Have you tried odorless mineral spirits like Gamsol or Mona Lisa odorless paint thinner to blend your colored pencil and they came out grainy, blotchy or streaky? I’ve got the solution to your problem!
Teresa sent me some of her work to demonstrate the problems she has been having in getting Odorless Mineral Spirits (OMS) to blend her colored pencils. The first thing I noticed was the paper towels being used to dry the OMS from the brush. When using OMS you don’t want to use your regular kitchen paper towel brand like Bounty. They are too papery. Instead, either use VIVA paper towels or an old tshirt as a rag.
Onto the actual blending, the problem Teresa is having is very common. There isn’t enough colored pencil pigment on the paper for the OMS to work with. If you don’t have enough pigment on the paper, the end result is a grainy gritty look, not the soft smooth look we’re going for. Watch this video to see exactly how to fix this!
