Fur In The Paint

I recently read an article about a couple of artists who work on suede mat board with colored pencils. I know several artists who use pastel on suede and I have always admired the effects they achieved. But I had not heard of colored pencils being used on suede. Apparently the artists used some turps to intensify the color of the pencils.

So I thought “Well heck. I should have a go with water color pencils. As long as I keep the water use to a minimum it shouldn’t affect the matboard adversely.”

Since I didn’t want to ruin the suede by trying to erase on it, I began like I do with my handmade paper pieces. That is, I drew out my image on a separate piece of paper and traced it over, onto the suede. This worked quite well.

It is way too early for me to develop any concrete opinions about suede matboard and WC Pencils, But so far I am liking it.

I think that anyone wanting to go for that photo-realistic look would be pleased with it. (Which of course is common knowledge to pastel artists and apparently colored pencil artists as well.) The suede maintains a soft look no matter how many watercolor pencil layers I apply. It is almost effortless.

I should also say that after the initial few minutes at the beginning I haven’t added any water. The WC Pencils seem to have strong enough color without adding the liquid.

Tomorrow I will post the reference photo and talk a little more about size and matboard color used as well as any additional wip photos..

Tags: technique, WIP

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