Brown Bag Drawings

My Tuesday morning class requested a lesson in drawing paper lunch bags. I gave them each a piece of  Amber colored Canson Mi Tientes paper which we used as the medium or base color. In attempt to simplify, we lit each bag with desk lamp so the lights and darks would be more pronounced. Everyone started working in the values with two colors, Prismacolor Cream for the lightest areas and Dark Brown for the darkest areas, letting the color of the paper act as the medium value. Some added different colors for the shadows. It was challenging and required a lot of thought, the middle photo shows everyone's work and just how much could be done in three hours. No one was anywhere near completion.

Dunes and Clouds, Colored Pencil and NeoColor

Working on a 6x18" Cradled Gessobord, I have created this atmospheric beach dune and sky drawing. On the left, my sky is underpainted with NeoColors to which I added water, dissolved the crayon for a background wash. The foreground I laid in with colored pencil and dissolved with some mineral spirits instead of using the NeoColors. On the right, is my finished piece. I added colored pencil to the clouds and softened some of the darker blues. I also added some mineral spirits to the clouds to smooth them out and lose the texture of the board showing through. Then I added color to the grasses in the foreground with colored pencils and NeoColor crayons.

Field & Sky Colored Pencil & NeoColor

I have decided to work on a few landscape pieces in a loose, flowing style with lots of colorful clouds and an airy feeling. The surface I decided to use is 2" cradled Ampersand Gessobord covered with Coloufix Primer in white which I tinted pink for a soft, warm base. The top image is the underpainting which I worked in NeoColors then added water and dissolved to make a nice surface to work on.
Next I added colored pencil and then more NeoColors on top of some of the colored pencil. I like the "pebbly" effect of the NeoColor crayon on top of the colored pencil, it looks almost like pastels without the chalk and the dust, plus I can varnish over top. This piece was really fun and I like the results!

Evening Colored Pencil Class Drawings

My evening class has been working on a drawing of pears on a surface of Ampersand Gessobord covered with Raw Sienna Colourfix primer. We worked from one of my photos and I had them begin by laying in color with Caran D'Arche NeoColors then adding water with a brush to push around the NeoColors around as an underpainting. When they were satisfied with the background, they began rendering the pears with colored pencils covering the NeoColor base. Here are four of the examples of my student's work which I think are all fabulous! Notice the two on the left are more abstract, the student who worked on the top left piece, chose to focus more with the NeoColors and the water to create more of an abstract look. She only added a little bit of colored pencil to the top, she is a quilter and enjoys bright colors. The bottom left piece has some great bold areas of color. The top right piece was rendered in lighter colors and the artist chose to let the pink and peach colors in the pears show, for a softer look. The artist who worked on the bottom right piece used Prismacolor Peacock Green for the darker valued and shadowed areas of the pears. A color I wouldn't have thought of myself but I really like the vibrancy it gives, the pears almost glow.

Finished the Mural

Here is the 6x6' finished mural, the hanging lamp hides part of it and the lighting is casting shadows. It was a fun project but ready to move onto the next project!

Painting a Mural

No colored pencil for me the past week, I've been painting a mural at a local restaurant, Roberto's in Bristol, RI.