Tulip Experiment - WIP 1

In between working on my latest portrait commissions, I'm doing some smaller pieces. I'll be going to an art trade show in Raleigh, sponsored by Jerry's Artarama two weeks from now. I'll be taking one pastel workshop and doing lots of art shopping!!

I was contacted by a rep who works for UART who make UART sanded paper in four different grits. He asked me to stop by his booth so we could talk about how well the paper works and any problems colored pencils artists may be having with the paper. So, in an effort to get ready for this conversation, I have decided to do something small on each grit of the paper. Here is one of my tests.



This is on UART 500 grit paper with watercolor pencils for the background and Prismacolor colored pencils for the flower. Now, it's not nearly finished. I need to go over the background again, and I'm trying to decide if I should do it with CPs, WCPs, or pastels. Obviously the flower is not done yet either.

So far, I really like this grit. It has enough tooth to be able to hold many layers, plus being able to blend the colors with a brush over and over without running out of tooth. I don't like my sanded paper to be too smooth. To me it defeats the purpose of using sanded paper if it's too smooth. On the other hand, there is such a thing as too much tooth! I also tried a miniature piece on La Carte sanded paper and I didn't like it very much, for a variety of reasons, one of which is that it appears to be too rough for me - but that's for another post.

In addition, I probably put about five layers of watercolor pencils and was liberal in my use of water, yet I still have lots of tooth yet to fill! The paper was easy to get flat again after all the water dried - I simply put the paper in a resealable plastic bag, then placed a very heavy, large book on top of it and left it for a day or so. Viola! The paper is flat once again!

Guess I'd better get working on this and finish it so I have time to work on at least a few more.

Enjoy and commeny away!!

Youthful Innocence

Here's another one on Wallis paper that I quickly finished - about four hours!! That's very exciting for me to finish anything in that short of time!!

It's ATC sized, so not very big. Still experimenting on Wallis. I told my husband it's not good news. This is the second picture I've done on Wallis and both were done quickly and came out fairly good. I am very happy with my experience so far with this paper. That's not good! Wallis is not cheap. I can't afford to use it all the time!!!

What's even more depressing is that I am working on two portraits as Christmas Commissions on Pastelbord and they are coming out horrible!! I have even been thinking about giving my client back her money. I've done these little pieces to help boost my confidence. I'm sure I'll get those portraits done in time, but it's rough going at the moment.




Details: Prismacolors on Wallis Beige Mist
Size: 2.5" x 3.5"
Accessories: Bristle brushes
Ref Credit: Ref Lib at WC

The Eye of the Tiger

Betcha all of you thought I had disappeared, huh? Well, now that I have a job that requires 33 hours per week, I don't have as much time for my art, unfortunately. I also have two portrait commissions for Christmas that I'm working on and that is keeping me very busy as well.

I finally finished a new piece. It's an ATC for an art trade on an art forum. I couldn't post it before now because they hadn't posted the results yet. So tell me you didn't see this one coming! Yet another macro of a cat. Granted it's a very big cat, but of the feline species nonetheless. :D I'm actually considering trying a landscape ATC for next month. Scary thought, huh?

This was done with Prismacolors on Wallis sanded paper. The size is 2.5" x 3.5". I have been wanting to try out Wallis for some time now, but didn't have the money since Wallis is so expensive. I have no idea how artists can afford to buy Wallis! I only bought a pad with a few pieces of paper in it and it cost me as much as three full sheets of Colourfix paper. So I won't be using Wallis a lot, even though I did enjoy using it very much. The surface of Wallis is much rougher than the Colourfix, but it was, indeed, a pleasure to use.

So, enjoy "The Eye of the Tiger"!

Goldie - Completed!

I believe this is completed! I have spent a few hours tweaking it and looking at it in greyscale, so I think it's okay. Just need to hear back from my client and get his okay before I begin spraying.

This painting will get two layers of permanent fixative, then three layers of varnish before it is ready to be handed over to my client. It's better to do all of that spraying over the course of at least two days, so I need to begin it ASAP so he can get the portrait on time. I am awaiting my client's approval so I can begin spraying.

Goldie WIP

All right, I've almost got this portrait done! Spent all day working on this and bathing cats (yes, plural - three to be exact). I'm very happy with how much I got done!

Lots of tweaking to do now. I see something with her left eye (as we see it) that needs to be fixed, and some areas above her left eye that also need to be tweaked, and several small areas that need the values fixed a bit. I'll sit and look at it for a day to see what I else I need to tweak, then I'll have to spend at least one whole day spraying.

This painting will get two layers of permanent fixative, then three layers of varnish before it is ready to be handed over to my client. It's better to do all of that spraying over the course of at least two days, which means I have to finish tweaking tomorrow so I can start spraying. I hate to be rushed like that because whenever I am, I always find something glaringly wrong later on that screams to be changed but I won't be able to do anything about it. However, my client really wants it for his wife's birthday, and I really want him to have it on time. Since we are going away to Seattle for the CPSA Annual Convention from July 27th - August 3rd, I need to have this done before we go.