Friends
Tag: colored pencil
Grazing Time and Third Little Bird
I finished another drawing using Grafix Duralar drafting film and Neocolor I crayons, this one our two horses grazing. Pete and Banner are close friends. Banner’s the leader, and Pete’s never far behind.
I left out the background other than a few splotches of color because I’m being a little dramatic but I’m also just beginning to experiment with backgrounds on drafting film.
I also finished this hummingbird, which is the final bird in the Three Little Birds series by the Virtual Instructor. He used Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils, which I have, but the only black paper I have is Canson drawing paper, not a great choice. I couldn’t layer enough so left it about half finished with very little definition, especially on the back and tail. Oh, well. I really enjoyed the series and learned so much about color choice, layering, and process. I carried this over to multiple projects already. Now, I need to decide which course to take next. Maybe pen and ink?
Ten Months and 300 Pencils Later…
Okay, I like pencils. Colored pencils, watercolor pencils, graphite, water soluble graphite, water soluble ink, water soluble graphite mixed with pigment pencils. Pencils from all over the world. Pencils from the U.S. Humble HB pencils. Super lightfast pencils. Pencils with caps with built-in sharpeners.
Ten months ago, my entire art pencil collection consisted of a set of twelve Prismacolors that were twenty years old and two sketching pencils. Now, I have a lot of pencils, maybe 300, and I’ve taken stock, created a swatch journal of each set, and put them into two cases.
Because if I tidy up, maybe there will be room for more.
More Drafting Film Fun
I think you have to know horses to understand that Pete and his buddy are playing, not fighting. I drew these guys on Grafix drafting film using Caran d’Ache Neocolor II water soluble crayons. I tried using a little water on the first layer, but the color pretty much washed away. I may have to use fixative on this as I’m afraid of what would happen if a drop of water hit the surface. I’m considering buying the water resistant Neocolor I crayons just to use on this surface, which I love.
This one of our Pekingese is also on Grafix, but the Dura-Lar version. I used colored pencils with Pan Pastels.
For both drawings, I used the grid method to draw the initial image. It felt like cheating as I’ve never used a grid before. It helps tremendously with proportions, but adding everything else is up to you. Because drafting film is transparent, I created the grid on a separate sheet of paper and can reuse it.
She’s way cuter in real life.