Flat Coloring Is Fine. But These Techniques Make It Sing.
There’s nothing wrong with picking up a pencil and filling in spaces with solid color. That’s how everyone starts. But if you’ve ever looked at a finished page online and thought “how did they make it look like that?” — the answer is technique, not talent.
These five techniques don’t require expensive supplies or years of practice. They require a pencil, some patience, and the willingness to try. Let’s go.
1. Layering (The Foundation of Everything)
Layering is exactly what it sounds like: putting down one color, then another on top. The bottom color shows through the top color, creating a blended effect that’s richer than either color alone.
How to do it:
1. Put down a light layer of your base color. Don’t press hard — you’re building, not filling.
2. Add a second color on top, again with light pressure.
3. The optical mix of the two colors creates a third. Blue over yellow makes green. Red over yellow makes orange.
The key rule: Light pressure. Always. If you press hard on your first layer, the paper’s texture fills up and nothing else will stick. Light layers, built gradually, create depth and richness that a single heavy pass never can.
Works best with: Soft-core pencils like Prismacolor Premier or Arteza Professional. Hard pencils (like standard Crayola) don’t layer as well.
When to use it: Literally always. This is the default technique for coloring anything. Every other technique on this list starts with good layering.
For the full deep dive on layering and blending, our blending and shading guide covers it step by step.
2. Burnishing (For Smooth, Polished Finishes)
Burnishing is layering’s cousin — you build up layers, then press hard on your final pass to “melt” the colors together into a smooth, paint-like sur#face
How to do it:
1. Build up 3-4 light layers of color
2. On your final pass, press firmly with a colorless blender or a light-colored pencil
3. The heavy pressure fills in the paper’s texture, creating a smooth, burnished surface
The result: Colors that look almost painted — no visible pencil strokes, no paper texture showing through.
Works best with: A colorless blender pencil. The Prismacolor Colorless Blender is the standard. You can also burnish with a white or light-colored pencil.
Warning: Burnishing is permanent. Once you’ve pressed hard and filled the paper texture, you can’t add more layers. Always burnish last.
When to use it: When you want a smooth, polished finish on a completed area. Not for areas you’re still working on.
3. Shading (Creating Depth and Dimension)
Shading transforms flat coloring into something that looks three-dimensional. It’s the difference between a circle and a sphere.
How to do it:
1. Decide where your light source is (top-left is standard)
2. The side closest to the light gets your lightest color
3. The side furthest from the light gets your darkest color
4. Blend between them with 2-3 intermediate shades
The simple version: Use three shades of the same color — light, medium, and dark. Color the whole area with light, add medium where shadows fall, add dark at the deepest shadow points. Then blend the transitions with your lightest color.
Works best with: A pencil set that has good color range. Prismacolor is ideal because the soft cores blend so well. Faber-Castell Polychromos are also excellent for precise shading because of their firmer cores.
When to use it: On any 3D object — flowers, leaves, geometric shapes, animals. Even simple shading on a petal makes it pop off the page.
4. Color Lifting (Creating Highlights and Texture)
Color lifting is the opposite of adding color — it’s removing it to create highlights, texture, or a weathered look.
How to do it with a kneaded eraser:
1. Color your area with moderate pressure
2. Press the kneaded eraser onto the colored area and lift
3. The eraser picks up pigment, leaving a lighter spot
4. Repeat to create highlights or texture patterns
How to do it with sticky tac or tape:
1. Apply tape or sticky tac to a colored area
2. Press gently and lift
3. Pigment comes off with the tape, creating a textured or highlighted effect
Works best with: A kneaded eraser — it lifts pigment without damaging the paper. Also works with regular sticky tac or painter’s tape.
When to use it: Creating highlights on shiny objects (water drops, glass, metal), adding texture to surfaces (stone, bark, fabric), or creating a “worn” or vintage look.
5. Stippling (For Texture and Depth Without Blending)
Stippling is making lots of tiny dots with the tip of your pencil. It creates texture and depth without needing smooth blending at all.
How to do it:
1. Use a sharp pencil tip
2. Hold the pencil perpendicular to the paper
3. Make tiny dots close together (dark area) or far apart (light area)
4. Build up density gradually — more dots = darker area
The effect: A textured, pointillist look that’s perfect for natural surfaces — sand, stone, animal fur, bark. It also works beautifully for creating gradient transitions without any blending at all.
Works best with: Any pencil with a sharp point. A Kum sharpener helps maintain that fine tip.
When to use it: For texture, for areas where blending isn’t working, or when you want a different visual effect on the same page. It’s also great for backgrounds — a light stipple pattern in a neutral color is more interesting than a flat wash.
Putting It All Together
The real magic happens when you combine techniques on the same page:
- Layering + shading = realistic, dimensional objects
- Layering + burnishing = smooth, professional finishes
- Shading + stippling = textured, dimensional surfaces
- Color lifting over layered color = realistic highlights and reflections
Don’t try to learn all five at once. Start with layering (it’s the foundation). After 5-10 pages, add shading. Then burnishing. The others will come naturally as you encounter pages where they’d make a difference.
For more technique detail, our blending and shading guide covers layering, burnishing, and solvent blending in depth.
Shop This Guide
- Prismacolor Premier 72-Color Set
- Prismacolor Colorless Blender
- Kum Automatic Long Point Sharpener
- Kneaded Eraser
Final Thought
Technique isn’t about making your coloring look like someone else’s. It’s about having more options. When you know layering, you can choose to layer — or not. When you know burnishing, you can choose to burnish — or not.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s having the tools to express what you see in your head on the page. These five techniques give you those tools. Start with layering, add the rest one at a time, and watch your coloring transform.