Watercolor pencils work great for making a base drawing, for when you want to paint it in with acrylics and/or watercolors. A big plus is that you can now have your base drawing be in color, making the drawing so much easier to paint in. This comes in especially handy when making a rather large and/or intricate drawing.
I've used black drawing pencils before, and it had blended in the dark of the pencil with the acrylic paint, which I then had to go back over again and touch up. Using the watercolor pencils alleviated that extra step.
If you're looking for a watercolor pencil with a good grip, I recommend The Ergosoft watercolor pencils, by Staedtler; this link goes to Amazon. These watercolor pencils have a thin rubber type coating on the outer layer of the pencil. The body of these pencils have a rounded triangular shape, which I also find pretty comfortable to hold.
I just use a regular sized pencil sharpener to sharpen them.
Cheryl Paton
When I first started painting people in acrylic, I looked at the photo and made my best guess with the skin paint colors that I had on hand. Once I got the book, Painting People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond, I opened up to more color possibilities. I added orange, blue and red; not the normal colors I had normally added when painting skin tones.
With the practice exercises of painting spheres, my blending techniques also improved.
This is the first face painting I did after practicing some skills that I learned in Hammond's book.
There are some things I would do differently now, were I to paint this boy again; however I am pleased with my first attempt with the skills I learned then.
If you're looking to take your skin painting skills in acrylic to the next level, I recommend this informative book by Lee Hammond, Paint People in Acrylic. It covers tips for painting skin as well as fur, brush maintenance, blending techniques, and more.
Paint People in Acrylic on Amazon
Cheryl Paton
