Tulips ... Foliage ... Pots

The next step was to render the colorful clay pots. Its is funny how when looking at the drawing through the eyes of the camera, I can see some of my angles and ellipses just aren't quite right. I'll fix them. I've been trying to work on the pots in the afternoon when the sun is coming in the window and lighting is the best. It reminds me that spring is in the somewhat distant future ... although the tulips in my still life are mostly dead now. Now onto drawing the cloth the pots are all sitting on. I love the UArt sanded paper as the colors are easy to layer, you can even put light colors over dark. I'm going for a painterly look rather than super realistic and I hope I can achieve it.

Tulips and Foliage

I've completed the tulip blossoms and the foliage just in time because the flowers have completely opened, changed colors and the leaves are drooping. Now I can work on the pots which thankfully aren't going to change! I purchased these pots from a potter in town who is a friend of mine and gave my boys pottery classes when they were young. I thought the pots would be great subject matter for my classes because of their interesting shapes and colors and now I am having fun with them in my own still life!

Ten Tulips Still Life

Taking a rest from working on the shells and drawing a still life. Yesterday I gave my colored pencil class the assignment to draw one of these small vases with a red tulip in it. Later in the day I decided to that while the tulips were all fresh, to put the vases all together and draw them myself. I have started with the blossoms because they will change first ... and they already have completely opened since yesterday. I have them set up at home so I can work on them throughout the day and into the evening. The paper I'm using is UArt 800 grit and the pencils are Prismacolor and Polychromos. I like to start each tulip by laying in the lightest values and then the darkest values to establish the light and dark. The light values I'm using are Prismacolor Vermillion 921 and Pink 929. For the dark value I'm using Tuscan Red 937 and Polychromos Magenta 133 because the Tuscan red is a good value but isn't quite as vibrant as I need for a color. I am trying to work quickly to at least get the colors on because the flowers and leaves are already changing and moving.

Returning to penciling

This is my newest colored pencil work that I'm going to admit that I've been working on since before the December holidays. Its been on-and-off so now I am ready to finish so I am trying to work on this piece every day, even if its one or two shells. The size is 14x14" and the surface is Rtistx board. I am pulling out my stashes of colored pencils and finding that I like working with Lyra Rembrandt and Polychromos pencils on this surface because of their hardness on this textured surface. The white surface is helping my colors to glow and the layering is enjoyable but very time consuming. My process is to work each shell a little bit and then move on. Once I finish all the shells and rocks, I will work on unifying the piece with changes in color and value.

Tuscany Pastels Completed!

I have finally completed the five pastel pieces that I began in Tuscany last October. I can't believe it took me this long but I am really happy with the results and the struggle was worth it. Why was it a struggle? First of all my life has somehow become so busy with commitments that I just found a short block of time here and there. Secondly, I learned that trying to come home and work from photos when the originals were started in plein aire is so difficult. I think I mentioned before how the photos flatten and darken the images. When you are working from life, the scene is all around you and in 3D so to speak. Although, you are "chasing the light" and have to work quickly, its easier to see color and value. While I did make thumbnail sketches at the scene, I didn't make color notes in my sketchbook. Something I'll have to remember for next time. Now its a new year and onto the next project! Back to colored pencil ... for now!