Comments on: Starting a new drawing on Rtistx board

By: Kenneth Allen

Kenneth Allen — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 06:09:12 +0000

Debbie,

Color pencil is a special medium, when mastered there are no limits. When displayed under light they come alive. Love your work.

By: Debbi

Debbi — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:49:31 +0000

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!

By: LizP

LizP — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:41:27 +0000

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!

By: Lynda

Lynda — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:22:59 +0000

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.

By: Debbi

Debbi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:24:00 +0000

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. . . .

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:35:12 +0000

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

By: Lynda

Lynda — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 02:54:00 +0000

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.