Prismacolor Pencils

By BRENNE MEIROWITZ

Prismacolor colors come in a wide spectrum of art materials, including art pencils and Prismacolor pens. Art and drawing is so spontaneous that I find it hard to dwell on a specific method of creating a piece of art, especially when you are using bendable materials such as Prismacolor colored pencils and markers. I suppose, whenever I begin a project, it usually depends upon the mood I am in as to what medium I will choose to work with. However, over the years, I have enjoyed mixing materials, such as blending art pencils, with Prismacolor watercolor pencils, and metallic Prismacolor pens. Even though I am first and foremost a portrait and figurative artist, I find the use of several artist materials, rather than just one, more interesting to me as the artist, as well as the viewer.

I am definitely a fan of metallic colors and finishes, not just when it comes to drawing, but refinishing furniture or household items. I have picked-up old and rusted metal shelving or plant stands, scraped them down, and finished them with wonderful metallic colors using a combination of spray paint and hand applied finishes. I am especially keen on gold and copper.

Now, supposing I were to draw my living area or bedroom using regular art pencils, but decided to add some highlighting finishes with a metallic marker or pen. In this case, since the metallic material will draw the eye because of its shininess, I must be careful as to how much and where I apply it. In order to create balance, it should be applied in either an overall pattern – let’s say along the center back wall, and made part of a wall design – similar to the elaborate wall designs that artists such as Klimt or van Gogh created. This way, the eye travels all over the paper, instead of focusing in one spot. As an alternative, I could use the metallic colors on three objects spaced evenly around the paper, such as one on the far wall, one object in the foreground, and another in the middle ground. The idea is to keep the eye traveling around the picture plane. The same effect is achieved with your choice of color, hue, value, shape, and saturation. Drawing a circle anywhere on the picture plane will draw the eye directly to that object, unless you have several other circles in your drawing. The larger the circle, the more attention it gets from the eye. On the other hand, a smaller red circle will become the focal point of a drawing no matter how many other colored circles you have, especially if they are darker values. However, several red circles spaced evenly around the picture plane will lose its dominate effect. Rather, it will saturate the eye.

If you’d like to experiment, just take out a set of Prismacolor colors – pastels, art pencils, or even Prismacolor pens and play around. Testing the circle theory, you can also prove me wrong. Draw a bunch of red circles or different sizes on your paper, and then draw one dark triangle anywhere you choose. You will see that your eye will be drawn directly to the triangle rather than the red circles. However, draw a black triangle next a red circle of similar size, and see where your eye travels first. Chances are that your eye will be drawn to the red circle first.