Trying a New Medium

A couple of years ago I bought a full set of Polychromos colored pencils and the matching full set of watercolor pencils.  I've used the colored pencils and like them, but hadn't so far tried the watercolor pencils.  I bought both sets after a trip to a trade show in Anaheim where I tried the watercolor pencils and liked them.  But I just hadn't gotten around to ueing them here at home.  So, since I am taking a break from the pastel animal paintings, it seemed like a good time to unwind with something new.

So here's my Chipping Sparrow on a branch of peach blossoms.  This painting is small, abut 6 1/2" by 8 1/2" the way I cropped it in the photo.

I worked pretty tentatively, working a small area of one color at a time and dampening it immediately afterward with a brush loaded with clean water.  I also went light with the pencils because I'm not experienced with them to know how the colors would brighten with water.  As it turns out, some brighten quite a bit and others not very much.  No surprise there, I guess.

One of the big draws for me about these watercolor pencils was that the product literature said that once the dampened color dried it would not move again with water.  Hence, layer after layer should be possible.  This may be true of other watercolor pencils as well, but these are the only ones I'm familiar with.

The pencils sharpen to a very fine point so thin lines are quite possible.  I found that if I dampened them with not much water the lines didn't dissolve much.  So I could get quite a bit of texture on the bird's breast.

After a while, it struck me that working with these pencils is, in a way, like china painting.  The layers are transparent and don't move once they're "set" either by firing (china paints) or letting them dry.  Once I had the china painting mind-set, things seemed to progress more smoothly.

Before I began "painting" I put in the eye with permanent ink.  And once I finished "painting" I added a few touches of a very fine felt tip pen with dark sepia ink.  I also added broad strokes of iridescent gold and red watercolor coming in from the edges and ending unevenly partway into the image.  You can see some of the iridescence in the upper left corner.  I used Daniel Smith watercolors which I really like.

By the way, I used Canson Coventry Rag paper - very nice.  After I had begin adding color glazes to the background, I ran a very light line of graphit pencil to indicate the outer edges of the images.  I carefully erased these lines once they had served their purpose, but I see that the show a little in the photo.  I think the pencil lead must have slightly incised the paper and that's what I'm seeing.  So perhaps next time I'll tape some paper strips to mark the edges instead.

Where Did All the Pastels Go?

When I got back to work this afternoon after yesterday's session I was surprised at how dull the painting seemed.  I distinctly remember putting what I thought was quite a bit of value contrast in the fur yesterday using my Rembrandt pastels.  But it seemed like the velour paper had just inhaled them!  Shelley has commented on this unfortunate phenomenon with her paintings but I hadn't really noticed it until how.

So I began by once again strengthening the darks and lights. 

When I was observing this painting last night I realized that I needed more color in it - specifically, little Sparkle is quite orange!  I used three frighteningly bright oranges today, but in small amounts they're good - not shocking. 

The tail needed more work as well.  I used pastels on their side to give a light wash over the outer colored bands on the tail.  Each of the long tail hairs is banded with black at the tip and gold in the middle, giving the tail this beautiful appearance.  The hairs are slightly wavy and so they catch the light giving a sparkly effect.  I have tried to capture this and hope I have succeeded. 

I would like the pattern in the clouds to show a bit more and to do that I'll have to add more darks. 

As I look at the painting now, I see that the upper part of the back of the neck (behind the ear) needs to be darker.  I would also like to darken the upper right portion of the sky but I don't think I'll be able to without endangering the tail.

So it looks like I have one more short session on Sparkle.  She's been fun to paint.  I sure hope she's still alive and well.

More Work on Sparkle

As I continued with Sparkle, I knew I needed to get the sky in before I could work on her tail.  So that's the first thing I tackled.  I began with NuPastels.  Initially, I had the bottom quite dark with layers of dark teal, purple, and gray.  The center part of the sky was a pale turquoise and the top part regular old sky blue.

I liked the idea of clouds forming at the bottom, that is, in the distance, but I didn't like how dark I had it so I lightened it with light gray.  From there I swtiched to my Rembrandts and softened and blended the blues.  Finally, I went back to the NuPastels and tentatively added some clouds at the bottom with a very light gray and white.  The bottom of the sky needs lots more work, but at this point I thought I had plenty of pigment on the top of the sky and knew I could continue with the bottom later, so I turned to Sparkle.

Beginning to put her tail in was great fun.  I thought it was important to capture some of the glimmer so about half my strokes are broken strokes.

On her face and body, I worked with pastel pencil, NuPastel, and even some Rembrandt trying to get the right colors.  I'm pretty happy with the color on the face but the correct color for the back still eludes me.  It needs some brown and orange, but also has a gray cast.  At this point, I have three layers on the back, each of them textured with two different colors.  I think I'm closing in on the base color, and here's where I'll pick up with it tomorrow.

I wish I had more space on the left of the paper because I'd like to see Sparkle more off-center to the right.  I may end up cropping the right edge.  But I'll keep working on the whole image as I've begun it.  Actually, I think a really good shape for this piece would be low and wide.  Darn - too late for that!

It's so helpful looking at a photo rather than the actualy piece because I see new things.  What I see now is that I'd like to enlarge the post to the right.  I like the look of her but haning over the back but I think I can preserve that look while adding to the right side of the post and curving the top edge so it looks more round.  So far, so good, I think.

Sparkle Returns

This is my second painting of our beloved tame fox squirrel, Sparkle.  And I hope she will return in real life as she is returning on paper.  She was badly wounded last fall in some sort of incident, losing two fingers on her front right paw and getting a big nasty gash on her neck.  The last time we saw her she looked otherwise healty - plump and her fur had a nice sheen.  But it's been a long time since we've seen her, perhaps as long as two months.  I'm hoping that she's holed up with babies, but there are other very unhappy scenarios and we just don't know.  So, for now at least, I must be content with remembering her.

I took these photos of her back in July of 2009.  Shelley and I were working in the garden and Sparkle came over to beg a treat.  Then she sat on top of this fence post watching us and enjoying her nuts.  I got several good photos of her.  The sun was behind her and lit up her tail gloriously.  The photo I am working from for this one is badly blurred.  But I can pick out enough information about the pose then fill in details from referencing the other photos I took that day.

So this is part of the first layer.  I'm working on light gray velour paper with pastel pencils.  Last week I got some new pencils I had ordered, Stabilo Carbothello, and they are sufficiently soft to lay down a pretty good amount of pigment on this paper.  As is usual for my first layer, I'm primarily concerned with setting down some base color while preserving my lines.  Her tail is fanned dramatically over her and I can't wait to get to that part.  But first I need to do the sky behind her and I'm trying to think of something a little different than just blue, but something that is still simple.  Since the view in this painting is of such a small area - anything but panoramic - fancy cloud patterns are out.  But I still want something distinctive.  So that's my homework assignment for tonight, then back to Sparkle tomorrow.

By the way, it seems that nice beiges are so hard to come by in pastels or pastel pencils and it's frustrating.

My Very Own Cake Shoppe

 

Last week, before I started working on the lamb pastel painting, I didn't have any blog entries.  I wasn't idle - I just wasn't working on what I supposed to be working on.  Here's what was occupying my attention - making miniature polymer clay cakes.

Each cake is about 1 3/4" in diameter.  The colors are the color of the clay.  The only thing in the cakes that isn't clay are the stems on the strawberries and cherries, which are wire.  The little plates, with the exception of the pink glass plate which is an American Doll accessory, are actually vintage butter pats which I had fun finding in local antique stores or on ebay.

The most fun thing was making the tiny decorations.  The lemon, lime, and kiwi slices are tiny cane slices, about 1/4" across.  The piped frosting was fun too.  After the first few cakes (the bright pink cake, the cake with the chocolate frosting and pecans, and the cake with the "piped" chocolate icing trim and the cherries) I developed a better way to do the frosting trim that actually looks like frosting piped through a star-shaped tip.

My original plan was to make charm bracelets, earrings, and pendants from the individual cake slices, so I cut each cake before I cured it.  But then I liked looking at the cakes so much that I haven't yet done anything with the slices.

As I was varnishing the cured cake slices, my mouth was watering just thinking about enjoying a piece of citrus cake or pineapple upside down cake, or whatever one I was working on at the time.  So I was inspired to make a real cake for Valentine's Day.  Here it is!  Not nearly as pretty as the little polymer clay ones, but a whole lot tastier - a yellow cake with lemon curd filling and buttercream frosting made with real butter!  Yum!

Happy with the Lamb

As I considered this painting last night I identified some changes to make on the lamb.  The indentations on the top of the head were too dak.  As a result, they seemed to suggest a line around the face that almost looked like the lamb had a mask on.  I think the fur on the face is shorter than the surrounding hair causing this look legitimately, but it was too strong.  Also, the left rear foot was too bright and the right front foot was not properly shaded.  I wanted to emphasize the demarcation between the right shoulder and the rest of the body and lighten the fluff on the tail.

When I thought about the possibility of adding a daisy I had to admit to myself what I think I knew all along - that it just wouldn't work.  Visually it would be too startling and emotionally it would be too sweet and cute.  But I wanted somethhing more in the background.  As I continued to look at the painting I noticed some very subtle domed shapes that had just "happened" in the lower right background.  They vaguely reminded me of little domed clumps of wild flowers.  I liked the idea of the domed clumps because they would echo, on a much larger scale, the texture in the wool.

I made the changes to the lamb.  Moving to the background, I very lightly began to suggest clumps with shades of green that were pretty close to the background values, but sufficiently different to model the clumps.  In front of the left front foot I had already added a shape that very strongly suggested a tuft of grass so I went with that idea.  To avoid cutting the painting in half and to integrate the new wildflower element with the lamb I carried it further to the left under the lamb and also put a clump under her right rear foot.  I decided on blue for the flowers and kept the values to a narrow range.  I then added some blue to the lamb's wool for color continuity.

At that point I was pretty happy and ready to put the painting away.  But then Shelley and Barb looked at it and they were both bothered by the unfinished look of the left front foot.  They were right because the foliage in front of it was not sufficiently strong to read as obscuring the foot - it just looked like an unfinished part of the painting.  So I strengthened that foliage, darkened the background behind the foot, and suggested a little of the foot showing between blades of the wild grass.  It's better now.

So I'm ready to put it away and begin the next painting.  I plan to come back to all five paintings before I send in my application and look for more finishing touches or problems that I may see with fresh eyes.  The fact that there is only one clump of grass bothers me a bit and I will revisit that potential problem at that point.

On to the Medium Pastels

Today I proceeded to the medium pastels, my Rembrandts.  I used a Sennelier soft pastel in one place and didn't like it because despite my very light touch it left more pigment than I wanted on the paper.  So after that I stuck to the Rembrandts.

As I looked at this painting on the easel, I was happy with it.  But it looks so dark here.  Maybe it's the photo but I'm not sure.  In any case, I think it needs at least some lighter ares for a better sense of life.

I've kept the background minimal and I'm happy with that.  And rather than obscuring the areas that lie behind straw - such as the bottom edge and her left foot - by adding lots and lots of strokes for straw, I blended the areas into the dark background color then added only a few strokes of straw.  I think I like this better, but it's impossible to say with nothing to compare it too.

So tonight I'll set it up by the TV and take careful stock of it for finishing touches.  I have been considering adding a daisy as a symbol of innocence.  I'll consider this also.  Then hopefully finish tomorrow.