Help please.
I have read about using turpenoid with colored pencils.
I have a product, Wilson Bickford Odorless Thinner - turpentine substitute, is this the same? or will it work?
Kare
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Hi Kare -
The first question I have is what brand of colored pencils are you using. A wax based colored pencil is often better to blend with a Colorless Blender. Prismacolor Premier colored pencils have those colorless blenders available for purchase.
I recently found out that Caran D’Ache Luminance colored pencils also have a colorless blender, but mine has not arrived yet so I haven’t been able to try it out.
An example of an OIL BASED colored pencil is Faber-Castell - Polychromos coloured Pencils. For these a solvent is a good thing to use for blending. I would think the product you listed will work fine, but no better way to find out than trying it.
Hopefully, @Meme5 Sonia will also chime in here because she does a lot with colored pencils and solvents.
Terri Robichon
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Hi Terri,
I started the Bee with Kalour Watercolor pencils, and then added Prismacolor Premium to get richer colors. I also have Faber-Castell Polychromos.
I am working with several of the classes, and in How to Draw a Doughnut with Colored Pencils he has using the Polychromos pencils and talks of applying Turpenoid to blend and even out the colors.
Thank you again and have a super day!
Kare
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Hi Kare -
I have done that colored pencil donut and it was a lot of fun. Post it here if you do it.
Terri Robichon
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H Terri -
So, with the Polychromos (oil) pencils, will the colorless blender marker work, instead of the turpenoid?
Kare
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Hello @kare
Your odorless should work just fine for colored pencils. As long as there are already several layers or enough layers of color pencil application to be able to blend and even out the desired effect. It also brings out some “tooth” on the paper surface allowing more layers. Make sure you build light layers.
Any pencil brand will blend well with the odorless thinner. I have several brands and actually combine them all: prismacolor, polychromos, luminance, derwent lightfast, lyra polycolor, derwent drawing, and holbein. I’m using 4 different brands with my lemos bouquet. They all have their own properties. I don’t recommend mixing brands until you get more experienced since there is a way of mixing the layers of the different waxy or oily pencils.
Also the pencil blenders are great. My favorite is the prismacolor blender. I find that the luminance is too waxy and the lyra polycolor is too stiff. You might find one is your favorite over another. I hope this helps.
Sonia Alonzo
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@kare
Would you share which brand/kind of marker blender are you mentioning? I don’t know of any color pencil blender in the form of a marker available for colored pencil applications.
If the donut drawing requires alcohol markers, the alcohol blender marker will not work for the polychromos but will affect the previous alcohol marker application.
Sonia Alonzo
Thanks Sonia for this information. You have much more experience with it than I do.
Terri Robichon
Hi Sonia,
I am purchasing a set by Kalour that includes 2 colorless blender pencils, a burnishing pencil, and a dual tip colorless blender marker.
The donut drawing does not require alcohol markers. It calls for the Polychromos pencils (which I have) and using Turpenoid at a couple of steps. I do not have Turpenoid, I do have the “Wilson Bickford Odorless Thinner Turpentine substitute”. I do not know if that will work ok or if I should try something else.
Any tips are much appreciated.
Thank you,
Kare
2 Likes
The colorless blenders for colored pencils are typically also pencils - they just don’t have the pigment.
Terri Robichon
I was unclear if the colorless pencils worked with both the wax based and oil based pencils.
Kare
I did the donut and the thinner will work fine for that project. Besides, Matt has always been a big advocate of using what you have. You should also know that Matt likes to use his lessons to show you alternate ways of doing something - in this case it’s “blending “.
Terri Robichon
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I agree totally with Terri. The thinner will work just fine with your color pencils. I mist add that if the marker says alcohol based, it is not suitable for blending color pencils. You might want to do a little swatch and see for yourself what it does. I would just stick with the odorless thinner and pencil blender for sure.
Sonia
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Hello Kare,
I just saw this thread and this may be a bit of a delayed response.
I use polychromes the majority of the time. I use Gamsol odorless terpenoid. Once I have covered an area completely I will spread a thin layer of the thinner. with a detail painting brush.
I will let that dry and the add more colored pencil on top of it. I have found that when adding the thinner on top of the polychromos pencils you can actually move some of the color around, at least with the Gamso;l. I have lightened areas and darkened areas by moving them into each other to improve highlighted areas and shadows.
So I go back and forth with the thinner and the colored pencils to fill in the tooth.
Plychromos take more time than some other brands, like waxed based do there will always be many layers needed. But, in my opinion they have a nice look when finished.
I hope that this is helpful. Like Matt says, there is no right or wrong way. Do what works for you.
Teri (with 1r)
I’ll attach a recent card I made with this process.
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Hello Teri (with one R),
Thank you for sharing so much information. I will experiment with doing that.
The colors in you picture are so deep and rich. Real beauty.
I appreciate your input and I am learning and growing so much.
Kare
1 Like
Kare,
You are welcome. you will find with time that there is a very welcoming and encouraging group of people who enjoy art making.
We are happy to have you with us/ If you are a member and can we would welcome you at the live class. It is really fun, a great opportunity to ask Matt questions.
Again welcome and I look forward to seeing your artwork finished.
Teri (with 1r)
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