I've been working on my free downloadable art piece for my October newsletter. (If you'd like to subscribe, just e-mail me at kspoole@hughes.net. In addition to the free downloadable art, the newsletter contains a discount coupon for my Etsy shop, thefoxesgarden, and behind-the-scenes, in-the-spotlight, and in-the-pipeline articles. I don't share your information with anyone, and you can unsubscribe at any time.) I began with the drawing, which I was happy with pretty quickly.
But it went downhill from there! I was not feeling confident in my ability to paint. So I made the - bad - choice of starting with colored pencils. But since I was working on Strathmore Mixed Media paper which has some texture to it, it was impossible for me to get good darks. So then I added acrylic washes, and had trouble with getting those smooth.
It finally occurred to me that the problem was the surface. Because of the textured paper, part had colored pencil and part did not. So the wash wouldn't go on smooth. I sprayed the piece with workable fixatif then applied a layer of Liquitex Matte Medium. At that point, the washes went on much more easily.
I continued to have trouble getting the piece dark enough. The "finished" piece is above, but I may add another wash to darken it more. We'll see.
All in all, a cute design, but not very well executed. Disappointing.
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