Colored Pencil Defined

Colored pencil is most easily defined by the very word “pencil.” The proliferation of new art materials, however, can make it difficult to determine exactly which products are truly colored pencils. The deciding factor is the medium’s physical appearance as a pencil or stick rather than the technique used for application.

Since products such as liquid highlighting, solid pigment in pans and dry, powdered pigment (any loose pigment not bound by any binding agent including Brush & Pencil titanium white powder) are not in pencil form, they do not meet the CPSA definition of colored pencil. The issue is that these products REQUIRE a brush or some other technique to apply the pigment onto the surface—pencils and sticks do not.

Another consideration is the nature of the color-producing material the medium contains. The part of the colored pencil that applies color onto a surface consists of pigments and/or coloring agents combined with a binder (wax, oil, water-soluble gum, or combinations thereof) and other additives. It is the ratio of binder to pigment that matters here. The medium of colored pencil falls about midway along a continuum of drawing materials that goes from very dry with minimal binder (e.g., soft pastels and pastel pencils) to softer with a higher ratio of binder to pigment (e.g., oil bars, oil pastels, water-soluble paint sticks). Once a product qualifies as a dry drawing material, it must meet three additional requirements to be considered a CPSA-approved colored pencil:

CPSA-approved colored pencil materials must come in a solid, hard, dry form with a pencil-like appearance.

This includes regular wood-cased colored pencils, woodless colored pencils and sticks, and water-soluble pencils and sticks.

The CPSA definition excludes the following:

  • Materials that come in soft, malleable stick form (such as oil bars, oil pastels, encaustics).
  • Solid pigment in pans.
  • Tinted graphite pencils because their main component is graphite.

CPSA-approved colored pencil materials cannot be brushed off.

This requirement excludes materials with minimal or no binders, including soft pastel sticks, pastel pencils, and dry (unbound) pigments. While it is possible (and advisable) to brush off stray crumbs of pigment left behind after applying colored pencil, the colored pencil layer itself remains completely intact and unaffected.

CPSA-approved colored pencil materials must dry completely.

Colored pencils, when used dry and without heat, will deposit one or more cohesive, blended layers of color that are dry to the touch and cannot be easily removed. It is permissible to blend the pigment layer(s) of colored pencils with water or other solvents or with heat, but the colored pencils will once again be completely dry to the touch after the solvents have evaporated or the layers have cooled.

If you have questions about which products you may use, please refer to the list of acceptable products for CPSA exhibitions.