This winter has been one of pondering and looking at old things with a new eye. I am moving in a slightly different direction with my art and it has brought about some necessary introspection. Now, in the description of this blog I say that my art focuses on the delights of life, mostly on the relationship between children and animals. And that continues to be true. And in recent years I have spent much more time creating pencil art than painting or working in collage. And that continues to be true. The truth is the changes stirring now may seem much bigger to me than to the one viewing the art. We'll see what you think in time. As my pondering has been on a very personal level, I've not shared the process. But soon I will begin sharing the artistic results.
In the meantime, I have completed two more faces for the 100 Faces in 365 Days project. These faces are quite imperfect as they are journal faces and not polished completed portraits. But as I perpetually tell my students, journal pages should be fun and free from the confines of perfection. And so I share them here.
This tiger cub is Derwent Graphic Pencil on Moleskine soft cover journal. The paper is not the best for blending graphite and it is buckled as a layer of paint was added to the back of the page on another day. I do like the expression in his sweet curious eyes.
This is a pretty small drawing (about 3" x 4") done with Derwent Tinted Charcoal on Strathmore 500 Charcoal Paper. I've never been fond of charcoal paper as I don't like the grid-like texture. I was hoping the 500 charcoal paper would have a less invasive texture than what I had experienced previously in lesser charcoal papers. And it was better. But the grid still shows more than I prefer.
I usually use Vellum Bristol Board paper or Mixed Media Paper for charcoal. It has enough tooth to cooperate with the charcoal but has no distinctive texture to distract from the drawing. But its white and I yearn to draw on colors.
I love the colors of the Strathmore Toned Paper. The particular gray and Kraft brown are so pretty and they look amazing with the Tinted Charcoal. But the paper is just a bit too smooth to work as well as I would like with charcoal, especially to get detail in shading. I contacted Strathmore pleading with them to make Bristol Board Vellum in the Toned Paper colors. They said they would consider it but asked me to consider their 500 Charcoal papers. Besides the ever present charcoal grid texture, the charcoal paper colors are not the same as the nice pretty Toned Paper colors. And so, I am back at square one. So, that's my 2 cents on that matter.
Wind and Honey Creations
Creative Pencils - Online Drawing Lessons
