Coloured Pencil Societies

One of the aims of this journal is to provide information about painting and drawing resources and related organisations to people who are interested in the type of artwork I produce. I've got a lot of benefit from the links I've made over the year - and it only seems fair to share.........

This entry focuses on Coloured Pencil Societies.

The use of coloured pencils as an artistic medium is relatively recent in the fine art world, although they have been used for some time by illustrators. The dominant use of coloured pencils by illustrators caused concerns about the permanence of the pigment (not required by illustrators), although these concerns are now being overcome largely due to the good work of the two main colour pencil societies and the manufacturers who have responded to expressed concerns.

I'm including links within the painting and drawing resources section to the two main societies associated with coloured pencil. Both provide a lot of information about and support for artists using coloured pencil. Both are also a source of a lot of technical information - with UKCPS probably being a bit better when it comes to sharing this with non-members.

The United Kingdom Coloured Pencil Society was founded with two main aims in mind - to promote coloured pencils as a fine art medium, and to support UK based artists who use, or wish to use, coloured pencils, in any way. On its website are examples of what can be done with coloured pencils, links to artists who use them, details of upcoming events and exhibitions which promote this medium and a lot of helpful technical information. Artists who are members can have a gallery page on their website (this is mine), receive a quarterly newsletter and can submit their work to annual exhibitions held by the society.

The UKCPS has a section which provides information for artists using coloured pencils. This includes step-by-step lessons, tips and articles on techniques and information on useful tools and support media.

The Coloured Pencil Society of America is a non-profit organization founded in 1990. It is exclusively dedicated to artists working with colored pencil and has more than 1600 members in sixteen countries. It has an annual International Exhibition & Convention and provides product research information, workshops & seminars, a newsletter, a networking directory and district chapters across the United States.

CPSA publishes a useful list of books and articles about Coloured Pencil in pdf format