'Orchids' WIP continued

Here is what my Orchids on Stonehenge looks like now. It is is almost finished. I need to spend some time tweaking the veins in the petals. Once it is completely finished, I shall post a picture of it alongside the version that I did on the Colorfix pastel paper.

Orchids on Stonehenge WIP

It is looking better now...please note that the background colour isn't as dark as it appears in the photo. Also, the finished composition will be different as I will be cropping it when it is matted.

As I mentioned in the last post, when I began working on the flowers I started with the areas with the darkest values. Here you can see that I worked those areas quite a bit. Satisfied that I had established my darkest values, I started to work on the upper right and left petals. I worked on the upper right one first and then the left one. I work on areas like this separately because I don't want to miss the uniqueness of the different petals. For example, if I applied a base layer all over the right one and then did the same thing on the left and then repeated this with each colour, there would be the possibility that I would miss subtle differences in shading and colour between the two petals.

I am working from the top of the flowers down. If I had done the lower petals first, my hand would be positioned over the finished petals while I worked on the upper ones. I don't typically work with a hand guard. While coloured pencil pigment doesn't usually smear (oil based pencils are more prone to this or if you have a lot of dark pigment applied it will), I prefer not to have my hand resting on a finished part of the paper. While the upper blossoms are not finished, I have the majority of the base colours down.

Orchids on Stonehenge WIP

One of the reasons I created this blog was so that people who were interested in coloured pencil could get a sense of how an artist actually uses them. When I first started my art journey, I really would have appreciated an opportunity to watch over someone's shoulder as they worked. Even today I would like to hang out in another artist's studio...you can learn a lot by watching someone work. Therefore, I shall try to detail some of the steps involved in creating this new piece. Please keep in mind that this is just my way of working, there are many ways to use coloured pencils.

First of all, I am redoing the orchids (as seen in previous posts on pastel paper). This time I am using a white printmaking paper, Stonehenge brand. To start, I transferred my drawing to the Stonehenge using a lightbox. I drew on my Stonehenge using a gray Col-Erase pencil (made by Sanford). I prefer this to graphite as it is a soft pencil and therefore less likely to score the paper. It also erases beautifully. I don't mind drawing over the Col-Erase lines if I am using a dark coloured pencil. If you use a graphite pencil for your drawing make sure that you use very light pressure. Graphite seems a bit greasy and it can smear. Essentially you want the lines of the drawing to be barely visible. Once my drawing was completed I lifted off some of the excess pencil pigment with reusable adhesive.

My next step was to do the background. I chose to work on the background first as I would be building up the colours in the orchids in relation to whatever colour the background became.

Why did I create a yellowish background? First of all, I love the colour. :-) Secondly, most of my paintings have a light background and I would say that this is part of my style. Orchids are delicate looking and I like the fact that the light background doesn't overpower the flowers. Third, the blossoms will end up being various shades of violet and the background colour is opposite violet on the colour wheel. I like using complementary colours in my work.

Using Prismacolor pencils, I started the background with a layer of Cream, using a vertical stroke. I added two more layers of colour on top, Sand and Jasmine. By establishing a light coloured layer first, the following darker layers look more even. The background didn't take long. I erased any visible pencil lines outlining the blossom edges as I coloured up to them.

Next I layered in some colours for the stem and then I went to work on the darkest areas of the piece. I like to establish my darks first as again, I will colour the rest of the blossoms in relation to the depth of values I achieve here. I establish my darks by working light to dark. I took a close up photo to show you just how light I start off in the beginning. This slow build up of colour isn't necessary, it is just how I like to work. I like to gradually build up colour as this way I can change direction easily. As I have control of the developing colour, I find I don't end up having to lift colour. In the second picture, you might be able to see how light my pressure is. I don't burnish and there is still lots of tooth visible in the paper. Keep in mind that I will be adding more pencil layers so I don't want to completely fill the tooth of the paper. You can also see that I have begun to play with building up the violet colour in the petals. It doesn't look too attractive at the moment but it will get there.

Outside the Box Orchid WIP

For my next piece, I chose an orchid picture. I went 'outside the box' on this one in a couple of ways. First of all, this is my first time using a photo that I didn't take. This picture was taken by my husband and yes I have his permission to use it :-) While the lighting in the photo makes for a fine photo, it isn't my usual preference for lighting a subject that will become a painting. My normal way of working is to have strong contrasts between light and shadow. I enjoy playing up these values and I think it makes for a more interesting piece. Having said that, I find myself liking pieces by other artists that have flattened values. Such pieces tend to have a peaceful quality. High contrasts often lend an air of energy or excitement to a work. I like it when an artist is confident enough to break the rules. I loved the photo so I decided to get out of my box and work on this image as it...I would resist the temptation to punch up the values.

My next step outside the box was in choosing a new support...coloured pastel paper. Pastel paper is paper that is coated with a gritty surface (similar to sandpaper). This type of paper is used by painters and pencil artists. It isn't just for pastel. I love working on a medium toothed, white printmaking paper but I decided to challenge myself by working on this surface. I have messed about with pastel paper but this was going to be an attempt at a 'real' work.

This photo shows that this is very much a work in progress. You can see that I am using a burgundy coloured paper. Very dark indeed. You cannot apply as many layers to this surface as you can other papers. What surprised me was that as I worked a sheen started to develop! I have never had this happen before. Definitely a signal that the surface was getting coated with the waxy pigment and it wouldn't be taking many more layers. I am using primarily Prismacolor pencils. You have to use heavier pressure to get results and it of course 'eats' your pencils more than smoother surfaces. On the plus side, I found it much faster to work this way and you can actually erase pigment from this surface. Okay, back to the studio...