Color Theory
Colored Pencil Vocabulary
Analogous- a harmonious color scheme produced by using closely related colors. From a color
wheel, choose three of the large circles in a row; for example O, R, and V would be closely
related colors or analogous colors.
Burnishing- using a white or other light-valued pencil with firm pressure over a previously
drawn area.
Chiaroscuro-an Italian Renaissance system for describing an emergence of form, relying on a
gradual blending from light to dark.
Color Scheme-control of a color within a given composition or design.
Constructed colors- a hue or neutral achieved with a mixture of colors.
Contrast-any difference among elements that enhance perception and minimalize sameness.
Feathering-the gradual lightening of line or tone until it vanishes or merges into another.
Fixative-a protective spray coating, which, when used on colored pencil work, inhibits wax
bloom.
Modeling-creating an illusion of three dimensional form through variations of value, line, and
intensity.
Paper Tooth-the tiny, barely visible “hills and valleys” produced by paper’s interwoven fibers.
Saturation- the purity, intensity, or vividness of a color.
Sgraffito- a technique of cutting away parts of a surface layer to expose a different colored
ground.
Solvent-any substance used to partially dissolve a colored pencil’s binder.
Thumbnail- a small, rough drawing used as a planning aid.
Tonal Quality-the massing of colored pencil strokes until they lose all suggestion of line.
Wash-a light tonal application of colored pencil, either wet or dry. A graded wash is generally
characterized by a progressive change in value.
Wax Bloom-an exuding of excess pencil wax to a paper’s surface that resembles a fog or haze.
Color Pencil Technique Notes
Basic Notes:
1. Colored pencils are semi-opaque while graphite is opaque. This fact will enable you to
layer colors to achieve a richer effect.
2. There is room for correction. Although not totally erasable, colored pencils are
somewhat forgiving and can handle a variety of correction.
3. WAX BLOOM will occur when heavy pressure is used to lay down color. An excess of
wax can occur within one to two weeks that creates a “fogging” of color. The wax bloom
can be removed by rubbing with a soft cloth or can be prevented if the artwork is sprayed
with a fixative after completion.
Color Properties:
1. Hue- the pigmentation identification, or the name of a color.
2. Value- the lightness and darkness of a color.
3. Intensity-the purity or saturation of a color, the brightness and dullness of a color.
4. Temperature-the warmness or coolness of a color;, color temperature describes the degree
of warmth visually found in a color. A warm color is one that gives the viewer a sense of
warmth, energy, or heat, such as the colors of the sun. A cool color is a color that gives a
sense of coolness, cold, or stillness, such as the colors of the ocean.
Altering Color’s Properties:
Hue Change
1. Two or more pencil hues are combined by layering one color on top of another.
2. Two or more pencil hues are combined by placing them side by side.
Value Change
1. Change in pencil pressure
2. Overlapping a color with white or black colored pencil
3. Overlapping a pencil’s color with a lighter or darker color.
Decrease Intensity Change
1. Overlapping a pencil’s color with a neutral gray
2. Overlapping a pencil’s color with a black pencil
3. Overlapping a pencil’s color with a complementary pencil hue
4. Thoroughly combining a pencil’s color with the two colors adjoining it on the color
wheel
Increase Intensity Change
1. Loosely combining a pencil’s color with the two colors adjoining it on the color wheel
2. An increase in pencil pressure
3. Overlapping a pencil’s color with a white pencil, then using the original pencil over the
white
4. Combining the pencil’s color with a solvent (water, turpentine, markers; even fixative)
