When I took my first drawing class as an adult (about 12 years ago), colored pencils quickly became my favorite medium. I was using my kids’ Crayola pencils and they were doing the job quite nicely. This brown bear was one of my first drawings.

Over time I became frustrated with my small selection of colors. You might think the answer is to buy a larger set of pencils. But, you’ll never have enough colors and what about darks within an object? Another student in the class – a skilled woman named Donna – had the answer. She taught me how to blend the colors.

I was thrilled when I was able to create the terra-cotta colored pot for this kitten to sit in.

The key to blending is to color with the side of the tip of the pencil not the point. The color goes on lighter, leaving some of the paper exposed. Notice the difference in the photo below. The brown and green vertical lines are colored with the tip, the brown and green to the right of that is colored with the side of the tip.

After applying a color, add your second color on top of it. Then use a third color – a lighter color like white – to blend the two colors. I used yellows and light tans to blend the colors in my leaf coloring page. I love how it came out!

Download the leaf coloring page from my Etsy shop here.