I have been working on a portrait of a woman with fair skin with polychromos on bristol vellum 400.
I kept my pencils sharp but since the person has very light skin I don’t need much colour on certain areas. I have been usin ivory with a fair amount of pressure but I notice that I have scratches on these areas. I can’t use solvent due to health issues. What went wrong.? How to avoid this
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Hi @Jennilein
When drawing with colored pencils it works best to always use several layers, even if the desired color is light.
The Polychromos colored pencils are oil based, but some blending can still take place with more layers, even of the same color, and applied with less pressure. So, maybe you don’t need solvent at all.
Also, sometimes you need a sharp pencil for the details, but at other times it may work better if the pencil is not super sharp. My recommendation is that you try adding more layers and maybe use a dull tip.
One final thought, since you are using Bristol vellum from the 400 series, it should be fine for accepting more layers. But, the paper you use can make a difference and you will be able to tell when the tooth of the paper can’t handle any more layers.
Let us know if that helps.
Terri Robichon
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I was a little scared to add more to the area but I will try, since I didn’t want it dark and didnt want to ruin the paper to the breaking point, Thank you.
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