I realised that I sometimes talk about differents drawing tools that I’m using. As someone who’s been drawing for a long time, I tend to take for granted that theses tools and ways of working are known by everyone.
Which couldn’t be less true.
Each of us have our own experience with drawing and art. We live in different countries, therefore, not all materials are known or available in different places. We’ve been to different schools and developped different ways of thinking depending of the program we went to study to. We have a lot to share so I decided to do even more with the new “Drawing tool” blog category.
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When I studied film animation, years ago, I learned that animators were drawings mostly with Prismacolors col-erase pencils. It is also used by architechs for blueprints.
Why is this tool so loved by animators & architechs ?
- It doesn’t “stain” as much as a regular HB pencil, so you can work more on your drawing’s structure before it starts smudging.
- Of course, easier to erase than HB pencil.
- The lighter colors doesn’t shows on scanners/copy machines.
Which can sometimes be useful when you’re cleaning a drawing. (Inking, re-drawing, etc.)
To this day, I still use col-erase pencils for most of my sketches.
Remember that illustration I posted? Here’s the final draft I did with a col-erase pencil.
I like to use a lighter color at first and enhance the details with a darker one. In this case, a light and dark blue.
But what’s even nicer is that you can get the pencils in pretty much any color, depending of your mood and fancy. 😉
Blue is the color’s that is the most used. I am guessing that it is because it is a softer color, which is better for the eyes after you’ve spent hours in front of a drawing. And also because most people can see blue and it’s different shades. Gotta love blue!
So, if you’ve been drawing for awhile and haven’t tried this tool yet, head over to your local art shop supplies and try them. They cost around 1$ and are worth the try. 🙂