CSP-AVO8657 - Colored Pencil Foundations
Course Description
This course introduces students to the foundational skills of drawing with colored pencils. Students will learn to control value, understand color theory, and build form through layering and blending. Techniques such as embossing, negative drawing, sgraffito, powder brushing, and texture rendering will be explored. The class culminates with a completed still life project demonstrating the full range of techniques. Required prerequisite: CSP-AVO 8558 - Basic Drawing.
Course Outline
Week 1 – Building the Foundation: Value & Pencil Control
· • Introduction to supplies
· • Pressure control, mark-making, value scales (5-step and 10-step)
· • Practice with spheres and cubes in grayscale
Week 2 – Color Basics: Wheel & Harmonies
· • Color theory: primary, secondary, complementary, analogous
· • Build a 12-step color wheel
· • Explore blending for secondary colors and warm vs cool palettes
Week 3 – Form & Shading from Nature
· • Apply value and color to natural forms (sticks, twigs)
· • Understanding planes and light direction
· • Twig studies with layering
Week 4 – Layering & Blending on Live Subject
· • Layering light over dark, dark over light
· • Blending tools: tortillon, Q-tip, white pencil, blender marker
· • Practice on a live subject such as an apple or seasonal fruit/vegetable
Week 5 – Special Effects, Part 1
· • Embossing: creating highlights with stylus/ballpoint
· • Negative drawing: preserving light by protecting paper surface
· • Exercises: embossed leaf veins, negative drawing edges
Week 6 – Special Effects, Part 2
· • Sgraffito: scratching through color for highlights or texture
· • Powder brushing: soft pigment application for backgrounds
· • Paper roughening for expressive marks
· • Small studies combining effects
Week 7 – Texture Studies
· • Observing and rendering natural textures (bark, leaves, berries)
· • Directional strokes and selective detail
· • Texture samplers: bark, berry skin, veined leaf
Week 8 – Final Project & Critique
· • Complete a polished still life or nature study
· • Apply full range of techniques (layering, blending, embossing, sgraffito, powder brushing, texture, composition)
· • Group critique and reflection
Learner Outcomes
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By the end of this course, students will be able to:
- • Control pressure and create smooth gradations.
- • Apply color theory through warm/cool primaries and harmonies.
- • Develop shading and form from direct observation.
- • Use layering, blending, and special effects techniques.
- • Render textures realistically in colored pencil.
- • Plan and execute a complete still life composition.
Notes
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Students will purchase materials for classes - Supply List
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Colored Pencils:
• Prismacolor Premier (recommended for softness and layering) • Faber-Castell Polychromos (optional – harder pencils, better for detail) • Be sure to include these useful Prismacolor colors: Black Grape, Greyed Lavender, Powder Blue, Indigo Blue -
Primary System (Necessary Pencils)
Students should have these six colors for warm/cool primary mixing:
Prismacolor:
• Process Red (warm red) • Scarlet Red (cool red) • Lemon Yellow (cool yellow) • Canary Yellow (warm yellow) • Ultramarine Blue (warm blue) • True Blue (cool blue)Polychromos Equivalents:
• Pale Geranium Lake (121) – warm red • Permanent Carmine (126) – cool red • Lemon (205) – cool yellow • Cadmium Yellow (107) – warm yellow • Ultramarine (120) – warm blue • Phthalo Blue (110) – cool blueEssentials:
• Extra White pencils • Colorless blender: - Pencil (Prismacolor) and/or - Blender marker (such as Copic or Tombow)Surface:
• Bristol Vellum Pad (Strathmore 400 or Legion Stonehenge)Transfer & Support Materials:
• Graphite transfer paper • Kneaded eraser • Vinyl eraser • Tombow Mono Zero eraser (for fine detail) • Scotch Magic Tape (for lifting highlights or masking)Tools & Accessories:
• Blending stumps or tortillons • Sandpaper block (for shaping pencils or cleaning stumps) • Sharpener with helical blades (hand-cranked or electric; e.g., M+R, Carl Angel-5)