I felt like doing a quick write-up of how I approach doing a colored face.
These ones aren't quite light enough, and a few can be seen in the final image. I decided that I was going to post this attempt regardless of the results. I've done a number of other drawings where I attempted different techniques and wouldn't post them because the final image wasn't all that great. I think I need to get past that, I can't imagine I'll ever see a drawing of mine as perfect so I may as well get used to warts now.
Anyway, once I've got some lines to color in I need to pick the colors I'll be using. I go with three pencils when shading, the color then a light and dark version on it. I've come to learn that colored pencils behave differently on different types of paper. As a result I'm never quite sure which ones will end up giving the color I want. So I'll make little swatches of a variety of pencils that are close to the colors I want and pick the best.
For skin I go with shades of brown. A dark brown for the shadows, a regular brown for the parts not getting direct light, then a sand or peach color for the well lit portion.
Contrary to my previous shading attempts I've been applying the colors from dark to light now. It might just be in my head but when going from dark to light the colors seem to give a better transition.
When fully coloring something I don't want a black outline, so from here on out I won't touch a graphite pencil. I do want a good outline, so I'll go over those lines with the colored pencil. A bit of pressure on this line will make it stand out, but not detract from the coloring.
For this picture I had it in mind that the light source would be above the head and a bit to the left. If I can I'll put in an arrow as a reminder for this, it depends whether or not it will get in the way of the final drawing.
Dark color first, so with the dark brown pencil I draw the lines on the lower right of the face and nose as well as in the ears. Then add some color along those lines to show where the face has some shadow on it. It works best to apply less and less pressure as you move away from the lines, but this picture is a little small so it doesn't have space for a lot of variation.
Next the medium brown pencil. Cover more of the pencil lines closer to the light. Not quite all of the lines, but for this bald head it's most of them. After this add some more color to the face, filling in all but the highlight area. When doing this color be sure you overlap into what is already colored. This will help fill in any gaps in the color as well as blend things together a bit.
Then comes the lightest brown pencil to fill in the rest of the face and overlap the medium color. I'm taking care not to get any colors in the eyes or mouth. At this point the face is already colored and shaded, to the extent that my skill at shading allows anyway. The rest is just detail work.
I pull out a few more colors to fill in the eye brows and eyes. I made the mistake of thinking that the mouth should be outlined in a dark red. By the time I realized this it was too late. The line is too thick and has too much contrast from the skin. The mouth did want something to make it stand out, but this sure wasn't it.
The last step I do is to run over the whole image with a white pencil. This helps smooth the colors together as well as protects against smudging. You can probably get a similar effect with a tortillon or tissue paper. I just made this drawing a bit too small for my clumsy fingers not to smudge outside the lines, with the pencil tip it's easier to keep things neat.
When fully coloring something I don't want a black outline, so from here on out I won't touch a graphite pencil. I do want a good outline, so I'll go over those lines with the colored pencil. A bit of pressure on this line will make it stand out, but not detract from the coloring.
For this picture I had it in mind that the light source would be above the head and a bit to the left. If I can I'll put in an arrow as a reminder for this, it depends whether or not it will get in the way of the final drawing.
Dark color first, so with the dark brown pencil I draw the lines on the lower right of the face and nose as well as in the ears. Then add some color along those lines to show where the face has some shadow on it. It works best to apply less and less pressure as you move away from the lines, but this picture is a little small so it doesn't have space for a lot of variation.
Next the medium brown pencil. Cover more of the pencil lines closer to the light. Not quite all of the lines, but for this bald head it's most of them. After this add some more color to the face, filling in all but the highlight area. When doing this color be sure you overlap into what is already colored. This will help fill in any gaps in the color as well as blend things together a bit.
Then comes the lightest brown pencil to fill in the rest of the face and overlap the medium color. I'm taking care not to get any colors in the eyes or mouth. At this point the face is already colored and shaded, to the extent that my skill at shading allows anyway. The rest is just detail work.
I pull out a few more colors to fill in the eye brows and eyes. I made the mistake of thinking that the mouth should be outlined in a dark red. By the time I realized this it was too late. The line is too thick and has too much contrast from the skin. The mouth did want something to make it stand out, but this sure wasn't it.
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