Happy Spring, Everyone!

Tags

colorless blender, Cray-Pas OIl Pastels, crocus, oil pastels, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, Pro-Art Oil Pastels, Spring flowers

Crocus in Oil Pastels

 

The Story Behind the Sketch:

Our Spring flowers have been exceptionally gorgeous this year; I couldn’t stop taking photos of the breath-taking crocus. One I had taken one that was backlit by the sun & had a bit of a sun-flare in it inspired this drawing/painting. Now, I’ll admit that this is much more than a sketch, but I wanted to share it with all of you anyway. I really can’t decide if it’s a drawing or a painting. I’ve been told that  if the entire surface of the substrate is covered, it’s a painting. Still, when you are holding what amounts to a crayon in your hand and making strokes on the paper, isn’t it a drawing?

The Technical Stuff:

In truth, this is a “hybrid”, as I used water-soluble oils, which were spread with a brush after application, and regular oils which were drawn-on. Canson X-L watercolor paper tablet &  Pro Art Oil Pastels, Portfolio Water-soluble Oil Pastels, were the materials. In addition, a Cray-Pas colorless blender, and white, were used.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

I almost threw it out at one point. I thought it was a failure about 30 minutes into it. It looked too “rough” ; I had to stand back 18 feet from it for it not to be confusing to the eye, to have it coalesce into the image I wanted. But I decided to trust myself. I’d pulled other works out of the fire in the past, & if I kept plugging at this one, I’d do the same. With some additional blending with a brush and using the Cray-Pas colorless & their white pastels, the image began to take on the look I wanted. (I did have to walk away & leave it a few times though,  sneaking back into the room to view it to see if it looked any different .  Did I think some art fairies would come in & worked on it while I was away?) Over the course of a few days, I had finally finished it & was satisfied. Sometimes, ya just gotta hang in there.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.

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A Two-handed Approach

Tags

Antietam Farm, barn, canson XL watercolor tablet, farm buildings, graphite, illustration, oil pastels, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, springhouse, wagon shed, Waynesboro PA

wagon shed with vines

The Story Behind the Sketch:

The tendonitis I had quickly developed in my left wrist from over-use, had left me unable to sketch at all for a couple of weeks, –most distresssing!— but with the help of a brace, visualization/relaxation , and careful avoidance of use, I began to feel like I could try it again. 

After a three-week hiatus from painting-out with the group, I was missing my artist buddies. Hauling the chair, table, & other equipment needed for this activity, worked out okay thanks to help from friend George. The group went to the beautiful Antietam Farm outside Waynesboro, which has a delightful assortment of old  buildings including this wagon shed.

The Technical Stuff:

Canson XLwatercolor tablet, Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels, 5B graphite sketch pencil. Various acrylics brushes.

My Experience in Doing this Sketch: 

Having some use of my right hand now, I chose to use both in doing this sketch. First I drew in the general outlines of the bulding with the oil pastel using my left hand. I found that, in “thinking with my left” so to speak, my sense of perspective was different; it took some getting used to.  I did some brush work with both left & right, eventually falling  into a rythm of adding color with one hand & brushing water over it with the other.

The picture seemed to lack definition, as I find my work often does when using water-soluble media, so I outlined almost everything with a graphite sketch pencil. I made a point of doing this with my left hand so as to stay in practice.

One of those things that happens sometimes with outdoor sketching is that you have to change locations halfway through the sketch due to some weather condition, in this case hot sun. My painting partners & I actually had to move inside the wagon shed. Needless to say; I had to “wing it” from there on out. As a result I’m not sure I got the perspective correct, but then again , with old buildings, things are apt to be crooked anyway!

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2013. I am more than happy to have you share them through your own blog, and hope you will do so—but you must give me credit. Anyone who uses them to make money will be prosecuted.