Sometimes I wonder if I push the concept of beauty into the realm of the grotesque aesthetic? Nah! Less is…well, less and more, is definitely more.
Month: Mar 2015
Burnishing
colored pencil
Blending is the process of layering colors and merging the layers of color together with layering techniques and/or combination of blending tools. As a result you get richer images.
Layering colors gradually, building the layers of colors up using light to medium pressure can give your works an illusion of depth, deepen colors, modify colors, can give the work an impression of light or luminosity.
Burnishing with color pencil can create a beautiful rich glazed look. Burnishing is layering multiple colors and then applying heavy pressure with a light color pencil or with a tool. The wax melds together and causes the drawing surface to become slick, filling up the entire tooth of the paper’s surface.
Burnishing works best with a light colored pencil, such as cream, white, light grey or cloud blue, apply heavy pressure over layered colored area to be burnished.
Use the metal scoop part of a ceramic clean up tool, a spoon, or any other smooth metal device and apply heavy pressure in circular like motions to the colored layers to be burnished
Boycotting the traditional white canvas…
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A blank white surface, is possibly one of the most daunting objects to be confronted with…and so, I play with my surface first. In this piece I burnt, stained, distressed, dusted, painted & inked a recycled piece of wood. In doing this, I found that beginning with a darker surface, added a richness and depth to the following colors applied to the surface.
Mark Making
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I’m of two minds; do I draw with full adherence to the process and the medium, leaving the work, in essence, undone (like Picasso & Van Gogh) or do I layer, blend and burnish until the surface has no recogniseable marks, just a smooth luminescence (think Botticelli)?! I guess they both have their merits; which, in no way, helps me decide upon a mind set…
$600 french pastels or $2 colored pencils; decisions, decisions…
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I drew this image with my box set of
Sennelier Soft Pastels; at $600 they’re not cheap. Like, at all… (and this is especially important, being someone of the beggarly, artistic persuasion). Now, don’t get me wrong, there is something positively ambrosial, about caressing your paper with these pastels. Theure pure bliss.
Alternatively, I drew the one below, with a pack of $2, colored, school pencils…
My dilemma lies herein; is there really a difference in the quality of the end product? And is it a $598 difference?
Outside of your comfort zone
UncategorizedI always find myself painting subject matter outside my comfort area when painting comissions for friends; and yet, I find myself still enjoying the process…somewhat.
When it rains…
UncategorizedI really struggled to draw the individual rain drops: a) my hands have the steadiness of a 93 year old man, b)I just couldn’t get my drawing implement sharp enough, c) and then d) and then, and then and oh yeah, that too…
So, after many a frustrated battle, I had an epiphany, I would fake the rain; so I cheated and melted wax into rivulets to emulate painted raindrops (very postmodern, layer, upon layer, upon layer!)
Golden Tides (unfinished)
colored pencil
So, mermaids are real…
The Cat’s Whiskers
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Yes, those are my cat’s whiskers embedded into my work. Yes, they’re real. No cats were harmed in the making of this piece; I collected the whiskers, from around my house, for a number of years, as they fell out naturally. Yes. I am aware how weird that is and no, I don’t have a problem being the crazy cat lady. Any other questions? No? Good, I’m off to make a tinfoil hat then…
Golden Locks
colored pencil
It’s amazing what you can do with a packet of cheap ($2), colored school pencils. Burnishing on distressed, recycled wood is my new favorite friend!
Grae Hastings 