Prismacolor Pencils

By BRENNE MEIROWITZ

Prismacolor  Pencils are superb art materials for drawing, whether you are a hobbyist, art student, or professional artist.  Prismacolor pencils are made of high quality pigments, which lend themselves to creating drawings rich with color, tonal value, and texture. They are also excellent for black and white drawing as well.

In most foundation art classes, before color is introduced, instruction usually begins with black and white drawing.  The objective of the instructor is to teach students how to see with their eyes – not with their brains.  For most students, this is very confusing.  It is not easy for an art instructor to make their students understand that even though they can see, their way of seeing is left-brain symbol processing, rather than right-brain creative processing.  The task of an art instructor is to get their students to begin drawing on the right side of the brain.  In every class that I have taught, that situation always leads to a few humorous outbursts from bewildered students, because at first – they just don’t get it!  To watch their expressions change from confusion to clarity is one of the wonderful gifts of teaching.

To best illustrate this concept, I take a simple object, such as a three dimensional triangle – about two feet high and place it on a pedestal.  I have the students set-up their easels in a circle around the still life.  For demonstration purposes, I do a quick sketch from three different sides of the circle, while the students stand behind me.  Before putting pencil to paper however, I stretch out my arm, holding up my pencil to line up with the angles of the triangle.  I ask the students to do the same.  Granted, each one of those students has a different vantage point than mine, as well as from the other, but that is exactly the point that I am trying to convey!  Their brains begin to adjust from processing a familiar symbol, i.e. a triangle, and shift from seeing it as a flat symbol to an object with varying angles, shapes, tonal value, depth, and perspective.  Rather than draw a simple line drawing as most beginners do, they start drawing what they actually see from their unique vantage point.  Drawing then becomes a process of investigation and observation – a true composition of design elements.

Once the concept of seeing from the right side of the brain is understood, that is when I introduce color.  My method of teaching color and value is similar to the way I teach line, perspective, mass, and proportion.   The introduction to colored pencils is exciting to most students, who after a while tire from doing only black and white drawing.  Just as shape is processed as a symbol in the left side of the brain, so is color.  Returning to the triangle lesson, let’s just say it is a red triangle – but is it really?  If placed under a strong light, depending upon where the light is directed, in truth it may not really be red.  On one side, the side that is not being illuminated, the color may be more of a maroon color.  Shadows where the bottom of the triangle meets the pedestal may appear dark purple or blue, but that too is dependent upon the color of the pedestal.  The surface color of the pedestal will reflect a certain amount of its color onto the base of the triangle, wherein a blending of color and light occurs.  Shadows cast from the red triangle in turn will alter the color of its surrounding.

With practice and training, I have found that almost anyone can learn how to draw, and using Prismacolor  pencils eases this process, particularly attributable to their wide selection of color, hardness, and composition.   Applying a damp paintbrush to a composition drawn with water-soluble colored pencils, enables an artist to create watercolor like effects within their drawing.  I find this a fun way to introduce painting into a drawing class.