TEST REPORT

What youll find in the tin Vanilla Process yellow Yellow ochre Cadmium red Crimson Terracotta Kingfisher blue Ultramarine Burnt carmine Chocolate Carbon black Titanium white

Derwents Pastel Pencil Skintones

It takes only a handful of colours and a few easy techniques to produce lifelike portraits with Angela Gaughan

erwent is continually improving and updating its full range of pencils, and as an artist who has worked on several test trials over the past 20 years, I was very pleased to be asked to test report the new portrait collection of pastel pencils. I am pleased to say I think they have now reached perfection! The colours are just the right degree of softness, and

yet easier to sharpen. Pastel pencils and portraiture go hand in hand, enabling the artist to achieve both detail and subtle blending. It is also a forgiving medium to work with, allowing you to add or lift colour as you please. The easy blending of the pastel pencils makes it the ideal medium for achieving delicate blends of colour in flesh tones. The selection presents 12

pencils as a colour palette for drawing people of all nationalities. It is based on the traditional colour wheel, with warm and cool versions of each of the primary colours, other useful variations by mixing two colours, and white or black to lighten or darken so you are able to create a huge range of colours to create more naturalistic effects.

You will need

Tin of Derwent Pastel Pencil Skintones Daler Rowney watercolour board NOT finish or any watercolour paper with a NOT finish, 1612x1134in. (42x30cm) G Winsor & Newton burnt umber watercolour
G G

Step 3 M
I scribbled in small circular strokes of chocolate to suggest curly hair. I strengthened all the dark areas with ultramarine blue, terracotta and cadmium red, all the while checking the warm and cool colours and overlaying the colours as needed.

Step 1 M
I like to give the paper a wash of colour to make a mid tone. On this portrait of a Maasai girl I wanted a nice warm base to work my colours into so I used a wash of burnt umber watercolour and left it to dry naturally. I then sketched the drawing with a white pastel pencil, shading in all the light areas. Notice how the base tone already looks like the skin tone.

Step 2

I used burnt carmine to draw in the darks, like the lash line around the eyes, the nose and the shape of the mouth then went carefully around the teeth, shading the dark area. I looked for the cool areas in the skin and shaded with ultramarine blue then used terracotta in the mid-tone areas, and cadmium red in the warm areas. I then used my finger to lightly blend all the colours into each other.

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TECHNIQUES & EFFECTS Burnishing and crosshatching M

Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched

Burnished Crimson Ultramarine Titanium white

Burnished Vanilla Terracotta Titanium white

Burnished Process yellow Kingfisher blue Titanium white

Burnished Cadmium red Yellow ochre Titanium white

Burnished Chocolate Ultramarine Titanium white

Burnished Titanium white Cadmium red Process yellow

Burnished Burnished Terracotta Burnt carmine Ultramarine Ultramarine Titanium white Terracotta Titanium white

Fair skin on colour wash

For fair skin I work on a colour wash of Winsor & Newton Winsor green (blue shade) to tone my paper, then use and blend titanium white, cadmium red, vanilla and ultramarine.

Titanium white Cadmium red Vanilla Ultramarine

Fair skin on white

Derwent sharpening stand & craft knife

I like to work with a long point so that I can use the side of the pencil as well as the point. The sharpening stand gives a secure base to hold the pencil in a steady position while you achieve the perfect point. The Derwent craft knife is perfect for sharpening pencils, cutting paper and other creative techniques. It is strong, responsive and comfortable to use.

To achieve fair skin, like Millie, on white paper I would suggest you lay in titanium white first in the skin area. Then shade in cadmium red, terracotta and touches of yellow ochre. Ultramarine blue can be blended into the cool areas then burnished with white. Use your fingers to gently blend colours together.

Step 4 M
For the beaded headband I used process yellow, cadmium red, titanium white and carbon black. Kingfisher blue was shaded into the background then I worked into areas with titanium white.

Step 5

1 I drew an outline of the pattern on the scarf with carbon black, filled in the leaves and circles with cadmium red then shaded around these carefully with titanium white. Colour in the rest of the scarf was cadmium red and carbon black to the border and patterns. 2 Crimson was used to shade in the left-hand corner of the dress, and for the rest of the dress yellow ochre was used, highlighted with process yellow. 3 The bead necklace was built up using titanium white, carbon black, crimson and ultramarine blue.

Massai Girl, Derwent Pastel Pencil Skintones on watercolour board, 1612x1134in. (42x30cm)

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The new Derwent Pastel Pencil Skintones are available in an assortment of 12 colours, presented in a sturdy storage tin. The tin is available from all good art shops, priced at 17.95(rrp).

Order for 17.95 from Paintersbooks at www.painters-online.co.uk or telephone 0844 880 5853 (9am-5pm; Mon-Fri); quote code 201225.

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