One of my favourite methods of working is colour pencils on black paper. I love the effect it creates and with the right reference subject and photographs can make for some striking portraits.
This was the 3rd portrait of Ratchet I have done. The others were A5 (5.8″ x 8.3″) graphite pencil drawings. This has to be one of my favourite pet portraits I have completed to date. I just love costume accessories and that pop of colour it adds to the portrait.
Things to consider..
When drawing on black paper you have to bear in mind that you can only get your brights so bright. You can create a striking effect and white shows up beautifully but make sure to preserve the paper to ensure you can get your brights bright enough.
Tip
I have found with certain papers that light colours can be harder to put on top of darker colours when using black paper. This definitely is the case with Strathmore Artagain paper as its much smoother with more of a shine. But I personally love drawing on it.
So for the brightest areas I work from light to dark at all times.
Must have..
A must have for me with any colour pencil work is Brush & Pencil Titanium White & Touch Up Texture. This enables you to add white highlights to your colour pencil work. Once its fully dry ( I normally allow 20 minutes, although its dry to the touch in seconds. You will know its not dry properly if it flakes off the paper when you add colour pencil over the top.) you can then go over with colour pencils if you don’t want these details white.
My Brush & Pencil Titanium White & Touch Up Texture video..
I created this short video showing how I use this product. I have written captions at various points briefly explaining what I’m doing.
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