Today, we talk about art material to add in your drawing tools as an artist or designer.
After sketching The Grand Budapest Hotel in the plane with a Twin Marker,
I wanted to practice an other great tool: The mechanical pencil with color lead.
With that, you will draw better croquis!

Greater croquis with a color lead

Color leads naturally give some warm effect to your croquis.
As you know, I love drawing with ballpoint pen. However, I warmly recommend you to sketch with color leads as well.

They do great for research of new ideas or forms.

Overall, drawing with color leads gives an authentic look to your creations.
They allow you to show more sensitivity thanks to the wide pen pressure possibilities.

NOTE: Designers love using color leads as an underlay.
They are great for, drafts, croquis (in other words, “inaccurate sketches”).
You can then use a bolder pen (ballpoint pen, felt pen, marker…) to draw a more precised version on top.

Colour leads gives your drawing a lively feel. You draw with more energy!
Plenty of colours are available.
My favourite colours are the classics: Blue or Red.

Chou-Tac CHUNG | Red girl croquis with mechanical pencil

 7 TIPS TO DRAW BETTER CROQUIS WITH COLOR LEADS

• Colour leads break easily compared to regular graphite leads. It can become frustrating.
  I recommend avoid 0.5mm and buy thicker leads from 0.7mm.
• Preferably choose mechanical pencils that include a metallic tube to support the lead. (See picture above)
• Buy 1 mechanical pencil for each color you plan to use often. Match the mechanical pencil color to the color lead.
• Draw without fear of making mistakes. Do not look for perfection.
• Start your drawing light, and bold along the way when you feel more confident.
• Draw neat shadow using hatching.
  You don’t have to color covering the whole surface of your croquis – like you would do with regular color pencils.
• Avoid using the rubber too much. If you start drawing light, you will still be able to iterate a lot.

Remember, your goal is to sketch fast and drop your ideas fast on paper.

Extra color leads:

Today I passed by an art shop, I picked up the light pink and light blue colours.
I bought 1 extra mechanical pencils for each color.

That’s all for the sketching TIP of the day.
See yah!

Meanwhile, feel free to learn the benefits of creative thinking here.
It was during my flight to Singapore when I had 13 hours available, and I decided to sketch. :)