Thursday, June 19, 2014

Art: Something new with Wildlife and Colored Pencil

 

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This has been a learning experience for me for two reasons.  First I was wanting to challenge myself to do something other than flowers, butterflies, trees and skies. Even though I love those things and it’s what makes me happiest, I still need to branch out.  I have to force myself to do this.  So I chose wildlife, still got some trees, but I tried not to let them take away from the deer.

Another very interesting thing I learned was with the colored pencils.  I had purchased a blending pen for the colored pencils some time ago and was anxious to try it, but when I tried to use it, I found out it just wasn’t for me.  After a few minutes of researching on colored pencil techniques, I found I could just use rubbing alcohol with a Q-tip.  I worked with that awhile and then experimented with a paint brush and the alcohol.

I’m not totally satisfied with the outcome, but for a first attempt, it will do.  I’m excited, knowing that there is a great deal more I can learn about colored pencils and impatient to try them all.

Being self-taught has given me the ability to just dive into different mediums while swallowing back my fear of failure.  Because I know it’s completely up to me whether or not I try, push to learn and accomplish anything.

When you have a love for something and a desire to succeed, it makes a difference in the outcome and your attitude.  If I stop because of failures or fear of failure, I would have stopped along time ago.  And that can be said of me concerning more things than just art.  I would have given up on life.

I am thankful that my heavenly Father has given me a passion for painting and creating through art and to have that same passion for helping others and offering compassion.

Hopefully someone will look at this picture and smile.  Someone might look at this deer and know there is a great and magnificent Creator, the Master Artist, God Himself.

If you want to try this technique, all I can say is just dive in.

1.  Cover a wood panel with white gesso, two or three coats.  Allow each coat to thoroughly dry and lightly sand.  I wish I had of sanded a bit more, the finished product would have been a lot smoother looking.

2. Begin lightly sketching with the colored pencils, using the base colors of each subject.  A gum erasure will erase the colored pencil if you have lightly sketched.

3.  Once you have your picture laid out, begin adding more color.  I always start with the hardest part first or else I will talk myself out of doing it altogether.  So, I started with the deer.

Tips:

The Q-tip dipped in alcohol can be used for larger areas for blending.  I didn’t use the Q-tip at all on the deer.  It is also good for picking the color up off of the painting, leaving a hint of the base color underneath showing.

Use a very small tip brush dipped in alcohol for the smaller areas.

A larger brush dipped in alcohol was great for base coat coloring.

I wouldn’t think this would work on paper of any kind, although I could be wrong I haven’t tried.  If you attempt it let me know how it goes.

Happy, happy painting!

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