Sunday 13 November 2011

Forget-me-nots WIP 1


8" x 8"  Caran d'Ache and Faber Castell Pencils on Deep Ultra Colourfix paper

Thank you to Ognjen Karabegovic for use of his original photo. 



I started this just yesterday, having cropped and re-orientated the image.  The original photo stands as a piece of art in its own right, I think, but I wanted to focus in on a small cluster of these flowers and see what I could do with it ... couldn't resist!

So, here's my offering at the very start of the drawing.  Yes, it's dark, isn't it?  It will emerge much brighter as I progress, well that's the plan anyway!  I've not used this paper colour before, bit of a gamble, but I think it will serve as a good base for the colours in the image and, of course, it will also provide the drama I like so much.

I'm using the Caran d'Ache Supracolor again, they work so well on this paper and sharpen to a lovely fine point.  The blues are good but they are all quite cool (greenish) so I'm also using some Faber Castell Polychromos warmer blues, notably Ultramarine, Light Ultramarine and Helioblue-Reddish.  I tried out some Prismacolor blues but the first one I used, Powder Blue, promptly broke ... and kept breaking until I blitzed it in the microwave oven for 20 seconds!  Well, you know, I shouldn't have to do this to a pencil to get it to perform, should I?  I don't have this problem with ANY of the other pencil brands I use.  So please, please, Prismacolor makers, before you produce any more fab colours for your range, can you sort out the breakage problem first!  It's no good having a million whizzy colours and high lightfast rankings if the pencils keep breaking!  I know I'm not the only one to have noticed this.

Ok, whinge over.  I'm off to get back to my Forget-me-nots ...  Think I'll have dinner first, I'm hungry!

Added later ... Just discovered that forget-me-nots are a symbol of remembrance.  How fitting then for today is Remembrance Sunday ... Lest We Forget.

2 comments:

Sue Clinker said...

I haven't got any Supracolor pencils. I'll obviously have to add them to my ever-increasing 'wish list' as my attempts with cps on Colourfix paper (and Fisher 400) were horrible failures - though I love the papers for pastel.

This is looking good already Janet.

Janet Pantry said...

Thanks Sue. Re. the Colourfix, I think the roughness of the surface puts people off but I like the texture coming through in the drawing. For me, choosing the paper colour to match the colours in the image, and the mood I want to create, is key. If that's 'right' then it all seems to fall into place.

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