A Pair of Pears

9/6/16 colored pencils, Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook

These pears I got at the farmers market are still not quite ripe enough to eat, so I got two more chances to sketch them. First I sketched one with conventional (oil-based) colored pencils, and then finished it with the blender tool. Then I sketched the second one with water-soluble colored pencils. In the second case, although applying water blended the colors quickly, it also smoothed out the natural texture and color gradation that actually look more like pencil strokes in the pear’s skin. So after the water dried I went back in with pencil and put some of the texture back in.

9/6/16 water-soluble colored pencils, S&B Zeta sketchbook

While I like the smoother Stillman & Birn Epsilon and Zeta surfaces (similar to hot press watercolor paper) with conventional colored pencils, when using watercolor pencils, I think I prefer the texture of Alpha or Beta. The tooth is helpful in picking up pigment quickly, and if water is applied afterwards, any paper showing through gets covered easily.

(Can you tell I’m having fun experimenting? ☺)