help on pencils and paper :)

[limits]

Hello ! I would love to try coloured pencils. Can someone point me in the right direction as to what kind to buy? what is the difference between expensive ones and the sort you get at whs?
I want to draw animals and the odd portrait, will i need to buy a certain brand? And also ,what kind of paper to use? i want to do detail work. Thank you in advance!

[becky2]

No you dont need to buy a specific brand of colored pencil for doing portrites verses landscapes as you would if you were a pasel artists. Really not necessary. If you are just starting out i would recomend getting the Walter foster book Colored Pencil. It will give you guidelines of all the technical jargon and pencil colors you need to start with for your basic set. for me i started out with a set of twelve. Then I experimented with different brands. Buy an electric pencil sharpener one that will last your lifetime. You want to get a pencil with a hard led for presure and deep colors. Most of the memers here sware by prismacolor, The complete set is $100. Dont get really expensive stuff until you are comfortable with what you are learning and you are comfortable with the medium. The comlete set of pencils allows you to add pencils if you run them down. Same for fancy papers dont buy papers that are too expensive until you find one that workd for you and fits your style. They vary in weight and texture. Never use typing paper, Canson papers are good Stratmore is thicker and that is excellent as well. experiment with colored tints as you get the experience. You kinda have to feel your way as you go. The difference between expensive and non expensive are the leds of the pencils. You wont get much color out of the ones tha are not artist quality. Brand is a preference

Hope this helps a bit. More questions? You will learn from everyone here everyone has great advice and welcome to wet canvas!

[limits]

Thank you becky2 ,you've been helpful , i'll give prismacolour pencils a go

[ZB3]

Hi,

I like Prismacolor very much, although I can't figure out how to layer 'em without getting the burnished look. I know I must be using too much pressure, but I can't figure out how to stop.

I'm going to try Verithins soon and see if I can't get some of the shine out of the picture.

Also tried Polychromos and liked them okay -- not as much as Prismacolor though.

As far as paper goes, Stonehenge is still No. 1 with me. I'm looking for some pre-cut pads, because I haven't graduated to the big monster sized pics yet.

Good luck! You came to the right place for advice! This forum is wonderful.

Jan

[arlene]

Welcome to WC and Colored Pencils...any information you could want about papers and pencils and discussions about it are in the sticky threads at the top of this forum...also better books than the walter foster one have been discussed in the sticky's too...

i'm closing this thread since it's been discussed over and over.