Home Forums Explore Media Colored Pencil Colored pencil papers & accessories?

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  • #994793
    SeaScapePtr
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        So I don’t have any colored pencil stuff right now. I’m about to pull the trigger on a full 120 set of Polychromos. What else should I get as far as papers, books, additional materials, tools, and accessories? What do you recommend for a good practice paper and a more expensive paper for special art works?

        #1264293
        ocmd123
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            Welcome to the world of CP! You will get different answers from everyone! You will need to try out various surfaces to see what your preferences are. Some people like rougher, sanded surfaces, others like much smoother surfaces. My favorite surface is hot press watercolor paper. That may be a good place to start. It has some tooth, but doesn’t require a lot of layers and will give you a smooth finish. Check our library. (Link in my sig line.) You will find threads about all kinds of supports. That might give you some suggestions. I would also suggest that you buy small amounts of several things to try them out.

            ELAINE~ Moderator-Colored Pencil Forum ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to the forum? Visit the Welcome Thread ~ [FONT=Times New Roman]New to CP? Check out the CP Libray Index for information about about pencils, paper, sharpeners.[FONT=Times New Roman]
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            #1264296
            Sarosna
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                Congrats on getting the 120 set of Polychromos :) I bought mine 4 years ago and while I’ve been medium jumping a lot, I always come back to my beloved Polys.

                As ocmd123 already mentioned, papers are largely a personal preference. Hot press watercolor papers are a very popular choice. But then some people really love plate papers like Bristol Smooth.

                I’d also like to suggest Hahnemühle Nostalgie and Hahnemühle Bamboo which are a bit more interesting and special papers. Nostalgie is a bit lighter weight paper with a natural white color but it still takes layers surprisingly well and it’s excellent for practice work and why not for more serious work too. They are sold in pads of 50 sheets (the smaller sizes at least) and the price is very reasonable. The surface is close to plate but doesn’t quite behave like it. It’s a hard and easily erasable surface.

                Bamboo is made 90% out of bamboo fibers so it’s a nature friendly paper (as nature friendly as paper production can be). The surface is smooth and soft so it works beautifully with light layering. Not so sure about burnishing though as the paper surface is easily disturbed.

                For more serious work I’ve used hot press watercolor papers (or Bamboo) such as Saunders Waterford HP. I recently ordered a couple of sheets of Fabriano Artistico HP since it seems to be immensely popular. It recently went through a texture change though so I have to try it out before ordering a larger batch.

                Stonehenge paper seems another very popular choice especially among American artists. I’ve yet to try it out though.

                For books my personal favorites are:
                – Lifelike drawing in colored pencil by Lee Hammond
                – Botanical portraits with colored pencils by Ann Swan
                – Colored pencil painting bible by Alyona Nickelsen

                #1264294

                Papers might be personal preference, but are influenced by what you desire to do. If you want to do DENSE rendering with solvent blending then a paper with a bit more texture and that deals with liquids better is a good idea. If you intend to use very thin transparent layers to generate the optical effect of the color you want, then very smooth papers are usually better.

                I wanted to try the Hahnemühle Nostalgie spoken above, but I cannto find it here in Brazil :(

                "no no! You are doing it all wrong, in the internet we are supposed to be stubborn, inflexible and arrogant. One cannot simply be suddenly reasonable and reflexive in the internet, that breaks years of internet tradition as a medium of anger, arrogance, bigotry and self entitlement. Damm these internet newcomers being nice to to others!!!"

                "If brute force does not solve your problem, then you are not using enough!"

                #1264299
                mellybean
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                    I’ve used a few different papers depending on what I want my final result to look like. Stonehenge is great if you’d like a base color to start with and want a bunch of layers – it’s really great for rendering fur actually, and works well with mineral spirits. Arches hot-pressed watercolor paper is another I like for blending with mineral spirits. I’ve recently gotten into sanded papers (UART 500 grade) for colored pencil, using a different method of blending (powder blender), but that’s a whole different thread :)

                    "Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment." - Claude Monet

                    https://www.facebook.com/MelissaMancusoFineArt

                    #1264298
                    Tomtefco
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                        I am new to CP as well. I originally bought a 72 pencil set of Prismacolors and promptly disposed of about 1/3 of them for poor light fastness issues. (Gave them to my mother-in-law who likes to do adult colored pencil books). I bought the remaining reasonably light fast Prismas open stock. I am buying the most light fast of the Polychromos through open stock as well. I am trying to get about 30 pencils at a time as funds are available. I got a three drawer wood pastel box and 2- 120 pencil folding colored pencil easels for organization and storage (1 for prismas, 1 for polys).

                        For paper, I am liking Bristoll Smooth and Vellum as well as Fabriano HP watercolor paper. I haven’t got a favorite among these substrates, yet… need more experience before I can develop a favorite. I haven’t tried sanded papers yet and probably won’t until I have used up some of the other papers I have on hand. When I finally try sanded paper, I will probably experiment with powder blender as well.

                        I also am really liking OMS for blending, although I am using the colorless blenders as well (colorless blenders are more portable and store easily in the easels). I cut the bristles down on an old 1/4″ square watercolor brush to do the blending. It works pretty well.

                        I also got a can of texture fixative but haven’t had to use it yet.

                        Always learning so C&C invited and always welcomed
                        Tom

                        #1264297
                        Sarosna
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                            I wanted to try the Hahnemühle Nostalgie spoken above, but I cannto find it here in Brazil :(

                            Hahnemühle papers are weird. The Bamboo paper is rather common but is confused with the digital printing paper WAY too often. The availability of their watercolor papers vary a lot. I’ve yet to see a company that sells most of them. Jackson’s Art Supplies has bamboo, Britannia, Anniversary and Nostalgie but they don’t have Cezanne as hot press which I find highly annoying. I’d like to try out Cezanne hot press but I’d have to buy it from a Finnish retailer for twice the price!

                            Also Hahnemühle has a lot of incredibly beautiful sketchbook in their selection at their web page. And yet, I haven’t found them anywhere. I won a Nostalgie sketchbook from their Christmas raffle but I’m almost afraid to use it because I won’t be able to buy a new one!

                            #1264295
                            katwalk
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                                You don’t say where in the world you are. Not important in one sense, but paper tends to be pretty regional so papers available in one country can’t be found in another. As someone mentioned in the US there is Stonehenge and Strathmore, Strathmore makes a paper specifically for colored pencil, I have used it and rather like it but…

                                I will say that I have never found a cheap paper that works well with colored pencil, the tooth of the paper is important to the quality of work you will produce, course it partly depends on your application technique, many beginning colored pencil artists use too heavy a hand so need a paper with more tooth to get the layers they are looking for.

                                Like others I suggest you try different papers to find the one you like the best. Have fun.

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