COLORED PENCIL ILLUSTRATION 

Instructor: Sam Alden 

Max: 20 Students

March 7th, 2025 / 1:30-5:30pm (including a 15 min. break)

(Please arrive 20 minutes early. Parking is ample and easy. )

Colored pencils are a versatile and evocative media for both beginning and professional drawers. In this class professional illustrator and cartoonist Sam Alden will explain how they use both pencil and colored pencil for their work.  

The class will cover color, materials, shading and blending techniques, and the unique properties of colored pencils. We’ll explore how to use color within a composition to produce emotional effects, and how to develop and iterate on an idea for an illustration from start to finish. 

Students will participate in brainstorming and drawing exercises that will allow them to practice and utilize techniques taught in class, and will leave class with a finished illustration.

No experience necessary. All levels welcome!

Sam Alden is an illustrator whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, BOMB Magazine, Hazlitt, McSweeney’s, Juxtapoz, ProPublica, Slate, Cicada, and others. 

THE WORKSHOP WILL INCLUDE:

INTRODUCTION (30 min)

Instructor and class introductions as well as a short drawing exercise to warm up.

DEMO OF SAM’S PROCESS (30 min)

Presentation of Sam’s personal process of creating an illustration from start to finish. We begin with brainstorming, iterating on an idea, developing a thumbnail, moving to lineart, and finally completing a finished illustration. 

ILLUSTRATING WITH COLORED PENCILS (45 min)

We look at illustration principles generally and working with colored pencils specifically, including an overall breakdown of how to use composition, color, construction, environment, line, and technique to achieve various effects. Students will be assigned a short exercise to practice the principles discussed.

—- BREAK —- (15 min)

PART ONE: DEVELOPING AN ILLUSTRATION (30 min)

Following a prompt from the instructor, students will begin preliminary work on an illustration, developing sketches and color studies.

PART TWO: LINEART (35 min)

Building on the previous sketch exercise, students will construct a solid lineart pass of their illustration. Instructor circulates and provides hands-on individual feedback. 

PART FOUR: FINISHING (45+ min)

Using the techniques discussed in-class, students will use colored pencils to finalize their illustrations. At the end of class students are welcome to participate in an optional show-and-tell.

Q&A (10 min)

Students are welcome to ask questions based on what we covered in class today or specific to their own personal projects.

RECOMMENDED MATERIALS

Colored pencils, graphite pencils, an eraser and appropriate paper will be very helpful for this workshop. If you have a portable light table or tablet that’s also a great boon, but not required at all!

CANCELLATION POLICY:

If you need to cancel, please do so at least 3 days before the workshop. No refunds shorter than 3 days before class. If you cancel within a week, you are entitled to a full refund minus $25.