Pastels and Watercolors (and a few other art media)

[SquarePeg]

WIP sketch for a watercolor as part of a Facebook group challenge - topic “still beauty”. This is based on one of the photo references that was shared in the group. It’s a statue that has a verdigris outer layer. Haven’t decided if I’ll paint it true to the photo or not. I’m tempted to go in a more interesting direction. Still refining that but it’s close…I’m not good at drawing people. Not enough practice due to lack of interest. Sort of like my portrait taking skills…

 

[vintagesnaps]

I think you've got something there! You captured the feeling or expression seen in the statue. This is the type thing I'd spend more time on, refining the sketch. (Although I have to make myself put something down, leave it alone, come back to it the next day or whenever so I don't overwork it.)

This struck me immediately with the beauty and potential there.

 

[terri]

WIP sketch for a watercolor as part of a Facebook group challenge - topic “still beauty”. This is based on one of the photo references that was shared in the group. It’s a statue that has a verdigris outer layer. Haven’t decided if I’ll paint it true to the photo or not. I’m tempted to go in a more interesting direction. Still refining that but it’s close…I’m not good at drawing people. Not enough practice due to lack of interest. Sort of like my portrait taking skills…

View attachment 271127

You're being too harsh - I think this looks great! The proportions look fine, nice head tilt - try not to overthink it.

Personally I lean towards the whimsical, even surreal, as opposed to following reference images true to form. I agree with you that it's more interesting to do your own thing.

Have fun with it! However you decide to approach it, be confident that you're starting with a solid sketch.

 

[snowbear]

^ This. I can’t wait to see some paint on it.

Still having a hard time getting into the swing of it. I’m sure part of it is not finding the rest of my brushes and paints. I did find the Golden acrylics MLW got but not the DS tubes I bought. I’ll pul the trigger on another Blick cart in a few: another set of siz tubes plus a couple more, a couple tubes of acrylic, some WC tape, another pad of paper, a set of long handle brushes for the acrylics, and a set of three palette knives. I already have a stash of canvas from. Sale at Michael’s. The tubes will mirror the pans and then some. I want to use the pans for travel.

 

[SquarePeg]

You're being too harsh - I think this looks great! The proportions look fine, nice head tilt - try not to overthink it.

Personally I lean towards the whimsical, even surreal, as opposed to following reference images true to form. I agree with you that it's more interesting to do your own thing.

Have fun with it! However you decide to approach it, be confident that you're starting with a solid sketch.

Not really whimsical but definitely not realism. It came out close to what o was envisioning but I cant quite pull it off yet. Lots more practice needed!

^ This. I can’t wait to see some paint on it.

Still having a hard time getting into the swing of it. I’m sure part of it is not finding the rest of my brushes and paints. I did find the Golden acrylics MLW got but not the DS tubes I bought. I’ll pul the trigger on another Blick cart in a few: another set of siz tubes plus a couple more, a couple tubes of acrylic, some WC tape, another pad of paper, a set of long handle brushes for the acrylics, and a set of three palette knives. I already have a stash of canvas from. Sale at Michael’s. The tubes will mirror the pans and then some. I want to use the pans for travel.

I’m heading to Blick in person tomorrow. I need a couple of small things but mostly just want to browse. Their prices are so much better than Michael’s and there’s one right in Cambridge that I have never been to.

Here she is. Second pic shows the metallic paint a bit better. Not fully dried yet and paper needs to be flattened. The Alizarin Crimson really fades when it dries. Should have gone with the Amethyst purple.

 

[terri]

Not really whimsical but definitely not realism. It came out close to what o was envisioning but I cant quite pull it off yet. Lots more practice needed!



I’m heading to Blick in person tomorrow. I need a couple of small things but mostly just want to browse. Their prices are so much better than Michael’s and there’s one right in Cambridge that I have never been to.

Here she is. Second pic shows the metallic paint a bit better. Not fully dried yet and paper needs to be flattened. The Alizarin Crimson really fades when it dries. Should have gone with the Amethyst purple.

View attachment 271140

View attachment 271141

Fun!!! I really like the metallic sheen here. I agree with you about the Crimson. Seems like it should have been brighter, right? But I get what you were after and now you have a data point for the Crimson. It's actually very pretty, almost rosy.

I'll have to post some of my recent stuff: I've been playing with collage and mixed media stuff. Maddening but fun.

 

[snowbear]

I'll get to the DC Blick store in a few weeks. I "lost" the stool for my art table a while back, and MLW said she'd get me another one. They have one on the web site but I need to try it out, first. I also want to browse the brushes. The store was originally the family-owned Ultecht, but Blick bought the company a number of years ago. I haven' ordered from Jerry's Artarama but have seen the flyers when I was taking the art classes at UMD. Prices and selection seems to be on par with Blick. The other discount place in the area with B&M stores is Plaza Art. Their prices are not quite as good as Blick & Jerry's but they have a decent selection.

I'm trying to get myself motivated to start in the basement. After this cup of coffee.

 

[SquarePeg]

I'll get to the DC Blick store in a few weeks. I "lost" the stool for my art table a while back, and MLW said she'd get me another one. They have one on the web site but I need to try it out, first. I also want to browse the brushes. The store was originally the family-owned Ultecht, but Blick bought the company a number of years ago. I haven' ordered from Jerry's Artarama but have seen the flyers when I was taking the art classes at UMD. Prices and selection seems to be on par with Blick. The other discount place in the area with B&M stores is Plaza Art. Their prices are not quite as good as Blick & Jerry's but they have a decent selection.

I'm trying to get myself motivated to start in the basement. After this cup of coffee.

I decided to skip the trip to Blicks today in favor of sleeping in and then doing some lolygagging and procrastinating.

I really like this watercolor brush set I got on Amazon. They were recommended by one of the artists I follow on YouTube. Reasonably priced for 4 brushes at $25 IMO. They feel really high end.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N6XB5BQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

 

[terri]

I decided to skip the trip to Blicks today in favor of sleeping in and then doing some lolygagging and procrastinating.

Sounds like Saturday to me!

A "Yes!" vote on those brushes. I have 2 sizes for acrylics, and they're soft and luscious feeling. A bit pricey, but so nice to work with compared with my cheapies. Treat yourself!

 

[snowbear]

I decided to skip the trip to Blicks today in favor of sleeping in and then doing some lolygagging and procrastinating.

I really like this watercolor brush set I got on Amazon. They were recommended by one of the artists I follow on YouTube. Reasonably priced for 4 brushes at $25 IMO. They feel really high end.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01N6XB5BQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I like the Princetons. I have four of the Heritage 4050 short handles for watercolors, and just orded a set of four Aspens for Acrylics. I have heard good things about the Velvet Touch series.

I got a few things cleaned up in the basement, and will do more tomorrow. Now it's time for some left-over chili and streaming a few episodes of All Creatures Great and Small

 

[terri]

Here's a recent collage effort. I was experimenting with bleeding tissue paper (colored tissue paper that leaches out color when sprayed with water). I bought some 5x7" canvases for little experiments like this.

I only used orange (the bottom layer) and yellow sheets, and used a fluid matte medium instead of water so I could glue them, as opposed to wetting with water and lifting off later, which is technically how this stuff is used. The colors certainly did run together but it was fairly controllable, and the background I painted with brown acrylic paint showed through.

I had made a rough sketch first, then glued on the paper stem to kind of guide me for a center. I used double the amount of little petals I thought I'd need to make sure a bright yellow came out on top.

After it dried completely (a wet and sticky mess!) I glued the front of the pot (just colored card stock) and did the checkerboard with Prismacolor pencils. The paper bow came off a bag of peanuts!

A couple of work-in-process (WIP) shots:

Laying out the cut petals to get an idea of how many I'd need (was still way off; needed double this amount!):

 

[SquarePeg]

That’s is so cool! I love how it leaves the canvas on some of the petals.

 

[terri]

Thank you! It was messy but fun to do - I'm glad I was working on a small canvas or those colors would be everywhere. (Yuck, didn't know these files were so huge - I don't usually post stuff from my phone but that's what laziness will get ya.)

I bought a bag of these colored tissues because I thought it would be an easier approach to the look of watercolors. Tried them first in my mini-art journal, and they bled through the next 3-4 pages. The pages in this little 5x5" art journal are thin, but I thought they'd hold up better than they did.

I was trying to be cute with the first page, right side, of my art journal, cutting a little heart-shaped hole in the center so the next page would show through with another heart. All I did with that bleeding tissue paper was wet the page so that it ripped in two places and the dyes ran everywhere. Freaking mess!

The dyes trashed the left side too, which is the inside part of the cover. Since the cover was made of sterner stuff, I first coated over the stain with white gesso, then with thick white acrylic paint. It was heavy-bodied enough to make the swirly lines and carve out a heart shape, then when it dried I added the top colors - again, acrylic paint, very watered down so some white could peek through around the ridges.

I used little pieces of blue and yellow tissue paper in various layers. Bled through and made a mess. Below is a shot of 2 pages in, and you can still see the dyes running amok. I chose to draw flower petals around one lone blob and pretend I planned it that way. Then reached for colored pencils to sketch a little more floral stuff, but I'm not much of a sketcher. But at least I could turn the page and get away from the rest of the stains!

I still kinda like the bleeding tissue paper, but right now it has limited use for me. btw, I've since reached for the glue stick and glued 2 and 3 pages of the mini-journal together, so they're able to take my abuse. Poor little book.

 

[SquarePeg]

Thank you! It was messy but fun to do - I'm glad I was working on a small canvas or those colors would be everywhere. (Yuck, didn't know these files were so huge - I don't usually post stuff from my phone but that's what laziness will get ya.)

I bought a bag of these colored tissues because I thought it would be an easier approach to the look of watercolors. Tried them first in my mini-art journal, and they bled through the next 3-4 pages. The pages in this little 5x5" art journal are thin, but I thought they'd hold up better than they did.

I was trying to be cute with the first page, right side, of my art journal, cutting a little heart-shaped hole in the center so the next page would show through with another heart. All I did with that bleeding tissue paper was wet the page so that it ripped in two places and the dyes ran everywhere. Freaking mess!

The dyes trashed the left side too, which is the inside part of the cover. Since the cover was made of sterner stuff, I first coated over the stain with white gesso, then with thick white acrylic paint. It was heavy-bodied enough to make the swirly lines and carve out a heart shape, then when it dried I added the top colors - again, acrylic paint, very watered down so some white could peek through around the ridges.

View attachment 271171

I used little pieces of blue and yellow tissue paper in various layers. Bled through and made a mess. Below is a shot of 2 pages in, and you can still see the dyes running amok. I chose to draw flower petals around one lone blob and pretend I planned it that way. Then reached for colored pencils to sketch a little more floral stuff, but I'm not much of a sketcher. But at least I could turn the page and get away from the rest of the stains!



View attachment 271172

I still kinda like the bleeding tissue paper, but right now it has limited use for me. btw, I've since reached for the glue stick and glued 2 and 3 pages of the mini-journal together, so they're able to take my abuse. Poor little book.

What material is the journal paper? I’ve found the “mixed media” stuff to be pretty worthless. I have a watercolor paper journal that’s pretty sturdy but I do have to clip it open until it dries.

 

[SquarePeg]

This is my practice attempt of a cottage and garden tutorial by PC. Learned a few lessons. First off I didn’t premix enough color so I had to wing it and mix quickly before the paper dried. That left the background trees too light and the roof got muddled. Also I used the cheaper Canson paper and it really shows. The paper shreds if you try to lift highlights or scrape in some grasses or rocks with a plastic knife. That is easy with Arches paper but the Canson dries too fast and can’t take much abuse. I’m going to do this one again on good paper and see if I can get better results.