Bluejay from The Virtual Instructor
Another tutorial from the virtual instructor complete. I loved how it turned out. This one is a Bluejay on Pastelmat paper using Pablo colored pencils and Panpastels for the background. I think the instructor used polychromos pencils, but the only oil-based pencils I have are the Caran D’Ache Pablos.
I was once told that referring to colored pencils as oil or wax is incorrect because they all have both oils and wax in them. Some have more at different points in processing. It helps me to think about colored pencils in terms of being hard or soft. With the pencils I have, Pablos are the hardest and the Derwent Drawing Pencils are the softest.
Before this project, I wasn’t fond of the Pablo pencils at all. They seemed light, and I didn’t like how they layered on paper. But once I used them on Pastelmat, I realized how much I like them. With Pastelmat, you can layer a lot, so with using a harder pencil you can layer light over dark. It’s a very painterly effect. I did use a few Luminance and Coloursoft, too, as I only have a set of 12 of the Pablos and needed an indigo blue and a dark gray.
This was the second tutorial the Three Little Birds series. I may tackle the third, but I need to buy some black paper. We’ll see.
I’m continuing my endeavor of sketching all 47 birds in the book Identify and Draw North American Birds. I’m swapping between Caran D’ache Luminance and Derwent Drawing Pencils. The Derwent pencils don’t have many bright colors, but the birds often call for vivid reds, blues, and greens, so I often reach for the luminous Luminance.
Several years ago the traveler’s notebook trend began, but I wasn’t paying attention. I am now, however, and have not one but two: the standard size (above) and an A5 (below). I prefer the A5 as it’s just that much wider and the notebooks stay open while I’m sketching. Yes, I did buy a bigger purse to carry my art supplies on a daily basis.
