Yes, I still do colored pencil

I know I've posted a lot of stuff about acrylic painting but I do still paint with colored pencil on occasion. I do portraits in colored pencil using the tonal layering technique that gives such a smooth finish to children's skin. This is one I did some years ago but it's new to the portrait page here. I just added it recently. This is my niece Kayla (she's now 22 yrs old!) and it was one of my favorites to do along with the one of her playing with bubbles - click the portrait tab above and scroll down to see that one.

I also added the portrait of Kayla's brother Grant....

The background on this one is a lot looser. I like the scribbly pencil stroke look sometimes plus it's faster to do and is a nice contrast to the smooth layers on the figure.

Then there is the super fast way to work with colored pencil and that's what I'm doing now on an abstract piece. I use mineral spirits with the pencils to turn the dry pigment into paint. I LOVE working this way. Yesterday I turned the camera on to show you a few minutes of how I paint with a pencil.