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Step 1 MI like to give the paper a wash of colour to make amid tone. On this portrait of a Maasai girl I wanteda nice warm base to work my colours into so I useda wash of burnt umber watercolour and left it to drynaturally. I then sketched the drawing with a whitepastel pencil, shading in all the light areas. Noticehow the base tone already looks like the skin tone.

TEST REPORT

yet easier to sharpen.Pastel pencils and portraiture go

hand in hand, enabling the artistto achieve both detail and subtleblending. It is also a forgivingmedium to work with, allowing

you to add or lift colour as youplease. The easy blending of thepastel pencils makes it the idealmedium for achieving delicateblends of colour in flesh tones.

The selection presents 12

pencils as a colour palettefor drawing people of allnationalities. It is based on thetraditional colour wheel, with

warm and cool versions of eachof the primary colours, other

useful variations by mixing twocolours, and white or black tolighten or darken so you areable to create a huge rangeof colours to create morenaturalistic effects.

Derwent is continually improving and updatingits full range of pencils,and as an artist who has workedon several test trials over the past20 years, I was very pleased to

be asked to test report the new portrait collection of pastelpencils. I am pleased to say Ithink they have now reachedperfection! The colours are justthe right degree of softness, and

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Step 2I used burnt carmine todraw in the darks, likethe lash line around theeyes, the nose and theshape of the mouth thenwent carefully aroundthe teeth, shading thedark area. I looked forthe cool areas in theskin and shaded withultramarine blue thenused terracotta in themid-tone areas, and

cadmium red in thewarm areas. I thenused my finger to lightlyblend all the coloursinto each other.

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Step 3 M

I scribbled in small circularstrokes of chocolate to suggestcurly hair. I strengthened all thedark areas with ultramarine blue,terracotta and cadmium red, allthe while checking the warm andcool colours and overlaying thecolours as needed.

G Tin of Derwent Pastel Pencil SkintonesG Daler Rowney watercolour board NOT finish

or any watercolour paper with a NOT finish,161 2 x 113 4in. (42 x 30cm)

G Winsor & Newton burnt umber watercolour

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

Derwents Pastel

Pencil Skintones

44 AUGUST 2012

What youll find in the tin

Terracotta

Kingfisherblue

Ultramarine

Yellowochre

Cadmiumred

Crimson

Burntcarmine

Chocolate

CarbonblackTitaniumwhite

Processyellow

Vanilla

You will need

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AUGUST 2012 45www.painters-online.co.uk

Step 5

1 I drew an outline of thepattern on the scarf withcarbon black, filled in theleaves and circles withcadmium red then shadedaround these carefully withtitanium white. Colour inthe rest of the scarf wascadmium red and carbonblack to the borderand patterns.2 Crimson was used toshade in the left-handcorner of the dress, and forthe rest of the dress yellow

ochre was used, highlightedwith process yellow.3 The bead necklace wasbuilt up using titaniumwhite, carbon black,crimson and ultramarineblue.

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

Fair skinon whiteTo achieve fair skin, likeMillie, on white paperI would suggest you lay intitanium white first in theskin area. Then shade incadmium red, terracottaand touches of yellowochre. Ultramarine bluecan be blended into the

cool areas then burnishedwith white. Use yourfingers to gently blendcolours together.

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TECHNIQUES & EFFECTS

Derwent sharpeningstand & craft knifeI like to work with a long point so that I canuse the side of the pencil as well as the point.

The sharpening stand gives a secure base tohold the pencil in a steady position while youachieve the perfect point. The Derwent craftknife is perfect for sharpening pencils, cuttingpaper and other creative techniques. It isstrong, responsive and comfortable to use.

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Burnishing and crosshatching M

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

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Massai Girl , Derwent Pastel Pencil Skintoneson watercolour board, 161 2 x 113 4in. (42 x 30cm) M

Burnished Burnished Burnished Burnished Burnished Burnished Burnished Burnished

Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched Crosshatched

Crimson

UltramarineTitaniumwhite

Vanilla

TerracottaTitaniumwhite

Process yellow

Kingfisher blueTitanium white

Cadmium red

Yellow ochreTitanium white

Chocolate

UltramarineTitanium white

Titanium white

Cadmium redProcess yellow

Burnt carmine

UltramarineTerracottaTitanium white

Terracotta

UltramarineTitanium white

Titanium whiteCadmium redVanillaUltramarine

The new DerwentPastel PencilSkintones areavailable in anassortment of 12colours, presentedin a sturdy storage tin.The tin is availablefrom all good art shops,priced at 17.95(rrp).

Order for 17.95 from Paintersbooks atwww.painters-online.co.uk or telephone 0844 880 5853

(9am-5pm; Mon-Fri); quote code 201225.