Monday, February 22, 2016

What to Color With overview: Markers, Charcoal, and Pastels

Not much to say for an intro here other than, I didn't want to do a huge post so here's the next section:

Chalk: Almost everyone has used a form of chalk in their life, via school white chalk on a chalkboard or sidewalk chalk on the driveway. On paper they're not permanent so they need to be sealed to the paper. And they can create a bunch of dust which can mess up your work if you're not careful, it's nice to have something on hand to remove the dust with and yes you can blow it away.

Pastels (Soft): These are a lot like chalk. They can be hard to work with because the color doesn't become permanent, so you need to spray them with a fixative (I'll explain more on this produce later). Soft pastels are easy to blend, but do tend to smudge. Like chalk, they do create a lot of dust, so you want to either be working on a surface that can be cleaned easy if you wish to blow off the dust (I don't recommend this due to spit), or find something like a cloth or brush to dust the away. Blending can be done with a number of things: fingers, cloths, brushes, tissues, kneading erasers, and blending stumps (stumps). You can even paint with them using a water brush (a brush that holds water in the handle) and thinking along the lines of watercolors. Quality and hardness depends, generally speaking the softest and best quality come with a hefty price.

Pastels (Oil): These pastels are more like crayons than chalk. They're creamy (usually) and apply a thick rough color. Oil pastels are easy to blend with fingers, stumps (though might cause scrapping), cotton swabs, cloths, and tissues (might stick to them). They don't have a fine tip, and cannot be use easily for fine details. You can sharpen them by shaving them to some sort  of a point with a razor blade, exact-o knife, or a sharp knife. Remember to always be careful when using sharp objects, otherwise you might be coloring with blood and waiting around at the doctor's office! Overall oil pastels are good for larger areas, and are nice for blending colors together.

Charcoal (Vine): These are long thin pieces of charcoal the resemble sticks. Vine charcoal is similar to soft pastels and chalk in that's not permanent, needs to be sealed, east to blend, tends to smudge, and creates dust. It's also good for sketching as well. Blending can be done with the same materials as soft pastels.

Charcoal (Stick): These are made from charcoal that has been compressed into a small block or cylinder. They're harder than vine charcoal making them not as easy to work with Variation on intensity depends on pressure rather than how much is there. Blending can be achieved the same way as vine charcoal.

Markers (Water-Soluble): These markers are the average non-toxic ones that are usually washable in some form. They don't have permanent ink, and don't tend to bleed through paper quite as badly as other markers. Water-soluble markers can go on wetter which can cause a small amount of smearing. There are some high quality ones available for scrapbooking, but you will be paying more for them.

Markers (Alcohol & Solvent Base): These markers provide excellent, smooth coverage, and vibrant colors, which makes the a pick for most artists. They have permanent dye-based ink, and many are good quality. They can blended to a point, with a colorless blending marker, but this isn't as easy as blending color pencils. They do have an odor to them, some stronger than others, and can bleed through lighter paper and outwards too.

Markers (all): Generally, all markers are translucent to a point, and can be layered for cool effects. A few different adult coloring books even show using markers to do shading on color pencils, blending color pencil colors with different color markers, and/or making color pencils more vibrant by coloring over them with the same color of marker.

Marker Tip Lingo: Pencils can be sharpened to a fine point for details & sharp color or left blunt for larger areas & softer color. Markers however can't be, so they come in a variety of tip styles and sizes:
Chisel: This tip is like a rectangle cut on an angle. While you can get a finer line by suing the edge of the chisel, they're usually used for filling larger areas. You won't be able to color really find details with this tip.
Broad: A felt-tip that's round, somewhat tapered shape. It's not as tapered and as fine as with a fine tip, which makes them great for filling large areas. These tips are often paired with fine tips in double ended markers.
Bullet: A fine, but not ultra-fine, tip shaped like a bullet. You can get pretty detailed with these however they're not ideal for filling in lager areas.
Brush: These are a soft, flexible, tapered tip that looks like a paintbrush. These tips can be use to produce fine details or create broader strokes depending on how you angle them and the pressure applied. They're pretty versatile.
Fine or Ultra-Fine: These are the smallest out of all of the tips. Sizes are usually measured in millimeters from 0.05 to around 0.8. These tips are best reserved for drawing, outlining, and fine detail work.

Next will be paints and other tools.
-FoxCat ya later

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