Starting a new drawing on Rtistx board
When I start a new drawing on paper, I jump right in and start laying out the drawing directly on the drawing surface. Not so with a sanded surface, such as the Rtistx board I’m using for my new drawing of stones in a bowl of water. The sanded surface is nearly impossible to erase lines from, so I follow a system that seems to work well for me, and I think many artists must do very much the same. (I would be most interested to hear what others do when laying out a drawing on Ampersand Pastel board, Rtistx, or a sanded paper – so feel free to share!)
My first step is to create a basic line drawing – not too detailed, but everything in it’s place, on drawing paper at actual size, as below.
Then I make a copy of this drawing onto a piece of tracing paper, as follows.
Next I take the tracing paper drawing and layer it on top of the Rtistx board, with a piece of transfer paper in between, to offset the drawing onto the board.
Below is the finished product, a transferred line drawing of my future drawing on the piece of Rtistx board.
I’ve been working on this piece for a week and making good progress, so my next post will include a recent photo of the drawing. To close I wanted to share something that I discovered for the first time, which I know many other colored pencil artists have experienced. . . . inconsistent product color. As you can see in the photo below, both pencils are Prismacolor Grayed Lavender, but the lead color is quite different. Fortunately I had several pencils of each, varying shade and was able to continue without difficulty. But it was a head’s up for me to always check the consistency of color when changing pencils.
Hi Debbi; that is so true about working on sandpaper and similar surfaces. Because one cannot sketch and erase, its important that that image be placed correctly the first time. My own techniques for doing so are very similar to yours. I also have used the grid method with certain compositions (the rope and pulley for instance), laying in the grid lines very lightly on the sandpaper, and then drawing the image.
I look forward to seeing this drawing develop.
Comment by Lynda — Sunday, February 7, 2010 @ 9:54 pm
I really like how you show the entire process! Those are some fancy-looking pencils haha . . . hard to believe they can make shades of lavender that different in color and put them into a pencil casing. These are the things a pilot thinks of when he sees colored pencils…lol
Comment by Alex — Monday, February 8, 2010 @ 12:35 am
Lynda, I’m curious what scale grid did you use? One inch? And what did you use to lay out the drawing, graphite pencil, colored pencil?
Alex, it’s fascinating to learn what a pilot thinks of when he see things. I think you have the makings of a very funny blog here. . . .
Comment by Debbi — Monday, February 8, 2010 @ 7:24 am
If I remember correctly, for that one I used a 2-inch grid. I lay it out with colored pencil very lightly; though on a surface other than sandpaper something else may work better.
Comment by Lynda — Monday, February 8, 2010 @ 11:22 am
Debbi, my process for getting the drawing onto the board is the same as yours, except I skip the transfer paper and just go over the surface of the back side of the tracing or drawing with either an ebony drawing pencil or a white pastel pencil. I only do the areas where there are lines, not the whole paper. Then I use a hard pencil to transfer. I have been using gray pastelbord exclusively for a while, and this seems to work with it pretty well.
I’ve also used a grid to draw directly onto the board from sight. The biggest headache with that was removing the grid lines, because, even though they were light, I was still seeing them through my drawing in the early stages, and it was freaking me out!
Comment by LizP — Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 9:41 am
That’s a great idea Liz. A salesperson at Blick’s told me one can make their own transfer paper (much like you mentioned, except using a graphite and solvent mixture, and waiting for it to dry), but I was too lazy to add another step to the process. I can imagine seeing the grid persist in your working drawing was upsetting. I wouldn’t like that at all. Hope all is well with you!
Comment by Debbi — Wednesday, February 10, 2010 @ 8:49 pm
Debbie,
Color pencil is a special medium, when mastered there are no limits. When displayed under light they come alive. Love your work.
Comment by Kenneth Allen — Tuesday, March 9, 2010 @ 1:09 am