QUICK ANSWER
Using colored pencil “professionally” means three things, and only one of them is technique. Permanence: choosing pencils rated lightfast under the U.S. standard for artists’ colored pencils (ASTM D6901, where only categories I and II qualify) and papers that hold up. Process: building color in many light layers, controlling the paper’s tooth, and finishing deliberately with burnishing or solvent rather than by accident. Purpose: using what the medium does well — transparent, optical color mixing and precise line — instead of spending a hundred hours copying a photograph.
For art school applicants that last point matters most. Admissions reviewers look for observation and ideas, several schools require drawings made from life, and portfolio upload limits (SlideRoom resizes images above 1,280 pixels; SAIC caps images at 600 pixels) can erase the fine texture colored pencil work depends on. A professional piece is one that still makes its point at that size.
Colored pencil is one of the most common media in student portfolios and one of the most misjudged. Because it offers so much control, it rewards patience with smooth gradients and convincing surfaces — and tempts students into long, careful copies that show endurance more than thinking. Used well, it is a serious drawing medium with its own standards, its own technical vocabulary and a distinct look that paint cannot reproduce.
This guide covers the standards that separate professional work from hobby work, the technique behind them, and how to make colored pencil pieces that do their job in an art school application.
LAYER 1
What “Professional” Actually Means
| Standard | Hobby practice | Professional practice |
|---|---|---|
| Permanence | Whatever pencils are in the set; color fades unnoticed | Pencils checked for lightfastness ratings; fugitive colors avoided or used knowingly |
| Surface | Paper chosen by habit; tooth fills up early | Paper chosen for the number of layers the piece needs; tooth managed from the start |
| Process | Heavy pressure early; colors mixed by trial and error | Light layers, planned color order, burnishing or solvent reserved for finishing |
| Purpose | Maximum realism as the goal | The medium’s strengths — layered transparency, precise line — chosen for what the image needs |
Our framework for evaluating colored pencil work in portfolio reviews.
None of these require expensive tools in themselves. A student with a modest but lightfast palette and a clear process will produce more professional work than one with a large set used without a plan.
LAYER 2
Permanence: Lightfastness and the ASTM Standard
Colored pencils contain pigment in a binder, and some pigments fade with light exposure. For artists’ colored pencils there is a dedicated U.S. standard, ASTM D6901 (“Standard Specification for Artists’ Colored Pencils”), developed with ASTM International, pencil manufacturers and conservators, with the participation of the Colored Pencil Society of America, and first published in 2003. It tests pencils with both sunlight and xenon-arc exposure and sorts colors into five lightfastness categories.
| Category | Meaning | Practical use |
|---|---|---|
| I | Highest lightfastness | Safe for work meant to be exhibited or sold |
| II | Very good lightfastness | Also qualifies under the standard |
| III–IV | Fades noticeably over time | Studies, sketchbooks, work kept out of light |
| V | Fugitive — not lightfast | Avoid for finished work |
Only pencils rated I or II can be labeled as complying with ASTM D6901, and a whole line must meet that level to carry the label. Compliance is voluntary, so many brands publish their own ratings instead — check the manufacturer’s color chart.
For an application portfolio, fading is not an immediate problem — reviewers see photographs. But permanence is a habit worth building early, especially for students heading toward illustration, fine art or commissions, where originals are sold or exhibited.
LAYER 3
Materials: Binder and Paper Decide the Process
The biggest difference between professional pencils is the binder. It determines how the pencil layers, blends and finishes.
| Binder type | How it behaves | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Wax-based | Soft and creamy; blends and burnishes easily; lays down color quickly | Wax bloom — a cloudy film that can rise on heavily worked areas; fixative reduces it |
| Oil-based | Harder lead holds a sharp point; layers cleanly with less bloom | Builds color more slowly; needs more layers for deep darks |
| Water-soluble | Can be activated with water for washes, then drawn over | Behaves like watercolor when wet; paper must handle moisture |
Most professional ranges fall into one of these families. Mixing brands with different binders in one piece is common and workable once you know how each behaves.
Paper matters as much. A smooth surface such as plate Bristol gives crisp detail but fills up after a few layers. A paper with more tooth accepts more layers and softer transitions. Sanded papers accept the most layers of all and change the look of the medium toward pastel. Choose the paper for the piece: a small, precise botanical study and a large, layered portrait need different surfaces.
LAYER 4
Process: Layers, Pressure and Finishing
- Start light. Early layers use gentle pressure so the paper’s tooth stays open for later color. Heavy pressure at the start is the most common reason a drawing becomes impossible to adjust.
- Plan the color order. Colored pencil mixes optically, so underlayers show through. Many artists lay complementary or neutral colors under shadows, then build local color on top, rather than reaching for black.
- Protect your lights. White pencil cannot fully restore a lost highlight. Reserve light areas from the start, or use impressed lines — indenting the paper with a stylus before coloring — for fine light details such as hair or texture.
- Finish deliberately. Burnishing (heavy pressure, often with a colorless blender or light pencil) produces a smooth, polished surface but closes the tooth, so it belongs at the end. Solvent blending with odorless mineral spirits dissolves the binder for painterly passages; use it with good ventilation and on paper that can take it.
- Fix and protect. On wax-based work, a light fixative reduces bloom. Store finished work flat and away from direct light.
The same discipline applies to value. If a piece does not read in grayscale, more color will not save it — practice with monochrome studies and controlled palettes such as analogous schemes pays off directly in colored pencil.
LAYER 5
The Admissions Trap: Hours Are Not the Point
Every year, reviewers see beautifully rendered colored pencil copies of photographs — a face, a glass of water, a pet — that took weeks. They demonstrate patience, but they rarely show how the applicant sees or thinks, and several schools now ask explicitly for drawing from life.
| School | What it asks about observation |
|---|---|
| Pratt | 3–5 drawings from direct observation of 3D subjects, made within the last 18 months |
| SVA | At least 3 pieces made from direct observation, not from a photograph or screen |
| RISD | Strongly recommends work from direct observation rather than from imagination, photographs or video |
Requirements as published for the current cycle; see our portfolio piece-count guide for full numbers by school.
Colored pencil is an excellent observational medium: portable, quick to start and precise. Use it that way. A series of drawings made from life — a still life under changing light, a room at different times of day, people in a café — shows observation, decision-making and range in a way one photorealistic copy cannot. If you do include a long rendered piece, show its process: process work turns hours into evidence of thinking.
LAYER 6
Photographing Colored Pencil for a Portfolio
Colored pencil is unusually hard to document. Burnished wax reflects light, fine layering disappears in compressed files, and the medium’s subtle color shifts are the first thing lost on screen.
| Problem | Fix |
|---|---|
| Glare on burnished areas | Use soft, even light from two sides at an angle; avoid on-camera flash. A flatbed scan often captures colored pencil better than a photo. |
| Color shifts | Shoot or scan with a neutral gray reference and correct white balance; compare the file with the original before uploading. |
| Detail lost at upload size | SlideRoom resizes images larger than 1,280 × 1,280 pixels; SAIC limits images to 600 pixels. Check how each piece reads at the size reviewers will see. |
| Texture invisible at small size | Add one detail crop of a key area if the school allows extra images, so the surface quality is visible. |
Upload limits from SlideRoom’s published specifications and SAIC’s application requirements.
The size test is worth taking seriously. A piece whose impact depends entirely on microscopic texture will look flat at 600 pixels. One built on strong composition and value structure survives the reduction — another reason to treat colored pencil as drawing first and rendering second.
LAYER 7
Korean Students and Colored Pencil
Students who come from Korean academy training usually arrive with excellent control: smooth gradations, clean edges, convincing surfaces. That is a real asset. The risk is sameness — technically strong pieces that look like many other strong pieces, because they were made to the same standard of polish.
The adjustment we see work best is to keep the control and change the questions. Instead of “how realistic can I make this?”, ask “what can colored pencil show that a photograph cannot?” — layered transparency, a drawing that records time, a sequence of small observations, a mix with other media. Pairing colored pencil with exercises such as blind contour drawing loosens the hand and brings back the sense of looking that polished rendering can bury.
LAYER 8
Where Colored Pencil Is Used Professionally
Outside the classroom, colored pencil appears in illustration — especially children’s books and editorial work, where its warmth and texture are part of the appeal — and in scientific and medical illustration alongside other media. Our guides to becoming a book illustrator and medical illustration programs cover those paths. It is also a recognized fine art medium with its own societies and juried exhibitions, where lightfastness and craft standards are taken seriously.
LAYER 9
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need expensive artist-grade pencils for my portfolio?
You need pencils that layer well and a palette you understand, more than a large or expensive set. A small artist-grade set chosen for lightfastness and blending, plus good paper, will outperform a large student set. Add colors as specific needs appear.
Wax-based or oil-based — which should I choose?
Both are used professionally. Wax-based pencils are softer and blend quickly but can develop wax bloom; oil-based pencils hold a sharper point and layer cleanly but build color more slowly. Many artists use both, often oil-based for detail and wax-based for rich color areas.
Can a portfolio be mostly colored pencil?
It can, if the work shows range in subject, composition and approach and includes drawing from observation. A portfolio where every piece is a polished rendering in the same style tends to read as one idea repeated. Mixing in sketches, process and other media usually strengthens it.
Is photorealism bad in an application?
Not in itself. The problem is photorealism copied from a photograph with no visible idea behind it. A realistic piece drawn from life, or one whose realism serves a clear concept, is a different matter. If you include one, show the process and keep it to a small share of the portfolio.
How long should a colored pencil portfolio piece take?
There is no correct number of hours. A strong observational drawing can take one session; a complex layered piece can take weeks. Judge the piece by what it shows, not by time spent — and remember that several focused drawings from life often say more than one long rendering.
ROYAL BLUE ART & DESIGN
For 19 years we have prepared Korean students for U.S. art school admission from our studio in Apgujeong, Seoul. We help students turn strong technical control into portfolios built on observation and ideas — including how to use media like colored pencil so the work still speaks at the size reviewers actually see. Consultations are available in person or by video.
Lightfastness information from the Colored Pencil Society of America’s summary of ASTM D6901; admissions requirements from Pratt, SVA, RISD and SAIC application pages and SlideRoom’s upload specifications. Verified October 2026. If something here has changed, tell us and we will correct it.
Related reading: Monochrome Studies · Analogous Colors · Encaustic · Gesso a Panel · Mixing Skin Tones