Spring in Colored Pencil

Tags

Brunzeel Aquarelle, Canson, colored pencil, Crayola, illustration, iris, nature, pencil work, Prismacolor pencils, Spring

Spring scene (Iris) in colored pencil

The story behind the sketch:

Spring is so colorful it just begs for a medium that will express some of that. This scene was at a friend’s home, & was chosen & sketched spontaneously.

My experience in doing this sketch:

Colored pencil is fun–that’s the best word I can think of to describe working with it. It may not produce the most realistic or sophisticated results—although some artists have achieved such through careful use of layering & blending techniques. It’s great for outdoor sketching because it’s clean, portable, & lets you work in color without paint. This sketch was relaxing to do, & it evokes a nice memory of a beautiful place when I look at it.

The technical stuff

Substrate: Canson “Sketch”, a smooth paper with just enough tooth for pencil work. Prismacolor pencils were the main ones used, but Crayola, and other “kid’s” colored pencils were used too. A Brunzeel Aquarelle was used and a General’s colored pencil too. (Unless I’m doing a work of fine art that will be exposed to light over a long term, I don’t worry too much about using expensive pencils. The ones designed for artists are definitely more pigment-dense & softer, but sometimes one of the kid’s brands will have just the color I”m looking for.)

A Hairy Situation

Tags

3B, 9B, animals, artwork, colored pencils, cream-colored paper, drawing, graphite, Hair Sheep, Prismacolor pencils, sheep, sketches, sketching, wax-based pencils

Hair Sheep in Graphite & Colored Pencil

 

The story behind the sketch:

The painting-out season is nearing an end, so I was looking through photos from the various locations where my artist’s group has met this year. I found a really good photo that my friend Karin had taken at one of the farms, the subject’s being what is known as a Hair Sheep, according to the owner. Basically, this is a “self-shaving sheep”.

my experience in doing this sketch:

Well, it was a bit of a struggle! The wool and skin were the same color, so it was hard to visually separate the the two. I ended up making the wool darker than it really was to remedy this.

The second problem came from working on cream-colored paper; it’s okay for some subjects, but it does make it harder to get a strong contrast between lights and darks. To get the sunny look I was after, I needed intense darks, & no matter what grade of graphite pencil I used I just couldn’t get them. I finally resorted to using a black Prismacolor pencil,—– & called the drawing “done”.

The technical stuff:

3-B pencil was used to sketch-in the rough outlines, with just about every grade of pencil between & including 9B , with the addition of a black Prismacolor pencil. ( For those of you unfamiliar with Prismacolors, they are wax-based pencils that are relatively soft, and very nice to work with, the colors being more intense than the colored pencils you probably used as a kid.)

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2011. 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.

A Page from My Diary

Tags

artwork, botanical drawing, colored pencil, crayola colorerd pencils, drawing, money plant, prismacolor, Prismacolor pencils, sketches, sketching, Tombow watercolor markers, ULtra-Color pencils

Page From Nature Diary

The story behind the sketch:I kept a nature diary faithfully for eleven years. Of course, at the time, I had few friends , little social interaction, no email, no computer, and wasn’t concerned with having an income. ( Things do change.)

In recent years, my entries have been sporadic, but at least there may be  some continuity to the one above. This  drawing of a Jack-in-the-Pulpit was done  last summer. Now this summer I have been taking photos of another plant in its various stages. At present the berries are turning  form pale green to bright red; would make a luscious watercolor.

my experience in doing this sketch:

Running off the page didn’t bother me, as my main focus was on the glossy green seedhead. I found I just couldn’t get the highlight I wanted on those “berries” , (partly because the paper is cream or ivory-colored, ) so resorted to using white-out. But hey—anything goes.

The technical stuff:

Prismacolor, UltraColor, & Crayola pencils, as well as Tombow dual-ended watercolor markers,  were used to add color to the outlines made by  a  standard #2 pencil. And then , of course, there was the white-out.  Paper: Masters Touch spiral-bound sketchbook. Sold at Hobby Lobby. A pretty versatile paper, although the ivory color does make high contrast difficult.

NOTE: All images and text in this post are Copyright K. A. Renninger 2012. 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.