Thursday 2 June 2011

Tutorial for Blending Coloured Pencil with Zest It

 As promised - here is my tutorial on how to use Zest It to blend with coloured pencil - Zentangle style!

Start with a drawing ... of course I couldn't go past Mooka Pods.   You will see that I have only done the line drawings with the Pigma pen - no patterns inside yet.
 Lay your colour onto the drawing.   I have used Prismacolor Verithin pencils here.

You can see you only need a light covering.
 Next colour - pink
 Add some green into the stems
 Darker green into the stems and the frills on the pods.

None of these have been "blended" yet.

With a paper stump, dip it into the Zest-It and use small circular motions to blend coloured pencil.  Starting from the lighter colours first, then into the darker ones.

See the second pod from the left, I have blended that with a paper stump and some Zest It.  Be sure to add only enough Zest It to dampen your stump, don't have it dripping wet.

The difference in colour is quite pronounced and you can see that the colour is blended quite smoothly.


 Next I have done the green frill in the centre of the same pod (second from left)
 I have started the main pod here ... can you see where I have blended so far?
 The purple of the largest pod is now blended.
 Here I have blended all the pods and their green centres as well as all the stems and little mooka pods.
 Next I add in more inkwork with the Pigma Micron pen.
 I decided to colour the "peas" in the pods and have blended them as well.
 Don't forget to sign and date your art.
 Finished piece ... I have laid a light colouring of purple over the background but have not blended it with the Zest It.
This is the Blending Kit I sell in my store - janemonkstudio.com

The kit contains a 125ml bottle of Zest It Pencil Blend, a Micron 01 Pigma pen in black, a double ended paper stump, 5 Zentangle tiles and a kneadable eraser - all for $28.00

You can also use the Zest It Pencil Blend with Derwent Inktense pencils for a wonderful effect, as well as your normal watercolour pencils.

Have fun Tangling some Colour ... Jane x

Added Note:  To those of you who want to purchase Zest It outside Australia ... it is a product from the UK ... this may assist in your finding it online.  And Lori has added a link in the comments to help - thanks Lori.

I would also like to add that if you are a serious pencil artist or want to pursue more detailed pencil work,  you can use the Zest It Pencil Blend to smooth out your under layer of colour pencil and add more details on top when this has dried ... very much like using a liquid marker ... a great way to get colour backgrounds for Zentangle Inspired Art.  I hope this helps and I would love to see your pencil coloured art if you would share it with me here at Jane Monk Studio!   Cheers for now, Jane x

4 comments:

  1. Love your results here. I've never heard of the Zest-It product and after a preliminary Google search, am wondering if it's even available in the US.

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  2. http://www.jandtsartandcalligraphy.co.uk/online-shop/zest-it_pencil_blend.php

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  3. Thanks so much Jane. Beautiful work. I have the Inktense pencils, but can't find Blend It. Can you help please. Am doing a Dick Blick buy in a couple of weeks.

    Thanks
    DJ

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  4. Thanks for the tutorial, Jane.

    My hubby is a coloured pencil artist; he uses a citrus solvent made by a company called Eco-House. We buy it at a local arts supplies store (we're in Canada), and Dick Blick carries it in the U.S.

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