Lesson 4: Using Pen and Ink with Colored Pencil

SUPPLY LIST

Strathmore 400 Series Toned Mixed Media Paper

This paper comes in 3 colors: gray, tan, and blue (NEW!) I’ll be using the blue, but feel free to

choose your favorite color.

If you prefer, you can continue to work on Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Board or

Strathmore 400 Series Mixed Media Paper.

Artist-grade colored pencils

There are many high-quality brands available, so you can use whatever works best for you and

your budget.

Many colored pencil lines are available as both sets and open-stock (meaning you can buy

individual pencils.) Look at the colors available in both the sets and open stock to choose what

will work best for you based on the subject matter you want to draw.

Fluid Acrylics or Watercolors

COLORED PENCIL WITH MIXED MEDIA with Sarah Becktel

You’ll only need one of your wet media for this lesson. I’ll be using the fluid acrylic, but you can

use whichever medium you prefer.

Artist-grade technical pen with waterproof pigmented ink in Black or Gray

Technical pens have a thin tip that distributes ink evenly. They are available in a number of

different sized tips, which varies the width of the drawn line.

Pigmented ink is generally more lightfast than dye-based inks. Dye-based inks tend to fade or

change color.

I’ll be using Sakura Pigma micron pens in Black (size 01) and Derwent Graphik Line Maker

Graphite (size 0.3), but you can use whatever brand and size you’d like.

Round watercolor brushes

I typically use synthetic brushes in sizes 2, 4, 6, and 8. The size I use will depend on the size of

my work (the larger the number, the larger the brush.) If you’ve never used watercolor brushes

before and aren’t sure, I’d go with a 4 and an 8- that will give you some versatility. I will be using

Princeton Velvetouch Round Brushes.

Palette

If you’ll be using acrylic, you’ll need a palette to squeeze your paint onto. I typically use a white

paper plate that has a slightly shiny or coated surface (so the paint doesn’t absorb into the plate.

HB graphite pencil

Kneaded eraser (and any additional types of erasers that you like using)

Paper towels

Small plastic container or bowl for water

White paper plate

I use this for my acrylic palette, but you can use whatever type of palette you prefer

I use a paper plate that is slightly shiny or coated so that the paint does not absorb into the

surface of the plate.

Easy-to-remove or low-tack tape (3/4” to 1” wide)

Blue painters’ tape is a good option

I typically tape down my art so it stays put while I’m working. If you’re working in a pad, this is

unnecessary.

Optional Supplies:

Sketch Paper

I like to draw out my compositions on sketch paper first, then transfer that drawing onto mixed

media board or mixed media paper. But you can work directly on the mixed media surface if

you prefer.

3B or 4B graphite pencil

I use a softer pencil when transferring my drawings from sketch paper to the final mixed media

surface.

Instructions:

In this lesson, we will be focusing on techniques for combining pen and ink with colored pencil and fluid

acrylic. I’ll also be referencing value, which refers to how light or dark something is. A value scale

applies numbers to each value with 1 representing white and 10 representing black. As the numbers

increase, the value gets darker.

The first technique I’ll be demonstrating works best on a middle-valued paper, so I’ll be working on

Strathmore’s toned mixed media paper in blue. This paper is also available in gray and tan, but all 3

colors are a middle value, so any of these would work great- feel free to use whichever color you prefer.

These techniques can also be done on Strathmore’s 500 series mixed media board or 400 series mixed

media paper. These white surfaces can be toned with fluid acrylic to a middle value that’s similar to the

toned mixed media paper. If you’ll be using a white paper and need a review of how to tone your

surfaces, please check back to the demonstration in lesson 1.

For this demo, I’ve drawn a bullfrog on white sketch paper and transferred it to my toned mixed media

paper. If you need a refresher on how to transfer your drawing, you can check back to lesson 2 in this

workshop series. As I get started with my technical pen, I trace along the edges of my shadow areas and

then begin shading using the hatching techniques described in lesson 1- hatching, contour hatching, and

cross hatching. If you need a refresher on what those methods are, you can check back to lesson 1 for

my full introduction to pen and ink.

When I apply my parallel lines, they begin to suggest the value and shape of the bullfrog. I use both

straight and contour hatching, and in areas that I want to be darker, I use cross hatching. The more lines

that are built up in an area, the darker that area will become. I’m mainly using the ink to define and

develop the areas of my drawing that are darker in value. I’ll be using colored pencil to develop my

lighter values.

I let the ink dry for a few minutes and then I’ll add a layer of transparent acrylic on top. I want this layer

to be transparent so that I can see my pen lines through the acrylic. I don’t want to lose the details of

the drawing, I just want to deepen and unify those shadow areas.

After I’ve applied acrylic on top of my pen in all the shadow areas, I’m also applying thin acrylic to areas

of my frog that are a middle-range value. I didn’t think these areas were dark enough to be shaded with

my black pen, but I do want them darker than the value of my toned paper.

I use an olive green to begin shading with colored pencil and I’m shading the areas of my frog that are a

middle value. I’m shading in some areas that have acrylic and some areas that do not. Because this

green is a middle value, it’s a great color to blend between my light areas and my shadow areas.

Next, I’m using a brighter green to suggest the lighter values. I’m not putting this color into any of my

shadow areas that were shaded with pen and acrylic. Because my toned paper is a middle value, this

lighter green provides some contrast and really pops when I put it down.

I now add a cream color for my brightest highlights. This adds more contrast and makes the bullfrog’s

skin look wet and shiny. I’m shading with a slight speckled pattern to suggest the bumps on his skin. I’m

also using a few brown colors to add more detail to the bullfrog’s eye as well as some spots on his skin.

After I put in my highlights, I’m adding a shadow beneath my bullfrog with colored pencil and acrylic.

I’m putting just a few final touches in with colored pencil and pen to finish up my bullfrog. As long as I

keep my colored pencil layers relatively thin, I can repeatedly go back and forth between mediums until

I’m happy with the drawing.

I also use pen and ink to outline my colored pencil work when I want a bit more contrast. My pig is

similar in color and value to the tone of my board, and I feel as though the edges of my pig are getting

slightly lost. So I’m using a gray ink pen to outline the edges of my pig and create a little bit more

contrast.

I’m lightly going over the edges of my pig and using strokes that match the length of her hair. The effect

is subtle, but the pen adds more definition to my drawing and helps to separate my pig from the

background.