Fur In The Paint

So I really am up to the tweaking stage. You know that impossible to tell “exactly” when a painting is done so you keep playing with it and playing with it until you just sort of give up or ruin it.

I have often heard that artists will look at their work in progress pieces in the mirror or upside to sort of fool their conscious mind as to what its seeing and therefor allow you to see your work in a new way. This has never been something I’ve tried, mostly because I don’t have any mirrors big enough to accommodate my larger works.

What I do, do (do-do Ha!) is set my painting on the floor about 6 feet away from the couch and then put my feet up and flip through magazines or call someone to chat. (Yes this is seriously a great way to goof off and still call it work) This step allows me to look at the painting while focusing on something else. Letting my subconscious suck in all the details and make judgement calls on what to do next while I am blissfully unaware of making any real decision.

This has been my plan of action for years and has indeed worked pretty well. But lately my time has become more critical and sitting on the couch often is a bit of a luxury so I have amped up the process with the use of technology.

Essentially I just flip my image around in my photo processor. The smaller image also works in may ways like viewing the piece from a distance.

So what did I learn from this? Well I decided I needed a little more dark green a long the bottom portion of the painting Or perhaps lighten it a little around the nose area. I’ll post the finished painting soon as she has already been sold.

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As I was blissfully adding water to my Inktense Dark Chocolate background I was shocked to see the color had run into the actual lion portion by like an inch. Now I’ve been working on suede for over a year so I am really careful when applying water to background areas. And while I was careful about applying water around the actual cat part, I was sloshing it on by the bucket load in the voluminous background and thus disaster. Apparently what I didn’t factor in was gravity and my drafting table set at a 30% angle. I also didn’t notice right away to the entire bridge of his nose was discolored.

Well it could have been a real disaster but I grabbed a roll of paper towels and began sopping up the color first from the lion and then from the whole upper corner. I folowed that up with adding clean water to the part of the cat where the color wept in and dabbed up again. I repeated this process until the only color remainging was the initial suede board color.

Inktense is a water soluble ink that becomes permanent when dry so had it dried first undoubtedly I never would have been able to remove ALL of the color bleed. But this worked out really well and after it dried thoroughly I simply painted back in his nose.

An easy fix really for what could have potentially ruined my piece.

For more information on working with suede as well as more in depth on my near disaster please visit my Using Watercolor Pencils On Suede Board lens

Well I finally finished off the tutorial on my Watercolor Pencil On Suede Board Page. I had pondered making this a completely separate lens but then thought it was such an obscure topic it would be best served by tagging it onto this Watercolor Pencil Technique Page especially since this painting was also done on suede.

Warning:
Be forewarned there is a gratuitous advert stuck in so you’ll subliminally click on it and and find yourself in the wonderful world of amazonia and unable to resist temptation you buy and buy and buy stuff. (because once you click through it doesn’t really matter at all what you buy I get a teeny tiny fraction of that sale.) And then when something like 100 million of my faithful readers do this I will be rich enough to become Queen Of All She Surveys. and while I suppose technically I kinda am that now, what I currently survey is a brick gallery in need of tuck pointing, a fat gallery cat napping, a half drunk 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke and a floor in need of vacuuming. So yeah I have a ways to go there.

And so in my ongoing plan for world domination (Insert evil Bwa-ha-ha laugh … followed by much coughing) you may be seeing more gratuitous ads, but I promise they will be relevant (even if I have to make something up.)

How To Use Masking Film With A Watercolor Pencil Painting on Suede

The Masking Film Tutorial is on Page 2 I’ve created a summary of the tutorial here but for a more detailed explanation in both photos and words be sure to visit the lens.

The first step of course it to apply the film.
Since this painting was done on a very light (almost white) board it was pretty important to keep it covered so I wouldn’t track and smudge my watercolor pencil (or worse still my water soluble Inktense pencils) all over. So once having gotten the drawing transfered onto the suede I covered it. Masking film is actually kinda expensive and the day I stopped at my local Hobby Lobby they were out. But they had a roll of book covering laying there it it was like $5 so I figured if it didn’t work it would be no great loss.

Klear Cover Grip-Tac Clear Book & Document Preserver 12×20″ 2 rolls

That is what I used for this painting and it worked really well. It had enough tack to cling but removed easily enough. However once removed it didn’t really adhere again well at all. I have no idea if actually masking film would have. I imagine the suede fibers that were pulled loose with the removal of the masking film were a large part to it’s not being functional after the initial use, and I would think this would be a similar problem with any masking film. But I really don’t know for sure.

So at this point I took a sharp scissors and cut away the masking film for the area I wanted to work in. In the photo I have a large scissors and they worked fairly well but I later swapped it out for a small pair which worked much better in the tight spaces.

For the first bird I took a pen and drew (traced over the drawing that still shows through on the suede board) on the masking film using that as my guide. But for the following birds I just cut extremely carefully along the paintings edge. The pen made cutting the masking film easier but is not entirely necessary. Do what works best for you.

I painted in the one bird, sprayed it with a workable fixative and then moved on to cutting out the next bird. This is pretty much a rinse and repeat until I got all the way to the end of my 5 birds.

NOTE:The mask does indeed keep you from tracking color all over but it doesn’t prevent it seeping in under it. So you must be extra careful around the edges. I usually added water within 3/8 inch of the edge and then just scrushed it over to the edge as best I could. Even being very careful I still had some wisking issues.

Removing the masking film and cleaning up the rough edges.
As I said there was some wisking issues to these needed to be fixed before I could call the painting done. I pulled up only the areas of masking film that I was working in at a time and then replaced the film before moving on. It didn’t stick nearly as well but it was better than nothing.

All the finishing work was done with a very sharp dry pencil.

The masking film will remain inplace until framing at which point I will spray one final time with a fixative and pop it in the frame.

Angela asked me to explain about how I use Inktense as my base color on suede. And I thought “Heck why not get a post out of it.” Plus it’s so much easier to explain with pictures. I decided to just show the entire process while I was at it.

The Inktense Pencils are scribbled in (literally) dry. For the areas that I want to be lightest I keep the color to a minimum. Here I used Deep Indigo and Moss Green.

I imagine a brush would work just as well for this but I like the q-tip because I can scrush around the color if I want to. I am pretty sure this would ruin a paint brush.

Note: Once again whenever adding water to suede be aware of it’s wicking tendency so apply water sparingly to the edges.

While the suede is still wet I “impregnate” the suede by rubbing a dry pencil (or Neocolor ll) over the surface. Since Neocolor ll has a tendency to allow only so much pigment to be applied I started doing this with the wc pencil first. Though it turns out when used this way the Neocolor ll works just as well and doesn’t limit the amount of layers I can apply over the top. Here I used a orangey pink color.

Note: Be aware that the you’ll use a lot of pigment (pencil or crayon) this way.

After letting the suede dry completely I begin the dry work which in this photo is just the tips of the horns. You can see the subtle lightening of the image when the suede dries along the area at the base of the horn. I am using both wc pencils and Neocolor LL for this stage.

Note: The impregnation layers looks more intense when everything is still wet. It will lighten and soften when it dries.

And then finish the area and move on. I uses wc pencil as the last medium to cut through the Neocolor ll to create skin texture.

For those of you who are distressed by this
visual, please invert. Then he looks like he’s
running happily, um . . . at high speeds and
with his eyes closed.

This is not something I’ve ever done. Paint a dead horse that is.

And by “dead horse” I mean a horse that has passed from this life into the next not (see artist rendering right.)

So this is my first go dealing with the issues that arise from doing a portrait of a horse that has left this plain of existence some 20 odd years ago.

Seriously, I don’t know how you portrait artists do it.

Step 1. Acquire as many reference photos as possible. In my case this was 6. Six very old, yellowed and definition-less photos from various ages and angles.

Step 2. Vent. How can there only be 6. She had the horse for like 20 years? Yes the horse died over 20 years ago but still . . . 6?

Okay maybe this is totally normal. I sometimes forget that I am a bit of a photograph taking freak.

Of these, two of them are impossibly blurry. Two of them are photographically distorted (see my drawing of Cisco to understand what I mean) and then the Two usable photos were shown in a previous post.

Step 3.Play with them in Photoshop to maximize the information that you can get from them.

Step 4. Look through mountain of my reference photo stash for horse of similar build to provide the missing information not available from incredibly old photos.

I want to clarify that what I mean is, I found a similarly built horse that I like the lighting and features of, and I plan too use it to help fill out my Buddy portrait. All the the reference photos I have of Buddy were pretty much without any definition. Basically the white is all blown out and the dark is completely dark.

Step 5. Begin.

Caran D’ Ache Neocolor II: I love them
Recently I stopped by a Dick Blick and bought some open stock of several different types of water soluble media, that I haven’t yet tried. I bought a few of these things (photo left) and fell in love.

They lay down pigment beautifully. They are not as soluble as I am used to, but make up for it with ease of application and pigment coverage.

Working on suede they seemed to burnish it down quickly. I imagine the wax (though they feel quite dry and sharpen nicely) binds the fibers down. So they may not be best suited for suede work or at least used sparingly on suede.

I’m going to have to pop over to Robert Sloan’s website to see what he might have to say about them. Robert is an excellent resource for this kind of information since he buys sets of things and tries them out. And then generously shares the info. I do that too mind you. But Robert is the mountain to my molehill when it comes to product testing.

No They’re Not Crayons. They’re A Fine Art Medium. (But yeah, *sigh* they totally look like crayons.)
Every time someone would look over my shoulder while I was working on my sheep painting at the last art event, and ask me what I was using. I found myself rushing to tell them that they are water soluble wax pastels, despite their crayon like appearance. I mean I felt a little weird, because I’m like “Buy my original painting for $2500. And oh by the way, did you see I’m working in Crayola.” I had to control the urge to hold one up and force them to read the description of the side.

Perhaps my issue arises from the “idea” of crayon as a fine art medium. Maybe had I had . . . you know like real artsy schooling I’d be totally fine it. I’m feeling a little better now. So yeah, okay they look like crayons. But it says clearly on the label “wax pastel.”

So I’m all good.

UPDATED I just looked online at cheap joes art supplies because I’m gonna get myself a set. And they have them listed as . . . crayons.

(Heavy Sigh) Awesome.

Here’s the latest.
His neck is looking a little weird and wrinkly here, which is how it is in the reference photo (which I will be posting as soon as I take the time to scan it in.) I will be making it more subtle once I get my mane in. Or eliminating it all together if it still bothers me.

I have somewhere around 20 different colors used in my horse’s coat color with very little black. The majority of my base coat is done in Ink Tense Deep Indigo and Dark Chocolate with a little Derwent Rexal Blue Gray. I’m not really relying heavily on any one brand of WC Pencil here. I’m using Ink Tense, Derwent Rexel, Faber Castell and Prismacolor.

His coat is made up of various shades of violet, indigo, and cocoa-y earthy colors. I’m using the browns to offset the unreality of the violets. Mike says I should leave my horse purple and blue. He’s all “What’s that you always say? . . . Let’s not quibble over reality.” I think the deciding factor in how realistic the horse gets portrayed will depend heavily on the background.

Black horses are rarely black. (But then nor are they all that often purple.) About the only time a horse stays black is if it is kept in the barn, sometimes for the express purpose of doing so. (Which I have serious problems with. But perhaps if I were a breeder I’d think differently.) Otherwise they fade in the sun (just like everything else.)

Photo Right is of my tracing. (It shows up better than my drawings in photos) I included it so you could get an idea of where this is all going. The plan is to have the mane flying every which-a-way,

I am so glad I discovered this tracing off my drawings. I may have not figured it out for doing suede had I already not been doing it for the handmade paper.

I’m not sure this really needs a step by step but there are a few things I’ve learned that may be useful to someone. I perhaps should have waited to do this on something other than a black horse. But here we are.

This painting is done a crescent matboard C7101 Perle.

Step 1: (Photo Left: Bottom of jaw) Color is lightly scribbled in DRY. If you press too hard you may mar the suede. You can apply color densely, just do it with minimal pressure.

Step 2: Apply water. (Photo Left: bulk of face) I’ve been using a Q-tip to do this, since it holds more water than a brush and yet no too much. Work quickly to allow for a smooth absorption so when it’s dry there will be no hard edges.

Remember Suede absorbs and pulls (wicks) moisture and color onto dry areas. So apply water to outline areas carefully.

Step 3: Wait until area is completely dry. (bottom right photo) Then you can begin working the area with either another layer of wash or the dry detail work. Since this is a black horse. I tried to keep my color mid-range so I could go lighter and darker with ease.

A Question
Something I’m considering doing for this painting is creating a covering for the background part. WC Pencil does dust some and will transfer. Again since this a dark horse I certainly don’t want it to dust onto my negative space, which will eventually become a soft blue/green background. I’m thinking some sort of low tack paper to create a mask to protect my negative space.

Has anyone ever done this? I’m thinking CP artists working on velour paper, but anyone who may have tried this or something else. (I pondered a workable fixative but I’m dubious)

I’d love to hear if anyone has created a barrier and if it was successful.

Just so you know, today was supposed to be a no post day for me. I was supposed to be tripping through pony muffins at this very moment. But alas it was not to be.

You see Carol Herden, my very talented sculptor friend had invited me to go along to the Iowa State Fair to deliver the awards she had created for the Percheron competition and then we would just play. I imagine we’d look at horses exhibits, look at art exhibits, eat fair food, ride fair rides, loose our lunches from too much tilt-a-whirl. You know. . . the usual. Plus we haven’t seen each other since our trip to the Kentucky Horse Park last year. And now she’s moving to MN so I’ll see her even less. Well maybe not less, but not any more either. So I was really amped for a day of frivolous play with a friend I rarely see. And yes, this is where the Fates stepped in.

She had called a week or two back and had told me all about an artistic catastrophe she was going through with a big order for a big client. Well this catastrophe landed physically back in her lap this very morning. And so she, being the conscientious artist she is, wanted to get right on resolving the problem.

Okay so your thinking well that’s an interesting coincidence but you can’t really blame the Fates can you? Well get this . . . her neighbors just happened to be going to the fair today and just happened to stop in and tell her. And upon hearing her story, they offered to deliver the awards for her. (sigh)

She apologized profusely and hoped that I understood. Which of course I said that I did (and I do) even though at that moment what I was really thinking was “Oh crap on a cracker!”

At any rate I am here at the gallery, so I thought I should make a post since I’m on some sort of freaky post-a-thon with like 10 days in a row or something. Which for me, is like some kind of Christmas miracle . . . or at the very least a record.

So ahem . . . here’s actually something to do with art
I got a new color shaper last time I was at Wet Paint in St. Paul, MN. (the all time best art supply store that I’ve ever been in. That may be more about my living in the boonies than anything. But I think on the whole it is an awesome art supply store, regardless.)

The photo above left shows my new shaper compared to one of my old ones with a penny thrown in for scale. I bought my old shaper set through Cheap Joe’s (my all time favorite on-line art supply store) but since I couldn’t see them I had no idea how big they were. I love my new one, as in I haven’t touched the old shapers since I got it.

I have no idea what these things are actually made for. (If anyone knows, please fill me in.) A watercolorist friend of mine says she uses them for scraping away still wet paint before it soaks in the paper. At any rate, I use them to blend out the edges that I don’t want my oil pastels to blend out. (okay, that’s not so very clear)

So for instance the area between my bear and the background. I don’t want to muddy my yellows and I want crisp marks into the background. So I smooth with this thingy. The chisel tip is 1/4 wide and very firm.

Note: My Bear painting is done and will post completed image soon. Also I’m making progress on my rooster. At least I’m getting some art done even though I’d rather be eating corn dogs right now.

I thought I’d better post another work in progress shot, since apparently I gave the wrong impression when i said my last wip was at an “ugly stage.” (which it was)

But that didn’t mean I was worried that it wouldn’t work out. It just meant if I had my preference I wouldn’t let it be seen in an ugly stage. I’m working on pushing my comfort levels and so posting it in less than perfection is a good exercise for me.

I’m still working with the legs. And am not quite happy with them, I’ll continue to work on them. Of course I could ruin the piece at any time, but I am not worried that I will. I just gotta keep pluggin’ away at it.

A few things I’ve learned about suede.
Suede is far more durable than I would have thought. In it’s framing application it is rather delicate and the surface papers mark and mar easily. However, as an art surface it takes a great deal of punishment in regards to layering in color with sharp pencils. Because of this you can get a high degree of realism. Unlike paper though, you can’t wet the surface and push color around.

Color can be removed “lifted” with Q-tip. I did this gently but it worked as effectively as if I was lifting it off paper. In fact I worked a bit rougher than had I do when working on paper and surprisingly, it didn’t hurt the surface.

A Couple of Tips

A word of caution.
I would recommend using water sparingly. Matboard is nothing more than several sheet of paper adhered together. Too much water will cause the board to warp and cause the papers to separate.