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Medium: Colored Pencil
Category: Drawing/Composition
This tutorial and demonstration showing how colored pencil can be successfully lifted and corrected is from the book, "Basic Colored Pencil Techniques" by Bet Borgeson, published by North Light Books, an imprint of F + W Publications. Reprinted with permission. All steps included.
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Lifting Color: Two Methods
by Bet Borgeson
MATERIALS:
FRISKET FILM - "Grafix (R) Prepared Frisket Film " Low Tack, .002 Vinyl, 9" x 12" matte or clear
MASKING TAPE - Ordinary household kind or drafting tape
BURNISHING TOOLS - Kemper Double Ball Stylus and a flat-nibbed modeling tool or similar
Applied Colored Pencil on resilient white paper
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| Using Masking Tape Small pieces of masking tape are positioned over an area to be lifted. Masking tape is especially tacky, so additional care should be taken when positioning it. Any accidental patting may cause undesirable color lifts. The burnishing tool shown here is an inexpensive wooden modeling tool. Its wide nib is perfect for lifting large areas. [Burnishing in this technique is done lightly, not with heavy pressure.] |
Both pieces of tape have now been carefully pulled away revealing two kinds of lifts: the top, straight-edged lift was achieved by burnishing completely to the edge of the tape; the ragged edge below it was achieved by burnishing less completely. |
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Using Frisket Film A small piece of film is peeled from its backing sheet and repositioned to partly expose some of its tacky surface. It is then placed tacky side down on the area to be erased, textured or drawn on. Patting or pressing the film into place should be avoided because unexpected lifts of color could occur. The kind of burnishing tool used will greatly affect the result. Shown here is a double ball stylus. It has a polished metal ball-tip on each end and will produce lines or marks. [As with tape above, burnishing is done lightly.]
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After drawing marks on the frisket film with the stylus, the film is pulled back. The light-valued marks on the sample shown are the result of lifting color. The lifted color itself can be seen on the tacky side of the frisket film.
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Lifting Color: DEMONSTRATION
Most of the time, color lifting techniques are hardworking and unobtrusive. You can use them regularly without a great deal of planning, relying on the natural freedom they allow in our work.
But there are also situations when these modest techniques can be called upon to do more spectacular things. At times like this, our new abilities at lifting color can seem almost magic. Here is an example.
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Step One This colored pencil drawing obviously needed some big changes. It needed more drama in its overall color scheme, and more color complexity throughout. But even a more serious flaw was its weak and isolated center of interest--the magician's hat and cane--placed squarely in too large an environment. Before the development of modern color lifting techniques these problems might have seemed too enormous, and beyond correction.
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Step Two As a beginning, the hat and some of the background were lifted away, using frisket film, masking tape, and the medium-wide burnisher shown. Bits and pieces of tape remain for possible reuse after beginning the erasure of some of the tablecloth and lower left corner of the background. Notice the beginning of starts in the upper left corner. These were drawn negatively by lifting out star shapes with frisket film and a pointed burnisher.
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Step Three To complete the changes the background color was lifted to a light value that can still be seen in the stars. Then new and more complex colors were applied. Almost all the colors of the table cloth and cane were removed to accommodate a new white ruffle, red ribbon and red cane.
Finally to correct the center-of-interest problem, enough of the dark hat was lifted to allow the white rabbit to take it place. Some of the hat colors can still be seen faintly in the slightly shaded rabbit's paws.
Like Magic
11" x 14" (27.9cm x 35.6cm),
Colored Pencil on Rising Museum Board
By Bet Borgeson
Her Website
Tutorial/demonstration from Basic Colored Pencil Techniques by Bet Borgeson and published by North Light Books, an imprint of F + W Publications. Reprinted with permission.
See the full listing for Basic Colored Pencil Techniques
on Amazon.com
Artwork and Text Copyright 2012 by Bet Borgeson. All Rights Reserved. PLEASE RESPECT COPYRIGHTS.
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