Title: River Pebbles, No. 3

• Size: 6" x 6"
• Medium: Caran d'Ache Neocolor I and II, Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencil, Caran d'Ache Luminance Colored Pencil
• Miscellaneous: Clay Shaper, Gray Paper Stumps
• Surface: Art Spectrum Colourfix Supertooth Board
• Technique: Icarus Drawing Board
• Mounted on a 6" x 6" Ampersand Claybord with 2" cradle (If you are interested in learning how I mount and varnish my artwork, you can read my post on Glassless Framing)

Outline - Cool Zone

The outline was accomplished with Verithin Colored Pencils on the cool zone of the Icarus Drawing Board.

Color Mapping with Artist Crayons - Cool Zone

For more on color mapping with artist crayons you can view the following videos:

• Exercises on Colourfix Paper - Layering Artist Crayons on Colourfix Paper
• Mussel Shell - Blocking in Colors with Artist Crayons

Detail View of Color Mapping

Here you can see the pigment density needed to achieve complete paper coverage after melting.

Melting Artist Crayons - Warm Zone

With temperature setting at maximum, I begin melting the artist crayons with a clay shaper (or color shaper).

For more on melting artist crayons you can view the following videos:

• Exercise on Colourfix Paper - Melting Artist Crayon on Colourfix Paper
• Mussel Shell - Melting Artist Crayons

Melting Completed

Artist crayons save me a lot of time. After they are melted, the paper becomes completely saturated with vibrant colors. The waxy pigments make an ideal substrate for layering colored pencils on top.

Finished Artwork

With temperature setting at medium, I finally layer and blend colored pencils to develop colors, values and details.

You can see a slideshow of this project on the following blog post: Slideshow of "River Pebbles, No. 3".