Steve Gathercole

My Experiences with Coloured Pencil Art

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Name: Steve Gathercole

Experience: 5+ Years

Location: Norfolk, U.K.

Speciality: Airbrushing & Coloured Pencil Art

Instagram: @steve_gathercole

My background is in airbrush art but the ‘artist’ in me is always curious about other art media so I decided to try coloured pencils in the hope that my airbrush background would help me on this new venture.

I discovered the techniques for the two disciplines are actually quite similar...

First obstacle, which pencils to use? After a bit of research I decided on Faber Castel Polycromos pencils which are reasonably priced, have good reviews and, just like my paints, exhibit transparent features allowing me to layer and build up colours/tones just as I would with my airbrush paint.

Next, which paper to use? This turned out to be quite a minefield as there are so many different types of ‘smooth’ paper, sanded paper and also drafting film. Good depth and realism with coloured pencils requires paper which has a decent amount of ‘tooth’ allowing you to build up layers of depth before the surface becomes saturated and won’t accept any more pigment.