Colored Pencil Shell Study on Wood Panel

I drew this colored pencil piece on an 8x10" Blick Studio Wood Panel  with a 7/8" thickness. I like the smooth surface of the wood and it does not have to be sanded or primed to accept colored pencil. I selected three shells with different shapes and colors and decided how to arrange them on the surface. It took a little bit of figuring how I wanted them to look compositionally. 

First I drew the outlines with lead pencil and added some of the details to help me when adding color. I used Caran d'Ache Luminance and Prismacolor colored pencils to create this piece. The wood is soft so a softer pencil works really well on the surface. I was also able to build up layers easily. 

My drawing kind of evolved, I intertwined the shells and later put in a soft background suggesting sand and sky. 

The fixative/varnish is a three-part process. First I spray the drawing with Krylon UV Resistant Clear, two coats letting the first dry for 15 minutes. Secondly I spray the drawing with two coats of Krylon Kamar Varnish letting each dry for about 30 minutes in between. You may stop here and perhaps spray one more coat. I like a glossier finish so I add a third step. that is to apply Golden Polymer Varnish with UVLS. I mix one part varnish with two parts of water to thin the varnish so it can be easily brushed on with a soft bristle brush. I work in one direction when brushing on varnish and let it sit for about two hours until completely dry before adding another layer. The layers are thin and I keep adding additional layers until I like the shine. This drawing probably has about 8 layers of the polymer varnish. 

 

Just Passing Through

I've just finished this colored pencil piece, it is 14.5 x 18.5" worked in all Prismacolor pencils. My surface is a cream colored rag mat board with some lined texture. I like the mat board because it is sturdy and soft enough to take layers of pencil, burnish and erase. I started this complicated piece by working one shell, coral or starfish at a time and gradually moved along until all of my subjects were 90% completed. Then I moved onto the background objects and finally finishing with the sand. The sand was the most complicated part, it needed some texture but just a small amount so it wouldn't detract from the busy shells and starfish forms. To create the texture in the sand and part of my starfish, I used the three erasers pictured above. 

I have just started experimenting with the Faber Castell Perfection eraser brush (looks like the old typewriter eraser) and like what it can do. It can erase but also softly remove only parts of color and burnish some remaining color into the surface, creating a softer erased effect. For the areas I want to remove all color down to the surface I used the Sakura Electric Eraser and smallest areas I used the Tombow Mono Zero which has a fine point. 

 Work in progress

My completed piece!