New Drawing Installment and News
I’ve been working on this new drawing for about four weeks and the background and top of the glass vase are almost done. It’s a large drawing (about 20 x 15 inches) on Bristol Board, and it’s interesting to switch back to a flat paper surface after working on the textured Rtistx for a couple of pieces. I have to be very careful to leave the whiter/lighter areas intact, as there’s no going back once they go too dark. On the sanded surface, you can keep changing the color, adding whites or light tones on top of darks, nothing is a problem. But on paper that type of option is lost very quickly. I started the background by layering two to four different shades of Caran D’ache Aquarelle pencil colors and then blending the colors with a wet brush. Then I started in with Prismacolor pencils, first using Limepeel, then Grass Green, Olive Green, Peacock Green, Black Cherry and some Dark Umber. Certain lighter places have some Yellow Ochre in them, and most places (except the darkest darks) are burnished with a pale light blue. I know it’s not the most simplistic approach, but I love the color transparencies that one can achieve by layering this way.
My drawing “Amber Bowl” is currently in the Academic Artist Association’s 60th Annual National Exhibition in Springfield, MA, and was awarded the Windsor-Newton Award. The big red letter day fast approaching for all of us colored pencil artists is the announcement of the jurying results for this year’s CPSA International Exhibition, which will be made public on April 26th.
Congratulations on your well-deserved award, Debbi; “Amber Bowl” is a beautiful piece.
You are achieving lovely variations with your greens in the background of this piece. Like it so far!
Comment by Lynda — Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 8:03 pm
The color combinations seem so interesting and yet you have developed a fantastic and intriguing color! I’m eager to see the progression!
I’ve never worked with the Aquarelles. Are they similar to the neocolors or are they the same?
10 days and counting…I know you’ll be on the list. Good luck!
Comment by Dianna — Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 8:05 pm
Thank you Lynda. I’ll bet this background looks pretty bright to you. . . and if you ever want to silence your critics (and you know who I mean!!
) you can refer them to this background. They’ll never say your work is too bright ever again.
Dianna, Thanks stopping by again. I think the Aquarelles are different from the neocolors in that the Aquarelles seem more like a “regular” colored pencil, whereas the neocolors are more like a grease crayon.
Comment by Debbi — Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 8:19 pm
Hi Debbi, I can’t wait to see your new drawing finished. Congratulations for your recent award for “Amber Bowl”!
Comment by Ester Roi — Friday, April 16, 2010 @ 8:28 pm
Congratulations on your award!! The background looks fabulous. And as Dianna said, you will be on the list.
Comment by Teresa Mallen — Saturday, April 17, 2010 @ 6:48 am
Thanks Ester – I can’t wait to see the drawing finished either!
Teresa, I appreciate your comments and support. But who knows who will be on that list! (Only the shadow knows. . . or in this case, the juror). I hope to see all of you in California at the convention this July.
Comment by Debbi — Saturday, April 17, 2010 @ 7:48 am
Congratulations on your award, Debbi! I am continually amazed at how you take ordinary objects and turn them into fascinating, beautiful pieces of art.
Comment by Holly Bedrosian — Monday, April 19, 2010 @ 12:00 pm
This is beautiful! How about you leave it unfinished like that George Washington painting? All the famous people are doing it lol! I think this would guarantee your painting’s fame
But for real, I really like this new perspective of looking in on rocks from the side and am interested to see how you tackle the challenge of depicting this situation.
Comment by Your Frat Son — Tuesday, April 20, 2010 @ 2:12 am
Dear Frat Son,
Seriously (not), that applies to working up the more interesting area of an image, and leaving the surrounding/background areas less developed. I think this “Frat Son” has a pickled brain. 
But bloggers are always happy to have a comment (as long as it’s not spam) so you are most welcome to drop in and share your erudite opinions.
In an effort to identify that you are indeed who you say you are, please leave evidence. I would like a list of Three (3!) famous artists who are leaving their paintings unfinished.
Comment by Debbi — Tuesday, April 20, 2010 @ 9:35 am
Hola Debbie! thank you very much for your excellent bolg, I like the pictures step by step and show your work and great ideas, this is an inspiration for any artist. A big greeting from Mexico.
Gabo
Comment by GABRIEL VAZQUEZ — Tuesday, April 20, 2010 @ 12:10 pm
Hi Gabo – thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment. I’m glad you can find some ideas and inspiration here. What type of work do you do? I was just in Tuscon, AZ this morning – as close as I’ll get to Mexico for a while, I’m afraid. My best to you!
Comment by Debbi — Thursday, April 22, 2010 @ 7:18 pm
1) me you and drunk people = 3 people!!!!!!
I do not have a pickled brain i have an amazing brain. my opinions have always been erudite if you wanna use big words like that. supercalifragilisticexpialidocious
Comment by Alex — Friday, April 23, 2010 @ 11:52 pm