Turning Colored Pencil Into Paint

Jesse Lane creates the richness and feel of a photographic oil painting with colored pencils.

- Jesse Lane

When most people think of colored pencil, they recall something they did as children with scribbles of color. Traditional painting is seen as much more refined. It is richer in color, value and subject matter. However, more and more over the last few decades, fine artists are turning to colored pencil, and thus colored pencil is gaining recognition in the fine art world.

Colored pencil and paint are more alike than you may realize. Both are made with a combination of pigment and binder. At their cores, these two media are essentially the same. So what separates a colored pencil drawing or doodle from a colored pencil painting? One is the type of pencil, but more importantly, it’s the artist’s approach. In colored pencil painting, there’s a level of richness similar to oil paint.

I create my images to have the richness of oil paint and the reality of a photograph. This helps me communicate emotion through my work. When an image is rich in color and contrast, it has more punch and a stronger presence. The image is recognizable at a distance, drawing viewers even from across a room.

I achieve the richness of oil paint in a variety of ways. The first way is layering. I prefer paper with a bit of tooth, or texture. A rough paper handles more layers of pencil, which allow more pigment and richness. I begin each portrait by building large, light layers of color, usually tans or browns. At this point, I am establishing values more than colors. Like many painters, I work from general to specific. Next, I introduce a broader range of color. I lightly apply layers of pink, yellow, purple, orange and sometimes gray or green to the tan base layers. This creates variation, making the skin tone more natural.