Put Alcohol on Colored Pencil & SEE WHAT HAPPENS!💥(pro trick)

Using Alcohol on my coloured pencil drawings is one of my favourite blending techniques. I have been doing this trick for nearly 10 years! It makes coloured pencil drawings look like paintings and makes coloured pencil drawing easier too!

[a-]

I'm a digital artist and I'm always in awe of traditional artists. The patience and precision is incredible.

[cjjersey]

Decades ago, I discovered that I could go over my Prismacolor colored pencil drawings with a lighter shade of Prismacolor marker to blend colors and to get rid of tiny white dots between strokes of color. Several years later, Prismacolor started selling clear markers for that purpose. They are essentially alcohol in marker form (and much more expensive than using alcohol & a brush.) The markers pick up some of the color, so I used to have one for each basic color. (I added a piece of tape around the barrel of each marker to identity red or blue, etc, so I wasn’t transferring red tones to yellow, for example.) Later Prismacolor made blending pencils that were essentially colorless.
One problem with the markers was that, if I hadn’t used them in a while, they tended to dry up. So, I tried putting the markers’ tips in rubbing alcohol so they would soak it up. Later I tried a brush, and voilá, similar results with dollar store alcohol & a bottle cost less than one colorless marker or pencil.

[cnd]

I found this out accidentally. I used an alcohol blender markers. The blenders act like it melts the wax in the media so only pigment is left and if you haven’t burnished you can add more layers on top several more times to add even richer tints, tones, and shades to your work.😊❤

[Fernandojra]

Provided you use proper pure ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, rather than Smirnoff which is 50% ethanol with other stuff mixed in possibly staining the art work and rendering it non-archival...

[missabork]

pretty cool trick, i just want to mention that watercolor pencils exist and are super cool too!

[elainnatividad]

Kirsty's videos motivate me to get out of my comfort zone. It makes me think to master a different medium and really explore all there is to art.

[_mcknight]

Oh my God, you are a hero! THIS is the kind of thing I've been looking for to help me. I tried using coconut oil which does work really well but this might be better. And yes, I was making that mistake you mentioned of not layering enough first. Thank you for this.

[dianetaslitz]

I’ve been using nail polish remover for years dries fast with no odor also only use sanded paper it’s remarkable to work with.

[michelec]

I am today years old after watching this! I am really excited to try this on a picture I am working on right now! 🥰

[JenniferJJones-cqyl]

THIS IS AWESOME What a great technique and I love the concise way that you explained each step! Thank you.

[Ronyal]

Me gustó el resultado cuando usas el alcohol encima de los colores. Esto es arte. Me gusta tu trabajo. Muchas gracias por compartir tus conocimientos con toda la comunidad de artistas aficionados. Un saludo desde España.

[starbrand]

I am dying to try this. I just did a color pencil picture yesterday and was disappointed by the graininess of the pencils. So now I'll try this.

[divinenonbinary]

Maybe I’m missing something but why go to this lengths when u could just use paint to begin with?

[carmenzaldivar]

I started watching your videos one year ago and you inspired me. Thanks.Color pencils is my relaxing therapy

[MusicalRaichu]

or you can use water-soluble pencils and blend with water. no fumes or chemicals, cheaper too.

[Shilo]

I love this! I've always been a better drawer than painter. When using watercolour I've been gravitating more to drawing my picture first then using watercolor. It gives me more control. This would work well for me! Can't wait to try it!

[tatesiemens]

This is amazing and I am a very new student in watercolor and these pencils have been my inspiration! You have inspired me to try this with my own art! Thank you

[michaelq]

Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) has a much different texture from ethanol (drinking alcohol) I would not recommend the ethanol but I’m sure an artist could figure it out. IMPORTANT: alcohol over 95% is extremely hygroscopic basically be aware it will burn a hole through cotton if you get it on any fabrics, in a perfect little square because the way the fibers absorb it. If a drop gets on your cloths you don’t need to wash it just rinse with water, if your throwing a bunch of stuff in the wash it’s fine but rinse right away WITHOUT bleach or detergent first.

[BamBuntz]

I’ve been using gamsol for years with this technique

[jimcorbett]

That is so cool. It looks like there's a bit of a learning curve, but I'm thinking that it would save any drawing with a lot of sky background.