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Saw this topic raised briefly in another post and wanted to get some definitive information on it. Edge highlighting tends to be "risky" since it's easy to make a mistake.

Has anyone actually used a colored pencil to do edge highlights? Does that method work? I imagine a matte varnish would be in order afterwards as someone else pointed out that the pencil will rub off.

I'm painting up some ultramarines and would be looking for a light blue/white pencil.

Any insight/tips would be greatly appreciated!

never tried this myself, but can imagine it will work okay if you have the right kind of pencils. Theres a lot of kinds of pencil out there tbh.
Might be worth matt varnishing before and after applying the pencil?

I've done this for rust - I've used an orange colored pencil to highlight panel lines - but have not for the manner in which you describe. I'm fascinated by the idea.

I have indeed tried it as an experiment, recently. I had a basecoated terminator (ultramarines) sitting around and tried highlighting it with light blue. Results were pretty promising.

Upsides.

- It was -hilariously- easy to get the pencil exactly where you want it on the edge. All of the guesswork just goes away. Perfect lines.
- If you mess up, no big deal, a little rubbing with a finger takes it right off.
- You can use it to get an easy drybrushing effect. The back of terminator boots have a little grill on them. Just running a colored pencil over it leaves a very pleasing highlight. I suspect you can do a lot here.


Downsides.

- The lines are almost too thin. The edge you get is just super duper high-res. You need to really work it around to get a visible highlight.
- As pointed out in the other thread, you definitely need to varnish afterwards, or they'll just rub off.
- If you're too vigorous you can rub paint off. I would recommend a coat of varnish before using the pencil (as well as after).

I intend to use this as my highlighting technique going forward. Instead of dreading that step I can approach it happily

I started that thread about the oil based edge highlights because I figured that might be one step better. Paint definitely gives you a much more visible line (takes a good deal of work with the pencil). And with the trivial-to-erase effect you get with the spirit/oil mix you never have to worry about jittering just a tad and ruining a whole model.

For reference, this came from watching Our Lord And Savior Buypainted doing some washes. You watch him wash things up and you're like "oh, that's like the crap results I get. wtf?". Then 60 seconds later your brain literally explodes when you see what he does next. So easy a caveman-could-do-it kind of technique. Pulled back the curtains on some of those ultraclean looking GW models for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL4sEryds4XKUQALMW2TFg_6C-3DFeFMfB&v=iWCGNhdAmo0&feature=player_detailpage&t=305

Fantastic feedback, guys, Thanks! I'll look for the appropriate pencils tomorrow. I'm painting Ultramarines, so a light blue or preferrably white color is in order. I imagine a "softer" pencil would be best, but not sure if they sell colored pencils according to hardness like they do regular graphit pencils.

I intend to use this as my highlighting technique going forward. Instead of dreading that step I can approach it happily

My thoughts exactly! Lining is usually the step where I have to get my pot of dark paint out again and fix mistakes

I would recommend a coat of varnish before using the pencil (as well as after).

I'll be picking up some matte varnish tomorrow. Good idea!

I'm fascinated by the idea.

I'll post up a picture when it's done to show off how well it works (or fails, haha)

Yeah, the main issue is getting something that's really visible. As you press harder you end up getting a crumbly/chalky trim on the line. But if you try and brush that away with your finger you wipe the whole line. I've had some success using a very light fan brush instead. I suspect there's some kind of very soft/fancy colored pencils that would do a better job here. I just had a crappy Hobby Lobby job.

Heck, now that I think about it, I wonder if Crayons would work.

Heck, now that I think about it, I wonder if Crayons would work.

This is an interesting idea. Looks like I'll be picking up some Crayola's tomorrow as well. We have a Michael's nearby, perhaps they sell some fancy pencils.

I'll definitely report in on how crayons work. That could end up being a thread of its own methinks!

If you go to an artist supply shop, they will likely have a massive range of pencils, brands and types
Theres a lot of different kinds of pencil lead to choose from, if theyre nice people they might let you test drive one on a scrap of paper... or a model you have in your pocket

Edit
If you can find oil pastels in pencil form I think that might be the winner.

just tried it on the mouth-grills on some old Rangers - stupidly easy. I'm now wondering about using pencils for lots of fine freehand stuff...
I've got Faber-Castell pencils which are (very) good quality - the better the coloured pencil, the softer the lead (and the easier it is to transfer the pigment to paper when doing an illustration), so it might be worth investing in good quality pencils rather than cheaper ones (as they'll have harder leads).

Anyone tried water colour pencils? (pretty much a stick of water colour in a pencil - My college was really keen on them in art class)
Theyre pretty soft and could be further blended (or mixed) with water and a brush before being sealed in with varnish.

I doubt water colour pencils would be good for highlighting, but they could be quite interesting when used with washes.

I use water colour pencils & they work just fine as the leads are soft. You do have to varnish them (by spray) of course.

Not exactly on topic, but have you folks also tried a black/dark micron pen in the recesses? It doesn't do it exactly like I'd like, but its also super easy.

One of those ideas that's so simple yet effective it has you wondering why you never thought of it...

 GrimDork wrote:
Not exactly on topic, but have you folks also tried a black/dark micron pen in the recesses? It doesn't do it exactly like I'd like, but its also super easy.

They're very handy. I've seen good results using them in recesses on some models, but I always end up slipping when I try it. Instead I use them to do text on scrolls, purity seals, etc.

Kinda on topic as well, iv seen regular pencils being used to weather and chip the edges on vehicles with very cool results (i think it was in the IA master class book)

i will have to try this pencil idea.

I got mine for purity seals too, the other thing came later. I like any technique that isn't related to paint brushes... we just don't get along so well :p