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Colored Pencil Difficulty

Whenever I draw with colored pencils I get a "grainy" look. Other artists that I've seen use colored pencils and get really nice results but no matter how many different ways I try to use them, I keep coming out with the same "grainy" result. Does anyone know the reason for this?

How do you mean grainy, like the white of the paper showing through? You have to keep the pencil strokes really tight together and press down really hard on them if you wanna get rid of the paper showing though. Though lately I've been using markers to set the base color and then pencils atop of that. Seems to save me some time. :)

Marker and watercolor used as a "mid tone" underneath your pencils helps give you a better ground to build up your lights and darks. Aside that, try using toned paper thats a middle tone as well :)

What kind of paper are you using? If you have too much of a "tooth" to your paper (such as vellum vs. smooth bristol) it will be granier.

Kooky: Yeah, the white showing through. My strokes are REALLY close together and really hard but it seems that it dents the paper and won't color some spots.

Thornwolf: Those are good suggestions and I'm not really sure what type of paper I'm using. It's thick sketchbook paper that I bought that's cheap.

methods for getting rid of "grain":

- burnishing. use white colored pencil or a colorless blender (prismacolor) to blend the colored pencil into the paper. you can also achive burnishing by using stumps/tortillons, or "polish" the area using tissue.

- use paper with less grit. if you're looking at art papers, look for the term "hot press" or "plate". examples: the smooth variety of watercolor paper is called "hot press", and the smooth variety of bristol board is called "plate".

- sharpen your pencil. a sharper point will get deeper into grooves. a broader tip will leave more texture.

- put down a ground color. this can be achieved a number of ways, such as marker, watercolor, acrylic wash, or...

- dissolve the colored pencil with a solvent. this works for wax and oil based colored pencils (like prismacolor). i use OMS or natural turpenoid and a soft paper towel or blending stump dipped in the solvent. some use a soft brush. you can use it to blend colors together, or you can make a ground color by laying down a flat area of color and rubbing it into the surface. wait until its completely dry before trying to draw over it again.

- if all else fails, press harder and layer layer layer! a good gradual build up of color usually eliminates the evidence of white paper grain.

another thing to look into is how much erasing you did on your original sketch. If you're working on the sketch itself (rather than transferring it to another piece of paper) sometimes the colored pencil won't go into grooves cut into the paper with the pencil that were later erased.

thanks for all the suggestions. I'll try them out next time I work with them again. ^^

I think it might also help to invest in Prismacolor pencils. They're really high quality (but kinda expensive). Worth the money though if you are using them a lot for illustration. They are not so waxy as a lot of other colored pencils. You may have noticed when you were younger that Roseart crayons and other cheap crayons just didn't have the richness or cover the page as well as Crayolas. It is the same with colored pencils, but there's an even better quality than Crayola. So if I were you, I'd try not only fine-tooth paper or a watercolor base - but also different types of pencils because each brand works differently.

yes, I was considering that myself.

I always use chalk pastels under pencil crayons. The watercolor method never did work for me! Plus they're great for filling in large areas. I recently invested in some lovely PanPastels and they go down a lot smoother and with less dust than regular ones.

To get at the tough to shade areas I abuse my pencil's life span by sharpening them to a edge that can kill. I use smooth bristol while coloring and very lightly shade with my pencil tilted a bit making sure I don't destroy the tooth directly with the sharp edge. I also make sure to get a nice even coverage that looks like it was dusted on. It takes a while but it's worth it.

I complement them sometimes with markers. For that the no brainer is prismacolor pencils and their marker set.

But I'm a faber castell girl. I know some like using prismacolor pencils all the way but I have a soft spot for less waxier brands. I still have a few boxes of discontinued spectracolors (both watercolor and normal pencils) and when I run out of those will switch to Faber Castell. I have their Albrecht Durer Watercolor Pencil line and the colors on those are marvelous, although it gets a touch annoying when the lead breaks (i got mine in a metal case when I was young and didn't know any better).

As for grain I don't mind some. I think the soft grain affect is absolutely beautiful as opposed to the airbrush perfection you see so much in todays work. So try using smooth bristol like everyone suggested and also work much larger.

Those who post their images online and it looks like it's airbrushed are probably working at gargantuan sizes.

I love the grainy look if it's pulled off right. When part of your picture is smooth and the other half is grainy cause you're pencil is running out or changes shape it's kinda annoying.