Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[terri]

Here's one I did where "one more thing" backfired on me. I started this one with the thought of practicing gradual coloring and shadow with the oil pastels in these tall grasses, and built a little landscape around those lines.

Then I thought a human figure would be a good "one more thing" and I always need people practice. I put the person in the wrong place and now the thing looks crowded, off balance and icky. I had decided to add her when I was almost done, and didn't want to scrape away the tall right side grasses that I liked, so I crammed her in on the left.

Bad move. Looks terrible.

But I do like the grass! I took a close up: lots of layering here, it got thick and yummy with texture. Too bad I screwed up the rest of it.

 

[SquarePeg]

I like her location. Great scene! Yes that grass is killer.

 

[SquarePeg]

I tried another cherry tree. This one using the splatter technique. Been working on my branches. These are better than last time but should have left some spaces. Had to use a little white acrylic paint since I didn’t have any white watercolor or gauche.

 

[terri]

I like her location. Great scene! Yes that grass is killer.

Well, I appreciate that, but you know how it is. Once you've decided something's more or less crap, it's hard to see it otherwise.

Your cherry tree is kicking! I like the acrylic paint idea. It stands out and pushes those reds - wonderful to look at. I did something similar once but it was virtually all white, I'll hunt it down.

You should be tickled with this one!

 

[SquarePeg]

I’m super happy with the shapes in this one but colors, amount of paint/water and layering still have a long way to go. I’m struggling to keep it loose since I don’t have the skill to go for a detailed look but then I start tweaking the “loose” version and end up with something that is not loose enough to be loose. Still I’m totally surprised at how much I’m enjoying watercolors.

 

[snowbear]

OK, I quit. You folks are really showing me up.

Well, maybe I'll go a little longer. I'm trying to watercolor a variation of the Maryland State Flower, the Black-Eyed Susan.

cmw3_d40_4735 by Charlie Wrenn, on Flickr.

I'm going to post this one in stages. That will commit me to finishing and not tossing it (unless a certain kitty decides to surf over it) so sometime tomorrow for any additional progress.

#1 - Putting in some of the blue (and green) background. For giggles I put table salt on those areas to try and break it up. The results are mixed.

#2 - Sketching in the flower areas. I'm not sketching with pencil as I pre-wet the paper and tried to stretch it a little. We'll see how that works out.

 

[snowbear]

Good morning. I didn't find any footprints on the paper so it's good so far.

#3 - I started layering in more color and definition to the flowers and adding some extremely dilute blue into the background. I don't really care for the salt effect, except maybe top-right; probably just used too much in some areas. The brown in this kit (Crayola kid's eight color pans) is too red, so I mixed in a touch of green.

 

[snowbear]

...
Bad move. Looks terrible.

I wouldn't say terrible. A little heavy to one side, but still something to admire.

 

[terri]

...
Bad move. Looks terrible.

I wouldn't say terrible. A little heavy to one side, but still something to admire.

Meh.

You're very kind!

 

[terri]

Good morning. I didn't find any footprints on the paper so it's good so far.

#3 - I started layering in more color and definition to the flowers and adding some extremely dilute blue into the background. I don't really care for the salt effect, except maybe top-right; probably just used too much in some areas. The brown in this kit (Crayola kid's eight color pans) is too red, so I mixed in a touch of green.
View attachment 192068

I've heard of this salt trick, it definitely added some nice texture in there. Very cool!

Black eyed susans are about my favorite flower. I wouldn't have known to add the green to tamp down that red-brown. Very effective, good job on color mixing.

 

[terri]

I’m super happy with the shapes in this one but colors, amount of paint/water and layering still have a long way to go. I’m struggling to keep it loose since I don’t have the skill to go for a detailed look but then I start tweaking the “loose” version and end up with something that is not loose enough to be loose. Still I’m totally surprised at how much I’m enjoying watercolors.
View attachment 192059

Just beautiful, Sharon. One thing that makes this one extra lovely is the purple on this gorgeous, textured paper. Your little flicks of color look terrific against that background.

Papers are so fun to play with, and can really add dimension to art. You nailed it here!

I'm assuming this is watercolor paper - what brand is it?

 

[snowbear]

#4 - More layers on the cone, petals and background. In trying to add the seeds, the cone is getting muddy. I think I'll call it done because I can't think of anything else to do to it that would improve it. Of course the tape took off the top layer of paper, but it's a "mixed media" bond, not watercolor paper. It is a practice piece so it won't go on the wall, but I will put in in the drawer, as opposed to the can. Next time, I'll mask off areas for the lights, do the background first, then come in with the foreground.

 

[snowbear]

Yes, complimentary colors (red-green, orange-blue, yellow-purple) make browns, and the three primaries together make black, though it is not easy to do.

 

[SquarePeg]

@snowbear I like the salt effect - gives it a bit of a tie dyed look. I tried it on the center of my poppy but I may have also used too much. In a tutorial I was watching they specifically said sea salt. I’m going to grab some next time I’m in the store to see if it makes a difference. If you’re doing mixed media, could you use some dark ink to texture the cone?

@terri its from Ocean State Job Lot - the brand is Strathmore. It’s 140 lb cold press whatever that means! 12 9x12 sheets was $5 which seems to be a good deal based on what I saw online. Next time I’m in there I’ll pick up a bit more. The only issue is some pilling if I over saturate.

 

[snowbear]

I'm not really doing mixed media, only using the so-called Mixed Media paper. I was thinking I could use either the acrylic ink or better still, watercolor pencils to go back in and for details but I'm going to keep it this way. I really wanted a brush-only piece.

Most of my paper is either Strathmore or Canson.