Yay! You’re really cranking out some awesome advice videos lately! Love it! This is a new problem for me (not with OMS) - I bought some Polychromos recently and felt I couldn’t get a good blend with them even when layering and using paper I’m fully confident in and love to use. I tried with another paper I had on hand and still felt that way. Recently I went and tried some open stock Luminance, and they blended like a dream on printer paper even! I hate that they’re so expensive though. May have to purchase anyways and break the bank.
Oh yeah, polychromos and luminance blend differently for sure! Good news is they work great together so you can do the softer blending easier with the luminance and then switch to your polychromos for details
haha all my mistakes when I just started out. I think it's important for people to understand that it is okay if they don't like the mineral spirits effect. I started using it when I found your channel, and wanted to try it out, made many beginner mistakes, which I'm able to fix, but after a while I just come to realize that it's just not the effect I like. I really do prefer drawings that are more raw with lots of textures.
I do not use mineral oils to blend. I build my layers up and then I use the colorless blender to blend to get those white spots out. Some people use their white colored pencil to blend but that lightens the color. Blending using a colorless pencil is what I like.
Oh gosh, for a background and that much layering, I couldn't do it. You guys are rockstars for pulling through! I would just not even attempt and use pan pastels instead or soft pastels for backgrounds. I'm a mixed media artist with gouache, soft pastel and colored pencil, so I'm not a strict colored pencil user, I just don't have the patience or physical energy to do it.
Can you use pan pastel on regular drawing paper? I had trouble with it. I lost patience real fast trying to use any kind of pastels but I wish I could master them because it's the time for the backgrounds that kill me. I usually do 14x17 size drawings and I would love to make the backgrounds go faster. I finally broke down and bought some 7x9 size pastelmat just to see how well the pastels work on those and it was great, but... the cost. I really don't like doing small drawings so that's the main reason I haven't tried to master pastels because the paper is so expensive.
Wow thank you so much! This is very helpful. I have mineral spirits but have a hard time using it, so it just sits unused mots the time. I do love the almost painterly affect it creates though! I’ll be practicing using the tips from this video. Thanks once again!
Sounds strange, but I listen to the sound of the paper, if it's scratchy then I don't have enough layers for oms. I have a teensy jar with a screw on lid, I pop in a cotton wool ball, then pour oms in until its soaking. It lasts ages, if the cotton wool gets dirty, flip it over and the oms cleans it. I've used this method for a few years. Old sheets cut into smaller pieces work well as a cloth to absorb excess oms.
A lot of people think that by using blending agents that they need only do 1 or 2 layers. That's wrong. Using colored pencils is a slow process, if you want your work to look good, it is many layers one must do. Art cannot be rushed.
I do children’s book illustrations and recently discovered how much I love colored pencils. I usually use gouache and watercolor but fell in love with the details I can get with colored pencils. I got the 72 Derwent lightfast set yesterday and about 20 Polychromos and. Few luminance and Holbein pencils . I hope it’s worth the investment Long Term. Thank you for the tips, I also still struggled with OMS. Im always unsure about backgrounds in colored pencils. Maybe I’ll mix media .
Have you tried putting down alcohol inks (or painting with them) then coloring over with colored pencils? Interesting effect. I’d recommend oil base pencils however over wax base because oil base are more transparent. If you want to have your alcohol ink work blend or visible under the pencil. Experiment with it!
@@sunnycharacter thank you for the suggestion, I never tried them. I’m always looking for new effects! I am so far very happy with the Derwent lightfast pencils. The luminance are nice but I think I prefer the Holbein. Do you have a recommendation for inks?
Thank you for this video! just learning how to use colored pencils in my artwork. I am an oils and pastels lover...and trying to reach outside my comfort zone.
I "painted" my first colored pencil drawing and everything was working well but I don't like the filbert shape so I switched to a teeny tiny mop brush and I like it much better.
I use zest-it blender (the only one that doesn't give me a massive migraine), and it seems to handle much easier than this. I use cheap kitchen roll (no viva in the UK) or a cloth, and both work the same. I'm also far less careful about the amount I have on the brush, probably more than needed. I can only assume that zest-it, being citrus oils rather than mineral oil, behaves slightly differently and is more forgiving. It works well for me, so I'm happy. 😊
The hack I use to control how much mineral spirits, is round cosmetic sponges and a round glass container. I only put in enough to get the sponges wet. Then when I load up my brush, it's not going to deep in the spirits and it's more consistent.
Wow. Thanks. I watched your first video on Mona Lisa and blending a few years ago and saw this and glad I did. I have been doing it wrong with the amount OMS. Like the exact opposite.
I think that was the problem I had for years with the blending. On tissue, the brush no longer gives off OMS after a moment and I think every time that this is dry enough and on the paper the brush then gives it off strongly and thus the blends are not good. in addition to the fact that I did not have such good paper, the strathmore papers have only been available for 2 years here in Germany to buy. there were also no comparisons on the internet which papers are similar to the Bristol smooth and vellum. Bristol papers I tried were much too smooth and coloring is exhausting when so little color sticks to it and other papers were too coarse and it is difficult to fill the texture.
One tip I got (I believe from Lindsay the frugal crafter) putting a small amount oms in a small bottle with a cotton ball and it will limit the amount of oms and cleans the brush too and just swap cotton balls when it gets heavily polluted
@@kitsidale Lindsay is a TH-camr here on TH-cam that makes a lot of mix media tutorials, and tips and tricks on how to make art cheaper for artist and hobbyist
If one can’t afford the Lightfast ones the Derwent Drawing pencils are really waxy and the white pencil is part of the set. I had a sable filbert that was sent to me with issues but it does great with the oms. Excellent tips again Lisa!!
I'm a colored pencil beginner. I've experimented with OMS & concluded I don't like it bc of the problems addressed in this video. Too messy, too hard to control. I've only done coloring books so far. For blending, I use a beeswax-based product, a Caran d'ache blender, a lighter shade of the same color, & a white pencil with my Prismacolors. Still experimenting. And there's no way I wld use colored pencils to do backgrounds. The points are too small, not enough coverage. And too many layers. I have tendinitis in my hands. CPs are best for smaller areas. I use Panpastels for BGs. And there are other DRY media that can be used for BGs: regular soft pastels, gel crayons (like Gelatos), distress inks, etc... And there is always toned paper.
I’m trying to get better with colored pencil portraits but I can’t seem to get there. I get very close but still lack some things. I use Gamsol but have the same issues sometimes.
I've historically used prismacolor pencils and tried to use the colorless blender. But recently began to use a product called Zest It pencil blend. Have you used this product, and have you had similar outcomes with it in terms of application and final results? Thanks in advance!
I only use a spray fixative if I've worked on sanded paper with a base of pan pastels or if I was blending with powder blender. On hot pressed watercolor paper or similar I don't spray anything. Some sprays don't play nicely with all pencils. It's not needed (besides my two exceptions listed above) so why risk it is my attitude :)
I was using cheap strathmore drawing paper. It actually has a good texture but it's pretty lightweight. On my full colored pencil drawings/paintings I usually go with Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor paper that is 140lb or Canson Mi-Teintes. You will have to adjust how much OMS you use by the type of paper for sure.
I really think most people shoudl not try to do backgrounds or things like that in blended CP. Paints are much easier and they are made for the result you want. If you use CP over watercolor tinted areas you barely need to blend to make it look smooth.
I totally disagree. I just made a stunning blurry background with colored pencils and the process, while longer than with acrylics, was quite satisfying. Not everyone wants to paint so it's good to know how to get the results you want with any medium :)
@@Lachri But you find that satisfying, I see a lot of people complaining that it takes too long or it is too tedious.. these people should try then another medium for that task.
Actually those give less control once you're used to using the brush. You can't control the pressure, brush stroke width, or get the same smooth motion with stumps as you can with a brush. The stumps are easier at first but very limiting in comparison.
Yay! You’re really cranking out some awesome advice videos lately! Love it! This is a new problem for me (not with OMS) - I bought some Polychromos recently and felt I couldn’t get a good blend with them even when layering and using paper I’m fully confident in and love to use. I tried with another paper I had on hand and still felt that way. Recently I went and tried some open stock Luminance, and they blended like a dream on printer paper even! I hate that they’re so expensive though. May have to purchase anyways and break the bank.
Oh yeah, polychromos and luminance blend differently for sure! Good news is they work great together so you can do the softer blending easier with the luminance and then switch to your polychromos for details
haha all my mistakes when I just started out. I think it's important for people to understand that it is okay if they don't like the mineral spirits effect. I started using it when I found your channel, and wanted to try it out, made many beginner mistakes, which I'm able to fix, but after a while I just come to realize that it's just not the effect I like. I really do prefer drawings that are more raw with lots of textures.
I do not use mineral oils to blend. I build my layers up and then I use the colorless blender to blend to get those white spots out. Some people use their white colored pencil to blend but that lightens the color. Blending using a colorless pencil is what I like.
Oh gosh, for a background and that much layering, I couldn't do it. You guys are rockstars for pulling through! I would just not even attempt and use pan pastels instead or soft pastels for backgrounds. I'm a mixed media artist with gouache, soft pastel and colored pencil, so I'm not a strict colored pencil user, I just don't have the patience or physical energy to do it.
Can you use pan pastel on regular drawing paper? I had trouble with it. I lost patience real fast trying to use any kind of pastels but I wish I could master them because it's the time for the backgrounds that kill me. I usually do 14x17 size drawings and I would love to make the backgrounds go faster.
I finally broke down and bought some 7x9 size pastelmat just to see how well the pastels work on those and it was great, but... the cost. I really don't like doing small drawings so that's the main reason I haven't tried to master pastels because the paper is so expensive.
I use a watercolor brush that's a little bit softer that one sounds like it's scratching the paper
Wow thank you so much! This is very helpful. I have mineral spirits but have a hard time using it, so it just sits unused mots the time. I do love the almost painterly affect it creates though! I’ll be practicing using the tips from this video. Thanks once again!
What an awesome tutorial Lisa! Thank you so much for the mini blending class!
Thank you SO MUCH! I just bought a bottle of white/mineral spirits today and I was so confused when I tried it!
Now I see why my portraits look more like cartoons, this is a game changer.
Sounds strange, but I listen to the sound of the paper, if it's scratchy then I don't have enough layers for oms. I have a teensy jar with a screw on lid, I pop in a cotton wool ball, then pour oms in until its soaking. It lasts ages, if the cotton wool gets dirty, flip it over and the oms cleans it. I've used this method for a few years. Old sheets cut into smaller pieces work well as a cloth to absorb excess oms.
A lot of people think that by using blending agents that they need only do 1 or 2 layers. That's wrong. Using colored pencils is a slow process, if you want your work to look good, it is many layers one must do. Art cannot be rushed.
This was a super helpful video! Matt's cameo appearances are a humorous touch!
:D
I enjoyed this refresher. A great idea to spend a whole video on this topic!
I do children’s book illustrations and recently discovered how much I love colored pencils. I usually use gouache and watercolor but fell in love with the details I can get with colored pencils. I got the 72 Derwent lightfast set yesterday and about 20 Polychromos and. Few luminance and Holbein pencils . I hope it’s worth the investment Long Term.
Thank you for the tips, I also still struggled with OMS. Im always unsure about backgrounds in colored pencils. Maybe I’ll mix media .
Have you tried putting down alcohol inks (or painting with them) then coloring over with colored pencils? Interesting effect. I’d recommend oil base pencils however over wax base because oil base are more transparent. If you want to have your alcohol ink work blend or visible under the pencil. Experiment with it!
@@sunnycharacter thank you for the suggestion, I never tried them. I’m always looking for new effects!
I am so far very happy with the Derwent lightfast pencils. The luminance are nice but I think I prefer the Holbein.
Do you have a recommendation for inks?
@@MileinaJuarez As far as inks go I’ve only bought the Ranger Alcohol inks. They also make some pearled inks that are gorgeous!
@@sunnycharacter thx, I’ll look into it.
Thank you for this video! just learning how to use colored pencils in my artwork. I am an oils and pastels lover...and trying to reach outside my comfort zone.
I "painted" my first colored pencil drawing and everything was working well but I don't like the filbert shape so I switched to a teeny tiny mop brush and I like it much better.
Thank you for sharing this demonstration! I also have this same issue!
I use zest-it blender (the only one that doesn't give me a massive migraine), and it seems to handle much easier than this. I use cheap kitchen roll (no viva in the UK) or a cloth, and both work the same. I'm also far less careful about the amount I have on the brush, probably more than needed. I can only assume that zest-it, being citrus oils rather than mineral oil, behaves slightly differently and is more forgiving. It works well for me, so I'm happy. 😊
Really good advice and demonstration. Thanks Lisa.
The hack I use to control how much mineral spirits, is round cosmetic sponges and a round glass container. I only put in enough to get the sponges wet. Then when I load up my brush, it's not going to deep in the spirits and it's more consistent.
Wow. Thanks. I watched your first video on Mona Lisa and blending a few years ago and saw this and glad I did. I have been doing it wrong with the amount OMS. Like the exact opposite.
this is perfect! thank you for such a detailed explanation and walkthru💕💕💕
Glad I could help :D
Beautiful pieces, Teresa! The dog looks a lot like ours 💕
I think that was the problem I had for years with the blending. On tissue, the brush no longer gives off OMS after a moment
and I think every time that this is dry enough and on the paper the brush then gives it off strongly and thus the blends are not good.
in addition to the fact that I did not have such good paper, the strathmore papers have only been available for 2 years here in Germany to buy. there were also no comparisons on the internet which papers are similar to the Bristol smooth and vellum. Bristol papers I tried were much too smooth and coloring is exhausting when so little color sticks to it and other papers were too coarse and it is difficult to fill the texture.
just want to say you make it look easy and fun. i have learnt a lot from watching your clips
Thank you
This was soooo helpful; thank you!!!!!
Thank you so much!
Wow, its cool experience! I really like these tips. and will definitely use them! Thank you
I didn't understand, at the beginning of the video, what paper you are using.
Can you please tell me what paper you are using?
One tip I got (I believe from Lindsay the frugal crafter) putting a small amount oms in a small bottle with a cotton ball and it will limit the amount of oms and cleans the brush too and just swap cotton balls when it gets heavily polluted
Oops, I read this after I commented, I have no idea who lindsay is, but the method is great.
@@kitsidale Lindsay is a TH-camr here on TH-cam that makes a lot of mix media tutorials, and tips and tricks on how to make art cheaper for artist and hobbyist
Will solvent damage the paper?
Thank you!
If one can’t afford the Lightfast ones the Derwent Drawing pencils are really waxy and the white pencil is part of the set. I had a sable filbert that was sent to me with issues but it does great with the oms. Excellent tips again Lisa!!
Great video! How can you tell when the paper can't accept any more color?
I'm a colored pencil beginner. I've experimented with OMS & concluded I don't like it bc of the problems addressed in this video. Too messy, too hard to control. I've only done coloring books so far. For blending, I use a beeswax-based product, a Caran d'ache blender, a lighter shade of the same color, & a white pencil with my Prismacolors. Still experimenting.
And there's no way I wld use colored pencils to do backgrounds. The points are too small, not enough coverage. And too many layers. I have tendinitis in my hands. CPs are best for smaller areas. I use Panpastels for BGs. And there are other DRY media that can be used for BGs: regular soft pastels, gel crayons (like Gelatos), distress inks, etc... And there is always toned paper.
First thing to do is to practice any technique a lot, and do experiments before apply it to a final piece.
Great advice in this video :)
AWESOME TIPS !!!! SO MUCH GOOD DEMONSTRATION HERE. WOULD PROCOLOUR OR PRISMACOLOR BLEND SMOOTH ?
Yes! Both of those blend really smooth 😊
I’m trying to get better with colored pencil portraits but I can’t seem to get there. I get very close but still lack some things. I use Gamsol but have the same issues sometimes.
I've historically used prismacolor pencils and tried to use the colorless blender. But recently began to use a product called Zest It pencil blend. Have you used this product, and have you had similar outcomes with it in terms of application and final results? Thanks in advance!
I've not used zest it myself but I've heard good things about it :)
Cool info! Question: Is it ok to draw with pencil first or does this show up and cause issues with solvent blending?
Question! Should I use a spray fixative after everything is dry and completed?
I only use a spray fixative if I've worked on sanded paper with a base of pan pastels or if I was blending with powder blender. On hot pressed watercolor paper or similar I don't spray anything. Some sprays don't play nicely with all pencils. It's not needed (besides my two exceptions listed above) so why risk it is my attitude :)
So many videos lately with useful information! Really Lisa how do you have time to paint your nails?
Hahaha nails > sleeping 😂
What paper were you using? Does that make a difference in your OMS technique?
I was using cheap strathmore drawing paper. It actually has a good texture but it's pretty lightweight. On my full colored pencil drawings/paintings I usually go with Arches Hot Pressed Watercolor paper that is 140lb or Canson Mi-Teintes. You will have to adjust how much OMS you use by the type of paper for sure.
Lol, don’t drink the paint thinner!! Love it!!
😁
at this point why not using acrylic
then doing fine detail in pencils ?
The pencils don't stick well or show up well over acrylics.
I really think most people shoudl not try to do backgrounds or things like that in blended CP. Paints are much easier and they are made for the result you want. If you use CP over watercolor tinted areas you barely need to blend to make it look smooth.
I totally disagree. I just made a stunning blurry background with colored pencils and the process, while longer than with acrylics, was quite satisfying. Not everyone wants to paint so it's good to know how to get the results you want with any medium :)
@@Lachri But you find that satisfying, I see a lot of people complaining that it takes too long or it is too tedious.. these people should try then another medium for that task.
Use stumps or tortillons instead of brushes. Much more control.
Actually those give less control once you're used to using the brush. You can't control the pressure, brush stroke width, or get the same smooth motion with stumps as you can with a brush. The stumps are easier at first but very limiting in comparison.
Ohhhh i have that brush, it's too stiff
Yeah I used it for a while myself too and gave up on it >
Why are these people going straight in to big works without studies to understand how the techniques they want to use will work?
I use toilet roll to wipe my OMS off onto because I'm a cheapskate hahaha. Some great tips here!
Your hubby is the best part of your videos. But I love you too.
😊 thank you
OMG THAT BRUSH IS KILLING ME!!!!!! STOP THAT BRUSH!!!!!!!
First! Yay! First 🤣!