One of the reasons that colored pencils are the preferred tool of choice among adult coloring book artists is because they can be put into layers slowly, one at a time, until the page pops. This fits in well with what appeals to most people about adult coloring books: the desire to relax, unwind, and lose track of time.
You can put upwards of 50 or more layers of colored pencil on a high-quality page if you’re detailed and meticulous about it and invest a good amount of time. How many layers your colored pencil will put down on the page is completely dependent on how much pressure you put on the pencil, to begin with.
Colored pencils consist of a core made of wax and pigment, which is different than the granite in regular pencils, which is supported by a wooden exterior that makes the pigment wax easily useable. The type of colored pencil you buy and the variances of pressure you’re able to apply to an image will restrict or enhance the number of layers you’re able to get onto your finished page in your coloring book.
How You Approach Your Paper Choice is Important
When dealing strictly with adult coloring book artists and layered pencil drawings, it’s important to emphasize that having quality paper matters. The way pencils work is they deposit pigments onto the fibers in the paper, and the more fibers present that are designed for this, the more layers you can do.
The fibers in the paper create little hills and bogs for the color to get trapped in. The more of these ups and downs that are available, the more you can keep depositing pigment on the page to obtain multifaceted color saturation once the work is complete. The smoother the paper, the fewer crevices are available, and your paper will quickly quit picking up the color you’re trying to lay down with your strokes.
Don’t heavily drag the pencil across the paper. Any real pushing will just cause the paper to lose its pigment-trapping fibers and future layers will begin to look muddled if they catch at all. That isn’t to say you shouldn’t burnish (art speak for polish) the paper toward the end of your work to seal in the color. Different pencil pressures have different responsibilities throughout the pencil layering process.
Each Pencil Provides Different Coloring Layers Based on Pressure
What’s great about colored pencils is that each pencil provides a variety of different shading potential based on how you maneuver the pencil. Pushing very lightly on the pencil while making your pigmenting strokes will produce a more translucent shade while pushing heavily will give you much darker layers.
As mentioned above, remember not to push too hard on certain areas as you’ll flatten the fibers of the paper and you won’t be able to add more layers. Creating layers via pressure can take a lot of practice, so it’s advisable to create a sheet beforehand that demonstrates how colors look with different pressures applied so you understand what kind of color layer can be created.
It’s as easy as labeling 3 boxes you’ve drawn and doing one with light pressure, one with medium pressure, and the last with a lot of pressure so you can see what your pencil can produce. It’s important to keep in mind that these 3 colors are not all that’s available to you per pencil! There is a myriad of pressures in between the 3 you have demonstrated to yourself, so remember that your pencils are as versatile as your ability to control how hard you push down on the paper with the tip of your colored pencil.
If the 3 boxes on your test coloring page for reference seem too limiting, you can do swaths where you begin coloring as lightly as you can to as hard as you can while your hand drifts right across the page. This will give you an area that gradually shows you the range of colors available to you.
Starting with the lightest layers, as recommended, is great for people who are more indecisive about how they want their coloring page to look when it’s finished. The lighter the pencil layer you create, the more easily it is erased in the earlier stages if you realize you don’t like your initial pencil color choice.
The Color Wheel is Important for Successful Shading
To make objects look most realistic, it’s smart not to default to grey and black pencils when it’s time to lay the shadowwork. Green goes with magenta, reddish-orange is best aided by cyan, and violet-blue does the background work for yellow. Because of the ways these colors mix, the shadowing on the object is more authentic about how it’s seen by the human eye.
Always work with the lightest colors first and then move on to the darker colors. It may seem counterintuitive to put the lightest colors first as the shading seems important but fight your instinct to lay down the shading before you begin anything else. Mistakes you’ve made with layers of lighter-colored pencils can be hidden better by darker colors that go on top, so your beginning layers can be better corrected later on when the dark layers are ready to come into play.
This isn’t to say that you absolutely should stick to the color wheel and that only the lightest colors go first. Remember if it’s the dynamism that you’re going for, you’ll want to experiment with techniques that go along with your instincts and resolve. This is supposed to be a fun hobby that is stimulating yet absorptive, so just do what aids your relaxation best.
Wondering how to color pretty? Check out our article HERE.
Pencils and Sharpness Are Not Created Equal
To get the most layers out of our chosen brand of pencil, you’ll need to keep the pencils sharp at all times. That’s because the ups and downs created on the paper’s surface by the fibers can grab the pencil’s pigment more easily if the tip of the pencil is smaller. Also, a spent pencil tip will burnish the fibers of the paper (rub them off) and the paper’s surface will be too smooth to pick up the next layer of pigmentation.
If you’re planning on diving into creating a ton of layers on your coloring book pages, get a good and dedicated sharpener that’s designed specifically for your brand of colored pencils. This will ensure that you’ll be able to lay down as many colors in layers as you see fit.
Don’t Color All Your Lines in the Same Direction
When you’re a kid and you’re presented with a coloring page, you’re encouraged to lay all of your pencil strokes in the same direction. As an adult coloring artist, you should break this habit. Pencil strokes that are all facing the same direction end up looking streaked and amateurish, so you’ll want to encourage yourself to color in all different directions when coloring in an area.
It may be faster to quickly color in the same direction, but in the end, taking your time to swipe in all directions makes the color look more uniform and more evenly distributes the pencil’s pigment. Most artists will also tell you to keep your strokes small so that your mistakes aren’t nearly as noticeable. The smaller your strokes, the more you can apply, and the more the colors will turn your page into an eye-catching and dimensional art piece.
The more layers you’re able to put down on a paper, the more dynamic the piece is going to look because there will be more dimension added. One of the unique things about using colored pencils is their ability to be layered in a fashion that doesn’t become muted but still looks more uniform than if the piece had been done with another medium.
While it’s okay to have monochromatic coloring art creations without the over 50 layers colored pencils can provide, creating something that pops off the page just through different swipes of a pencil is exhilarating. Remember that you’re ultimately in charge of how to conduct the coloring in your coloring book, so do what is most relaxing to you! Layering has no bounds if done correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an electric eraser?
An electric eraser is a device that is usually battery-powered. It is designed to spin an eraser quickly over the surface of the paper to remove pencil markings.
Why is computer paper a bad drawing and coloring paper?
Paper designed for the ink to smoothly apply and quickly dry is much different than the paper that is ideal for coloring. Each medium used to color has a specific reason why this is related to the implementation you’re using. It has to do with paper fibers and absorbency for the most part.
What is burnishing and why is it important?
Burnishing your paper removes the tooth of the paper, and it will not be possible to add additional layers of color once you’ve flattened the microscopic fibers of the paper. This is great for finishing work, but it can cause spots and discoloration in the parts you still want to work on.
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