UKCPS - Bob Ebdon

Blending by Bob Ebdon	Blending is a key skill for the cp artist. Many artists rely on using a very light touch, and putting many layers of pencil one on top of another. As long as this is done smoothly, the eye will blend the final result into one homogeneous colour or gradation of colour and you need do no blending at all. If you do want to help this process along - like, maybe you are NOT Ann Kullberg - then you could use one of many aids listed below
	1. First are the blender pencils. These are pencils with wax only, no pigment. Prismacolor make one of these, but it is only available in the USA, I believe. If you are lucky enough to be able to get this, it works really well.

	2. The British equivalent is the Lyra Splender Blender. This is readily available, in many art shops and through the Great Art catalogue – 0845 6015772. It, just like the Prismacolor blender, works best when slightly blunt, which makes a change. Some artists use this as their final layer, blending eveything they have put down. Both of these pencils work very well, but need a bit of elbow grease - beware Repetitive Strain Injury!

	3. Prismacolor also make a solvent based pen, easily available in USA and rare examples have been seen over here. It has a spade tip and a very fine tip. The problem is the tip becomes discoloured easily, and is hard to clean off. The solvent is also not pleasant.

	4. A simple answer is the torchon (tortillon, stump) which is basically just rolled up cardboard, and you can make your own very easily. It blends not very well, it needs a lot of work, and it also removes a lot of pigment—I do not use it very often. These are readily available from many art shops or most catalogues.

	5. Finally, I have shown some blending with a solvent. I used Zest-it! Available from www.zest-it.com, tel. 0207 2720567, or some mail order catalogues (I believe Great Art are considering stocking it). I apply this with a cotton bud. It can also be used to dissolve and fix pastels, but it was originally “invented” to clean brushes from oil painting. It is citrus based, smells OK and is non-toxic. Stop Press: Jacqui Blackman, who markets Zest-it, is bringing out a new package called 'Zest-It Pencil Blend'.This is the same solvent, but in a smaller bottle and easier to dispense. This should be available in the shops from Jan 2006, or can be found at special offer on Jaqui's own website - www.jacquiblackman.co.uk.
	Stop Press : August 2007: Derwent have produced their own Blender pencil which is excellent. They also have a harder formulation 'blender' which they call a Burnisher. This is not what I call burnishing ( see Burnishing ) but is still a very useful pencil.