skin and scales changed anyone white is always useful, Um, but keeping the use of the white just to go minimum as much as possible. 6. Add Sparkle!: in this final video, I'm using the metallic acrylics that I have, um, to add the final sparkles and embellishments to this piece. So I have, um, a selection off. Ah, copper acrylic, which I'm using here, um, this one I find it gives a really amazing metallic shimmer. Teoh, Wherever I put it, um, where is the gold that I'll put on a night? Iran is is a bit more subtle. It still shows up, but it's sort of enhances the color a bit more rather than sitting on top of the color underneath. So basically, what I'm doing here is going into the highlighted areas, um, the edges. Maybe he's describing some room like and then just embellishing some of the Patton's as well, um, working with little dots here in the just to help bring out the shapes of it mall. I use a couple of different paintbrushes for this in the past. Radiohead. One of my really fine watercolor brushes. This one is a slightly different watercolor brush again. Um, but more popular nowadays, because you can add the water cartridge to it and then squeeze it to get the water out. I don't even use it for that. It just has a really fine point to it. So I use it to do the dots. A zit tends toe. The tip tends to hold together really nice in and make really consistent Mark a swell. Um So I switched between those brushes. When I'm working on the I highlights resemble use this one this one that I have and then for the larger pieces are going with this brush. So now I'm going in and adding the gold paint A Z I mentioned this pain is a little more translucent than the copper, Andi. So you cannot she almost use it as a subtle wash on top of the top of the pence supreme. If you use it lightly enough, I haven't mixed any water with this and just putting it straight on. This comes out of the bottle, and it tends to be quite transparent, so you can lay it over your colors and not worry too much about it. Changing, especially the browns in the bowl opponents Binney and what it does is it just adds a really nice turns, their scent shimmer to work on. That will change as the light changes is sometimes a bit difficult to see what you're doing when you're working with these types of colors, especially depending on your life situations. So, um, just making sure you have unreviewable lab C and C as you're working. And I'm using this brush a lot more loosely here because I know it tends to go on and that transparent. Um, so I'm not so worried about keeping the dots perfect here. Depending on your composition, you might want to add some other metallic colors to your piece. I'm just going in and adding a metallic green here on day. We'll also be adding the purple a swell. Sometimes I just stick to using just the white highlight copper, gold, maybe an iridescent blue. It really depends on what piece I'm working on. Um, this one. I wanted the, uh, the color to stand out a bit more than it already waas. So just adding those little elements into the grass area and onto the flowers helps with metallics as well. So, um, really depends on what paints flies. You haven't want you, Francie doing the last piece of hitting I'm adding to this is see your doesn't blues so here. I just add a bit of water. Choose the pain tends to go one of it, like if you don't. So, um, just add water until it's quite a thin consistency. Is this one? You really want to use the translucency and go over top of clothes and still see the colors shining through? So what it does is it adds a love the bluish purplish iridescence to worthing. Paint it down. This is lovely for eyes, feathers, scales and even first I'm doing here, especially over the problem. New colors. So that's a really nice paint to have if you have it. 7. Class Wrap-up: congratulations for making it to the final video here. Um, by this point, you should have your drawing all finished on. Um, acrylic embellishments added throughout. So it's all shiny and sparkly. Uh, hopefully you've enjoyed this class. I really appreciate your taking the time. Teoh go through the Siri's. Um and the class project is obviously to upload your final piece to skill share and share it with everyone. So don't be shy. I look forward to seeing what you've created. Onda. Uh, hopefully soon I'll come up with a new video project to share with you.