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The dictionary describes burnishing as, “To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.” Burnishing is the term that is used to describe the technique of applying colored pencil with steady pressure, usually over another layer of color. When rubbed in firmly, the medium fills the nooks and crannies of the paper, smoothing out the texture.
Due to the wax in the pencil, burnishing creates a polished look. The resulting layers of color are semi-transparent, allowing light through and giving the artwork a luminous quality. Burnished colored pencil works have been compared to oil paintings in appearance.
This is a fascinating technique to explore. One color can be burnished directly on the surface of the paper for a vivid, rich hue. Colors may also be applied softly together, then burnished over with another shade for great blending effects—like mixing paint, except for the fact that it’s dry! White has ever been a popular choice for burnishing—it will blend the base colors together, while lending a slight pastel tint to the work.
In this detail from my drawing, you can see the effect of burnishing with colors. On the left, I burnished Prismacolor Burnt Ochre directly on smooth Bristol paper. The figure was drawn with the same color, not burnished. On the right, I used Prismacolor Indigo Blue, not burnished. The dark color in the middle was created by burnishing the Burnt Ochre over the Blue.
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A third and popular technique is to preserve the base colors by burnishing with a colorless blender. This is technically a “clear” pencil, available in most colored pencil brands. I’ve found that the blender is not usually free of color, for it has a slight creamy tint to it; but for the most part, it’s a great way to polish and blend colors without altering them. Do you remember “painting with water” coloring books from your childhood? Lines of color were pre-printed on the page, and could be blended with a wet paintbrush. Burnishing with a colorless blender always reminds me of those books. By softly swirling two or three colors onto textured paper, then burnishing over them with a colorless blender, vivid colors will magically appear.
In this Work In Progress, I lightly blended several colors on Vellum Bristol for the wall and tuxedo. Solid colors were laid down for the curtain, dress, and floor. I burnished the dress with white, and the rest with a colorless blender. I then added highlights to the tuxedo with white, and tinted them with other colors.
Paper choice also affects the burnishing results. A smooth paper will burnish well, but the work won’t have the vivid color that a more textured paper can produce. The deep crevices in textured paper fill up with pencil color, so that by the time the final burnishing is applied, there are many layers of color for light to play through.
And that’s another important point—burnishing is best done as the final step in the artwork. The smooth, waxy surface that is produced will not accept another layer of pencil very easily. A soft pencil in a light shade, such as white, can sometimes be applied over a burnished layer, then tinted with other colors—but that’s dancing on the precipice of muddiness. The best route is to experiment and learn how to plan ahead to your final colors—build them up one by one, then bring them to life at the last minute.
Once a burnished colored pencil work is completed, it’s best to lightly spray it with fixative—but the reason behind that is a subject for another day...
Images and Text © 2007 Christine Taylor, all Rights Reserved
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