Passionate About Pencils

by Pam Kromenacker

As a colored pencil artist, I am passionate about my pencils. In my short time using this medium, I have managed to collect quite a few sets of pencils. It is the most awesome addiction!

I like to keep my pencils out where I can see them. My favorite way to sort my pencils is by brand and color. I use colorful ceramic crocks and trays to do this. Each brand has a tray and its own color crock. This allows me to find the pencils quickly and also makes it easy to carry and put away.

Prismacolor Premier pencils were my very first pencils. These are my go-to pencils for grays and blues. The blues are perfect for my skies or water, and I think they have the widest range of grays. I love using the neon colors under skin tones. This has given me fantastic results. An advantage of these pencils is price. Prismas are so affordable! Sadly, they are not always manufactured well and I have wasted a few just sharpening them.

“It is the most awesome addiction!”

Caran d’Ache Pablo are my hands down favorite pencils. I really cannot work without them. There is not one thing I don’t like about them. They are soft with a velvety lay down and can hold a point, as well. I love every single color in the line but the neutrals like beige, light beige, cocoa, and bistre are fantastic. Pablo pencils are the first layer in every drawing I do and they work well with every other brand I own.


Homeward Bound—My husband minding the luggage in a Paris train station. 19"x21" Pastelmat

I have two lightfast brands in my collection. I always use these for my commission pieces. First is the Derwent Lightfast. These are my portrait pencils. The Pale Peach, Dusky Pink, Sienna, Cinnamon, Mars Violet and Ruby Earth make for beautiful skin. I smooth this out with Oyster and the skin looks so real. I use Pale Aqua for highlights and Nightshade for shadows to add some color. It is more interesting than just using white or black. The Derwent Red and Strawberry are the favorite reds in my collection. Strawberry mixed with Pale Peach and Oyster is just perfect for lips. They don’t always lay down so smoothly but I can correct that by blending with OMS.

My other lightfast pencils are the Caran d’Ache Luminance. They are harder than the Lightfast but they go down so evenly. There are so many vibrant hues but I absolutely love the percent colors. The ten percent Burnt Ochre and Brown Ochre are great for people and pet portraits. The Anthraquinone Pink, Violet Pink, Herculeum Red and Pink White used with the percent colors create beautiful skin tones. I particularly love the Violet Gray as a shadow color. Unfortunately, I have had problems with some of the earth tones being gritty. The silver printing on the pencils is horrible! It can rub off, plus I have such a difficult time reading them. It can drive you crazy!



A Murder Of Crows - A backyard crow fantasy starring my hubby Bob. 16"x20" Pastelmat

The Faber-Castell Polychromos were the first whole set of pencils I bought. I love how well they hold their point and are perfect for small areas where I want to add lots of detail. I prefer these pencils for drawing eyes. They produce a real depth making eyes look almost liquid. I enjoy using them for adding light glazes of color on top for that extra added something. If I am doing an underpainting, the Sienna Brown or Indigo Blue are wonderful. They also have the most beautiful greens and browns.

I just got a real deal on a set of Rembrandt Polycolor Oil-Based pencils with the assorted grays and snapped them up. These pencils are very reasonably priced and perform very much like Polychromos. They work great as a first layer with Prismas on top.

My Derwent Studio pencils are great for doing the tiniest detail. I use these pencils at the very end of a drawing to add sharp definition. I like the colors Copper Beach, Golden Brown, Burnt Yellow Ochre, Bronze and Raw Sienna. These are great for drawing stray hairs.


Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds—My superstar granddaughter Lucy doing what she does best. 13"x25" Pastelmat

The Derwent Drawing pencils are such gorgeous pencils. I use them when I want to lay down a lot of color quickly. These pencils have beautiful muted colors and are the most opaque. Because they are so creamy, I use them to create texture which makes them great for landscapes. The Yellow Ochre and Light Sienna are great for blonde hair in people and pets. Ivory Black and Chinese White pencils are my go to black and white pencils.

I just picked up a tin of Derwent Coloursoft Skintone Pencils. They are okay but cannot compare to the Lightfast pencils. Just for fun, I bought the Derwent Metallic pencil set. For metallic pencils, they go down smoothly and I particularly like the silver rose and silver mint for highlight colors. I also have the Faber-Castell Black Edition. I have only used them in my sketchbook but the colors are really fun.

I own about two dozen Holbein pencils. I did not want to like these pencils because they are so expensive. But saying that, I love them! They are soft, luscious pencils with such beautiful colors. I love the color Cherry Blossom to smooth out skin tones. I have been hunting for the perfect beigey color and finally found it in the color Cork. It is such a versatile color and I use it everywhere!

I wish all my fellow colored pencil artists happy collecting!

PAM KROMENACKER:

Pam is a self-taught colored pencil artist living in Northwest Ohio. She has always brought creativity into every aspect of her life. When she is not at her drawing board, she enjoys gardening, cooking and best of all, being with her family.