I love working in pencil and color pencils. My upcoming illustration goes with the August Teen page which will publish Aug. 2 in the York Daily Record was created using pencil and color pencils.
I first drew my illustration in pencil using varying leads, my favorite lead is the H pencil for laying down a preliminary sketch. I use Staedtler pencils. I then like to use HB and 2B to add shading and detail.
Here's the pencil sketch before I added color
Next, I used Prismacolor Verithin color pencils to add color. Sometimes I'll take a pencil sketch and color it in Adobe Photoshop. This time I completed my illustration the old-fashion way. I used Pigma Micron pens to outline my illustration. I use the 08 pen for the outer thick lines and then used a 01 for the thin lines and to add shading on the illustration.
To sharpen my color pencils I only use a hand-held sharpener. DO NOT use automatic sharpeners for color pencils, they break the soft lead of color pencils and most automatic sharperners even warn against using color pencils in them.
The sharpener I use is Prismacolor Premier Pencil Sharpener. I love this sharpener because it gives me a really sharp point.
TIPS:
• Don't drop or bang you color pencils because it can break the shaft of the color pencil.
• If you are drawing and coloring on a sketch pad and can't seem to get dark vivid colors, take your paper off and draw on a hard surface. You will get more saturated colors that way.
The soft surface of your sketch pad won't let you get concentrated colors, even when you press hard.
I use a 15 x 16 Blick Sketch Pad Board that I purchased when I was in art school. They come in varying sizes, but this one is very easy to carry. 
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