
These words are used interchangeably, but while they’re done at the same time, they aren’t the same thing.
Basic layering means working with soft and even pressure from the start to fill an area with colour. Then going over and over the area with additional layers of increasing pressure until you have ‘layered up’ enough fully cover the texture of the paper with a smooth and consistent flat colour.

More advanced layering is the same principle, but you’re introducing other colours by sandwiching them in between. Because colour pencils are a semi-transparent medium it is possible to adjust and shift the overall colour of an area. The more layers of one colour you use, the more of that colour will show through. This is colour-mixing and a great way to change or shade or lighten a colour.

Blending is different. Whereas layering is putting colours on top of each other sandwiching and squashing them together to make a new colour, blending is the joining of one area of layered colour to the one next to it. It needs to be done in combination with and at the same time as the layering process, but there will be a clear but gradual movement from one colour into another colour.
Successful blending, especially for realism, can take a long time and a lot of colour additions. What you see here is simplistic with only two colours. Imagine all the colours and blending needed for a face!

Techniques vary, but the goal is always to create a seamless join, a gradual transition. Many colour pencil artists make use of additional tools to help. Wet blending options such as Odourless Mineral Spirits (OMS), blender pens, even alcohol marker blenders can be used to move the pigment about on the page a little. Dry blender pencils rely on a colourless core made from the binder medium to squash and push the lower layers of pigment about. Blending stumps and paint brushes are also used. As with any tools, they need practice, but the more pigment you have on the page, the better the result.
TIP: The most common layering technique for ensuring nice even coverage and gradual blends is to use oval motions that gently rise and fall without any hard stops and starts. The ovals should sit tightly together like a coiled spring, with an even pressure throughout and no scribbling.
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