What are the basic colors used in colored pencil art?

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What are the basic colors used in colored pencil art?

by Shirley
(Madison, Wisconsin, USA)

Reader Question: Hi, I want to invest in a set of professional quality colored pencils, like the Prismacolors. I would love the set of 120 but I can't afford it right now, yet I can't wait to get started with colored pencil drawing! Can you recommend the basic colors used in colored pencil art, so that I can buy some of them now and hopefully get the rest later?

Thanks so much!

Hi Shirley,

That's great that you are so excited to start drawing with colored pencils. Prismacolor colored pencils are available in sets of 12, 24, 36, 48, 72, 120 and 132. Buying a set is a bit cheaper than buying each of the pencils individually, so I'd recommend getting the biggest set that you can currently afford, and then getting the rest later.

The smallest set of 12 colored pencils contains the basic colors you'd need to get started with colored pencil drawing:

Apple Green

Black

Canary Yellow

Crimson Red

Dark Brown

Grass Green

Orange

Sienna Brown

True Blue

Violet

Violet Blue

White

The set of 24 contains all these colors plus 12 more, and so on with each larger set.

Even if you can only afford to work with a small set of Prismacolors, it's still a good learning experience because you can practice blending the colors you have to make the colors you need. Having a small amount of colored pencils pushes you to experiment with the different possibilities, which is an invaluable lesson in the long run.

When you're ready to buy more colored pencils, you can buy them individually for under $1 each. Depending on the size of your current set and how worn down the colored pencils are, it might make more sense to buy them open stock (individually) instead of buying the full set of 132 and having a lot of doubles. It really depends on how often you use them, as well as your budget.

Hope that helps & Happy Coloring!

Comments for
What are the basic colors used in colored pencil art?

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Feb 15, 2011

Choosing Colored Pencils
by: Patricia D

Everyone eventually develops their own palette. What I would suggest is, going for primary colors you can mix. A combo of cool and warm colors. An example would be Poppy Red (Warm) and Process Red (Cool) Canary Yellow (Warm) and Yellow Chartreuse (Cool) or any such combinations.

Colored Pencils are translucent so they are great for layering. I always keep Tuscan Red, Canary Yellow, True Blue, Black, White, Apple Green, Indigo Blue along with the principla of warm and cool colors. Most of all, buy quality pencils, not Crayola or Rose Art, if you are going for a professional look. The latter two has more wax than pigment and it shows in the final product.

Feb 15, 2011

Layering is key...
by: c8smum

Many newcomers to colored pencil art buy a few black pencils...but in truth black rarely occurs in nature (if you are planning on doing realistic work). I prefer the darker blue, and cannot live without black grape.

Layering is the key to colored pencil work: the end result we see is the layering of 2 or more colors. I have some pieces that have 30+ layers.

Just starting out, get the largest set you can comfortably afford, add to it as you are able, and just begin putting pencils to paper. Experiment, get the feel for the media and learn what you love about it and what will frustrate you about it. Good luck.

Mar 07, 2011

colors to be added for initial start up
by: beth holly

magenta
non photo blue

Mar 07, 2011

Colors for Beginners
by: Patricia

In the beginning copy other colored pencil artist's palette. In the end you will learn what you like and what works. Color theory is complicated all by itself. When you add colored pencils to the mix it get's more difficult. So again, I suggest reading books by colored pencil artists, using some of their palettes, and finding what works for you. Besides that, all of the comments above works too!

Mar 11, 2011

colored pencils
by: beth holly

you can go to prismacolor.com and they have a color chart (with the numbers)- it's handy to have. i think they also have a chart to keep track of what you have and what you need to get. if they don't, google prisma color chart.
i also agree with the other comments...

Dec 12, 2011

THERE GREAT!!!! NEW
by: Shelley

I was introduced to Pisamas by a friend.I was a mediately hooked.There like Crayons in a stick. They blend and glide so wonderfully. I like a genius started out with only the 72 piece set but sold those for the the 132 set I got them for 123.00 with a 40 percent off coupon. i just love them. Im a big colorer and print pictures with great detail off the computer. THERE GREAT!!!!!

Dec 12, 2011

buying prismacolors NEW
by: beth-holly

did you know that if the lead isn't centered, (you can see it at the end) the pencil will not sharpen the way you want all the time.
and i did write a letter to prismacolor to complain about the names they use for their colors. it's hard to teach color with names like peacock green when it should be thalo green, etc.

Dec 13, 2011

techniques NEW
by: beth-holly

i love colored pencils over a gesso board with an acrylic wash. or even on 300lb. hot press watercolor paper. try it. even with your large sticks!

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