I'm a digital artist and I'm always in awe of traditional artists. The patience and precision is incredible.

Decades ago, I discovered that I could go over my Prismacolor colored pencil drawings with a lighter shade of Prismacolor marker to blend colors and to get rid of tiny white dots between strokes of color. Several years later, Prismacolor started selling clear markers for that purpose. They are essentially alcohol in marker form (and much more expensive than using alcohol & a brush.) The markers pick up some of the color, so I used to have one for each basic color. (I added a piece of tape around the barrel of each marker to identity red or blue, etc, so I wasn’t transferring red tones to yellow, for example.) Later Prismacolor made blending pencils that were essentially colorless. One problem with the markers was that, if I hadn’t used them in a while, they tended to dry up. So, I tried putting the markers’ tips in rubbing alcohol so they would soak it up. Later I tried a brush, and voilá, similar results with dollar store alcohol & a bottle cost less than one colorless marker or pencil.

I found this out accidentally. I used an alcohol blender markers. The blenders act like it melts the wax in the media so only pigment is left and if you haven’t burnished you can add more layers on top several more times to add even richer tints, tones, and shades to your work.😊❤

I am today years old after watching this! I am really excited to try this on a picture I am working on right now! 🥰

pretty cool trick,i just want to mention that watercolor pencils exist and are super cool too!

I’ve been using nail polish remover for years dries fast with no odor also only use sanded paper it’s remarkable to work with.

THIS IS AWESOME !!!!! What a great technique and I love the concise way that you explained each step! Thank you.

Provided you use proper pure ethanol or isopropyl alcohol, rather than Smirnoff which is 50% ethanol with other stuff mixed in possibly staining the art work and rendering it non-archival...

Kirsty's videos motivate me to get out of my comfort zone. It makes me think to master a different medium and really explore all there is to art.

Oh my God, you are a hero! THIS is the kind of thing I've been looking for to help me. I tried using coconut oil which does work really well but this might be better. And yes, I was making that mistake you mentioned of not layering enough first. Thank you for this.

So vibrant on finished painting!! Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you

I started watching your videos one year ago and you inspired me. Thanks.Color pencils is my relaxing therapy

I am dying to try this. I just did a color pencil picture yesterday and was disappointed by the graininess of the pencils. So now I'll try this.

Love it that you go straight to the point. I've learn so much.

Me gustó el resultado cuando usas el alcohol encima de los colores. Esto es arte. Me gusta tu trabajo. Muchas gracias por compartir tus conocimientos con toda la comunidad de artistas aficionados. Un saludo desde España.

Excellent advice!! Thank you so much Kirsty! x

I haven't seen any of your videos in such a long time, glad you're still doing great tutorials!

Wow! I love this! I can’t wait to try it!!

I tried using it on mixed media paper. It bled through. Be careful what paper you use, it may ruin work on you.

Fascinating technique! Thanks for showing us. And You do have an extraordinary gift, giving your painting a 3D impression! Wow!

That is so cool. It looks like there's a bit of a learning curve, but I'm thinking that it would save any drawing with a lot of sky background.

Wow what a fabulous detailed video! Thank you!

Thank you for this amazing help ❣

Wow! That was awesome. Great job!

Oh, this is an amazing hack ! Thank you so much !

So cool. I love it. Thanks for sharing and teaching us. ❤

I love your vids kisty they have helped me achieve drawings that are SO good❤ i was wondering how do you store your art?and will you still be doing weekly emails with your course and all?

This is amazing and I am a very new student in watercolor and these pencils have been my inspiration! You have inspired me to try this with my own art! Thank you

Damn, Kirsty really stepped up her editing game since last time I was drawing.

Good job!!!! Very inspiring!!!! Thanks!

Beautiful drawing! Great tip!

Thank you for the very useful tips.

That's gorgeous!!!

Be sure you use the correct alcohol. At least 91%, not 70%.

I’ve been using gamsol for years with this technique

Wow 😳 this is amazing! Good job!!

GREAT TUTORIAL GIRL!!!

That's so amazing!!

Very pretty. The cup looks amazing. I noticed it has a handle. Great!

Thanks for a fantastic method. I found a cottonbud/Qtip worked really well, and I could just rotate it for a clean spot for working on different colours.

I love this! I've always been a better drawer than painter. When using watercolour I've been gravitating more to drawing my picture first then using watercolor. It gives me more control. This would work well for me! Can't wait to try it!

Excellent tutorial. Thanks!

Hi kirsty. I just wanna say that I love watching your videos and you have really inspired me to start drawing and painting again. Also have you tried using pastelmat for the solvent technique with colored pencils?? I tried it recently and I was shocked at how well it worked. It was almost a whole different experience because it made everything so vibrant and smooth and it also took layers like a dream. I think it would be very interesting if you made a video about it

FAB tutorial - gonna try this!!!!

Great tips! Thank You.

Thanks Kirsty yiu just saved me some money! 😊👍🏾❤

I do this but I still use Bristol board and have not had a problem with it. I do have a good amount of layers before I blend with alcohol though.

Amazing! Learn something new everyday!

Cool technique. Can't wait to try it

The image really becomes 3D. Great stuff!

Very useful for colour pencils artists.

Loved this

Could you please do a side-by-side of color pencils versus mineral spirits and alcohol for blending?

These videos are so nice! They teach me things I never would have even thought of! ❤

That is really cool, never would have thought of that

Excellent video!

You can do that or use oils like Vassalin or coconut oil

Beautiful!

Loved the tutorial, so a awesome artist, thank you for the tutorial nice tips ,,looking for for the next tutorial,,, Zoe

Loved your video. I have been hesitant to try it, but you make it seem accessible to me! I am also fascinated with your eraser. What brand is that, please?

Georgeous!!! Im going to do this!!! ❤ The tips are great and you are cheerful, talented, concise and fun to watch!!

The colors are exquisite.

I've written articles 20 years ago on using mineral spirits and a brush or qtip to blend Prismacolor colored pencils. Certain areas like the curls on a head blend better and you don't see all the white spots, larger area use dabbing cotton balls. I've done this with illustrations also that look now more filled in like watercolor or acrylic, but not.

Oooh this is a clever idea! I remember discovering this by accident when using a colorless alcohol blender. Only thing, the color sticks on so you have to swatch the paper a lot to get it off💧 I will try this alcohol technique on my water color pencils ^^ Hope my sanitizer is ok cause that’s all I got lol. It’s the watery kind so it should work fine hopefully ☺

That is pretty cool, thanks.

Isopropyl (rubbing alcohol) has a much different texture from ethanol (drinking alcohol) I would not recommend the ethanol but I’m sure an artist could figure it out. IMPORTANT: alcohol over 95% is extremely hygroscopic basically be aware it will burn a hole through cotton if you get it on any fabrics, in a perfect little square because the way the fibers absorb it. If a drop gets on your cloths you don’t need to wash it just rinse with water, if your throwing a bunch of stuff in the wash it’s fine but rinse right away WITHOUT bleach or detergent first.

Amazing. Thank you.

Great tip!

Amazing 🤩

Great job 👏 👏👏👍❤️🇺🇸. First time seeing this technique. Will be using your tip. Thank you will come check out more of your skills soon. Have a beautiful day

This is a great hack definitely going to try this

😯Incredible!!

Thanks for your tips, Kirsty. Water brushed onto hard pastel marks also seems to produce unexpectedly lovely, smooth color, at least with a good quality hard pastel.

Amazing tutorial.

With Zest-It, please pay attention to GHS warnings and safety instructions, don’t directly breathe it for prolonged periods or put it anywhere close to fire. It is still a solvent, it does burn at 68C and those can’t be put out with water. It’s also very hazardous to aquatic life so dispose of it appropriately and DO NOT pour unused product down the drain. These are chemicals that people shouldn’t necessarily be afraid of but treat them with enough common sense and respect to not hurt themselves or others.

Nice technique 😅❤❤❤❤Kirsty the besty ...you get gorgeous in every video😍

Excellent. Thanks

Thank you!

This was berry nice.

I watercolor and I have some great color pencils and I tried blending with water. It worked, smooth like paint.

Thank YOU!

OMG, this will be perfect for our AA craft nights.

You are a very smart woman Kristy!.♥️

Great technique, I would use a white hair brush you are gonna like that, those are a bit softer so you and really go in soft and rub gently. You can buy then at any house redecoration paint shop. The brushes you use are probably only meant for art paint. though the brushes I mentioned are the same size and there are different kinds too. straight and curved etc.. You can also buy a soft brush of 16cm diameter and roll some tape on it to make the brush tight, this results in a stamp like brush which can be used with paper, decorative cuts and you then gently stamp some paint on the cut out arreas of the paper, be creative. It also think that treating the finished art with nitro celluose transparant laquer (satin) will greatly enhance the perception of the piece!

Magical❤

Im gonna try this with graphite and see if it smoothes out the shading

If your using polychromos you can use white spirit or oderless thinner for the same effect :)

Woow i like your videos and I like your art ❤

Hey kirsty partridge how are you? I’m really stressed of how to draw realistic shapes using charcoal pencil and it’s not getting the result I’m wanting . I’m using strathmore charcoal paper . Is that paper good for charcoal ?

This also works even better with pastels because they are softer than pencils and not waxy.

Very good info

Have you ever used clear gesso after blending the background to give the paper more "tooth" and allow adding more layers of pencil? Would you reccommend this technique?

Such a juicy picture!!! I really need to try this alcohol technique!!!

I honestly just clicked on the vid because I thought you were gonna dunk alcohol on some pencils and it was gonna look really cool and satisfying. Instead I got a really nice explanation of an amazing hack to elevate art made with coloured pencil. That's pretty nice. I'll use that. So Thanks.

Nice. I’ve been going out my head because highlighting ontop of my original drawing just don’t work. Thank you 🙏

This is a great idea. I never thought of doing this. Great job.

Thank you

This is such a cool idea, I definitely want to try it 😍

Love from India 🇮🇳💞

Is there other ways to getting the same result without using alcohol