Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[snowbear94]

And we have color; I mixed everything, including the black (it's a very dark grey-green). I'm using the Liquitex Basics (student paints) acrylics, Primary Red, Primary Yellow and Primary Blue.

 

[terri16]

Wow! I love the way your flower turned out. Your petals are lovely and symmetrical, very much like a color wheel.

I noticed you changed the leaves from the sketch. I wanted to see the serrated leaves, yo.

I guess the emergency with the washing machine kinda took over. Geez, I hope it didn't do any major damage to the floors!

 

[snowbear94]

Actually, I just thought it was too much green with the serrated leaves. I think this pulls things together.

Thanks, the floors are concrete and the carpet really needs to be replaced (we've been here 11-1/2 years). We moved furniture around, a little, but need to do that anyway, when the desk arrives next week.

 

[waday]

Ok, last WIP before the final image. I’ve decided to do the foliage in sepia to contrast slightly (in the right light) with the black.

This is by far the longest I’ve spent on a drawing since I started back up. Feels good, and I’m excited to finish.

 

[waday]

Another graphite sketch. This is me, copying a Picasso sketch of his first wife, Olga. She apparently only allowed him to sketch or paint her "straight," none of that Cubist stuff for her.

It took me awhile but I got a reasonable resemblance to the real thing. Erasers rock! There's no painting from this sketch as far as I know. Just playin'.

View attachment 192409

I've got a sketch, too. I'm just doing a color wheel of primaries and secondaries. I think I'm going to go with five petals, instead of six, and just use the leaves and stem for green. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to put down any color because the washing machine decided to leak and the water has flowed into the bedroom. We've just moved the bed and and are trying to get as much of the water up with a carpet cleaner (vac mode).

View attachment 192411

I love seeing the sketches!

 

[waday]

Hopefully the camera will obey you next time.

Haha, thanks! Now if only my toddler can listen to me, too. She was literally hanging off me and moving my arms. Lol

 

[SquarePeg19]

@snowbear why do sometimes the wc colors look vivid and other times they fade to dull? Especially if I mix.

 

[snowbear94]

I don't know, offhand; maybe some differences in the paints' or colors' characteristics. Try posting a side-by-side with color names (pure - mix - pure) and I'll poke around the database (The Color of Art Pigment Database).


Edit: I found this: https://www.quora.com/When-I-paint-...-vibrant-How-do-I-achieve-a-more-vibrant-tone

Basically, the paper can affect the vividness, as can the paint quality. Student level may not be a vivid as artist level, due to larger % of binders, keeping the cost lower. The actual hue can also matter. This kind of feeds into what I mean about the color or paint characteristics.

 

[snowbear94]

Now for something a little different.

When I was working for my degree, I had to take a Cultural Diversity class. The general subjects available were pretty broad: history, music, sociology, cultural studies, and art. I went down the art path and took Chinese Calligraphy, though it was not part of the Art Department, but attached to the Chinese Studies group. The instructor, Mrs Yuli Wang, had a degree in art and design from Beijing, and also taught spoken and written Chinese.

The course was neither easy, nor difficult. We were not learning the language, but rather the techniques of brush calligraphy and a taste of the Chinese culture. The exercises were really tracing the characters on rice paper with ink and brush. I haven't done this since class, about 10 years, but here we go.

"Beijixiong (bey zhee shong) or polar bear." India ink on bonded paper, about 5" x 1-1/2" (cropped).

 

[limr10]

Now for something a little different.

When I was working for my degree, I had to take a Cultural Diversity class. The general subjects available were pretty broad: history, music, sociology, cultural studies, and art. I went down the art path and took Chinese Calligraphy, though it was not part of the Art Department, but attached to the Chinese Studies group. The instructor, Mrs Yuli Wang, had a degree in art and design from Beijing, and also taught spoken and written Chinese.

The course was neither easy, nor difficult. We were not learning the language, but rather the techniques of brush calligraphy and a taste of the Chinese culture. The exercises were really tracing the characters on rice paper with ink and brush. I haven't done this since class, about 10 years, but here we go.

"Beijixiong (bey zhee shong) or polar bear." India ink on bonded paper, about 5" x 1.2" (cropped).
View attachment 192521

Love it!

 

[snowbear94]

Dank ja

 

[SquarePeg19]

Learning to draw eyes from a tutorial. I liked it a lot more before I added the lashes. Will need to work on that.

 

[waday]

Learning to draw eyes from a tutorial. I liked it a lot more before I added the lashes. Will need to work on that.
View attachment 192545

I love the eye! The detail in the reflection and the iris is really great. I always find eyes extremely difficult, and have only recently been able to do a somewhat decent job at them. And, really only animals’ eyes, haha.

 

[waday]

I think I’ve reached pens down. If I continue to look at it, I’ll keep tweaking and make it worse.

Terri, I’m going to start tracing more often!

Panda by Wade, on Flickr

 

[terri16]

Wow! I seriously am impressed with the time and meticulousness of this drawing. You mentioned pens, so this must be ink. All those tiny, perfect little strokes....just amazing. I see cross-hatching, too.
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Terri, I’m going to start tracing more often!

I agree, if a sketch gets you there faster (especially for something this detailed), then have at it!

Great job.