Fur In The Paint

Here is a brief post about how I went about applying layers and the watercolor pencil colors I used. I am finding photographing suede matboard eternally annoying. As the day progresses the light changes and thus, the suede never looks the same, no matter how much I play with it in photoshop. (sigh)

Watercolor Pencil guide abbreviations
Windsor Newton Rexel Derwent=RD
Faber Castell=FC
Aquarelle=A

The Base Colors
RD Burnt Yellow Ochre (the yellow color)
Followed by FC Brown Ochre. (more of a brown gold)
Then I apply FC Sanguine (the orangish color)
As always, my pencil strokes match the direction the hair runs.

After FC Sanguine is applied over entire surface (not completely done in this photo)
I begin to work in the medium tones and darks.

Midtone Range Colors
FC Indian Red
FC Venetian Red
FC Cinnimon
RD Terracotta
RD Venetian Red

Dark Color Range
FC Wine red
FC Caput Mortuum
RD Chocalate
RD Delft Blue
RD Medium Dark Violet
RD Black

I finish in with the darkest darks and the highlight areas.

Light Range Colors
FC Medium Flesh
RD Flesh Pink
A #429

That’s pretty much it. After the foal is done I will go in and adjust highlights and shadows to appear more uniform. Then again after the background is added.

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..

My favorite support for working with oil pastels, (other than handmade paper) is Museum Board. Awhile back, Angela Finney asked me what museum board actually was. So here is my reply, only with a few more facts thrown in, instead of stuff off the top of my head.

What is it?
Museum board looks like matboard and is made by matboard companies. It can be used for matting purposes, archival framing or as a work surface. It is 100% cotton fibers pressed into a board the same overall dimensions as matboard (32×40.)

Museum board looks like matboard and is made by matboard companies.

It comes is varying thickness’s like 2ply (similar to 140# hot press watercolor paper) 4 ply (slightly thicker than matboard) 6ply, 8 ply (very rigid, thicker than 2 sheets matboard) and also a 12ply which I’ve never used.

It comes in a several colors: grays, tans, beiges, white, off-white, black and rouge. Both Bainbridge and Crescent mat companies makes around 25 different shades. I’ve tried the rouge and grays, but really prefer the white. Because Oil Pastels aren’t completely opaque some of the board color effects the OP color. (Though I imagine color pencil artists would be more knowledgable as how to work on colored surfaces than I.) Unlike matboard the color is solid throughout.

It costs more than matboard. I think on average it costs me $12-14 per sheet, (for 4ply, 2ply is less and 8ply more) where acid free matboard cost me $6-9 per sheet. (I’m talking the cost or a retailer, meaning if you purchased it at your local artshop or frameshop, it may well be twice that.)

Why I use it.
I mostly use the 4 ply because the 8ply is a bugger to cut even with a matcutter. I prefer museum board to matboard because it is considerably more rigid (despite being a similar thickness) and to be honest it sounds sooooo much better on artshow applications. (Wordage is very important for these kinds of things.)

Which sounds better?

Oil pastel on matboard.
Oil pastel on Museum Board.

We had visited our neighbor last night, and on our way out she offered to let me take some peonies home. They had been storm battered and wouldn’t last much longer anyway, so I plucked one. (Yes only one, I had to remind myself it was not proper etiquette to scamper willy-nilly about the yard, gathering them up by the dozens.) This morning I awoke to find it had opened up into this lovely flower, and I couldn’t resist taking a few photos. The darker ones are from my garden. (In this instance the word garden is used in the loosest possible way.)

Now the number of flower paintings that I have created in my lifetime, can probably (meaning that’s all I can remember) be counted on one hand. (Yup, that many.) But for some reason I can’t quite stop myself from taking lots and lots of pictures. Hmmm. The inner workings of a critter artist’s mind. Maybe it has something to do with my complete adoration of Georgia O’keefe.

Back to the Lighting.
Anywho, good lighting can make the difference between an ordinary photograph (and thus generally an ordinary painting) and a stunning piece. Good lighting can bring much needed contrast between shadow and highlight. Most of the time when I am photographing critters, I have to take what lighting there is. But for this I get to play around a bit.

The first photo (above) is just using the overhead light as well as the natural light from the window. It offers an okay amount of contrast. It would probably give me enough information to make a passably good painting. (If I were so inclined, and if I used loads of artistic juju to bump up the contrast while in the process of painting.)

The second photo is the flower lit using a natural spectrum light bulb from my drafting table, as well as overhead and natural sunlight from the window. I placed the lamp at a 45 degree angle from the windows. It not only added contrast, but also a myriad of soft and subtle hues of pink, yellow and blue. Lovely! (Plus, it will require much less of the juju to make a great painting.)

Had I been really feeling the flower power, I would have spritzed it gently with a water bottle, to mimic dew. It’s almost enough to make a critter artist think about painting peonies. Or maybe I am just drunk on the sweet smell of flowers that is currently permeating the gallery.

From Concept to Creation
This oil pastel, is as of yet, un-named. I am considering a couple of things, but nothing is firm. The size is currently 16×23.

I don’t think I realized just how much my artwork was influenced by compositional elements, until I started my artist journal, followed by the magazine articles and now the blog. I have always been sort of a visceral artist. I never really devoted great deals of thought, about how and why I do what I do. But since I have been keeping a constant written commentary about my artwork and how it’s created, I have really learned a lot about myself and my work.

Composition
It is the simple looking portraits that rely heavily on composition to make them interesting. It becomes about form and line, pattern and negative space.

The real desire for doing this painting was (as always) the horse. I love him. He is part of a matched team of Percherons that I had seen at two different events last summer. This guy in particular is stunning. I followed him around like a groupie, madly snapping pictures. His expressive eye and head shape are simply gorgeous. The reference photos below, are from both events. These are my main photo references for this painting. But I have around 20 others on my drafting table to look at for various reasons. Including another team that I photographed 15 some odd years ago, at a pull in South Dakota.

I could say putting him in front of a steel trailer, was totally a commentary on the draft horse’s usefulness in todays society, as most drafts aren’t really workers anymore. But in truth, I liked the compositional elements of the geometric shapes, set against his soft curves. I chose a roached mane (shaved close to the neck) because it strengthened the vision of that iconic working horse. And I will put him against the steel trailer (actually, it is probably aluminum) because of the symbolism it represents.

Subtle Differences
I spent around 20 hours draw time on him. This would seem to me a good argument for projecting. That being said, I made several small changes that I would not have been able to do, unless I had the ability to draw what I see. So please, learn to draw first, then project when necessary.

Most of the draw time was spent on the harness, which always takes a huge amount of time to get right. Also, I changed my mind in-process and had to re-draw the collar area. At first, my drawing didn’t have the reins draped over the hames of the collar. I thought it made the image too complex. But once I decided to removed the bridle and to roach the mane, suddenly it needed them there to add interest. I also changed the harness from a modern BioThane to a leather. I just love a horse that looks like it works for a living.

Quick Tip
I cannot draw a horse facing left, from a photo of a horse facing right. A person who is more photoshop loving than I, could just scan it in, flip the image, print it out and tah da! But being more lazy than that, I just held the photo face up to my table light, and drew from the ghost image on the back. All I really needed was the basic shapes. I have used my lamps to reverse the image many times. Extremely quick and quite effective.

So here’s the latest on my work in progress (WIP) on Catch’s portrait. I am totally loving working with watercolor pencils again. But it is really kinda of hard on my hands. The callus that was on my index finger from years of being a pencil artist, has all but disappeared in the past two years of working in oil pastel. Maybe it’s because I am getting older and my joints can’t take the stress like before. Or maybe it is just because I am going at it full tilt, and working 4-7 hours at a whack every day, (having too way much fun to stop.) But my hands are all achy and crampy. Sigh.

Anyway, here’s the worst bit. So I go and stand by my husband who is working on the computer, and say something similar to the above paragraph, but with a whining intonation. He briefly glances at me. I hold up my hand in a claw-like gesture like I’m some B-movie villian, to impress upon him the severity of my condition. Mike, never one to pander to my whining, rolls his eyes, looks back to the computer and says “Well babe, there’s a reason you switched to oil pastels.” Humph! Maybe I’ll go talk to the cat.

I thought I would do a detailed, step by step on doing horse hair using watercolor pencils. This painting is being done on Arches 140# hot press watercolor paper. If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Here, I applied the base colors dry. I tend to scribble with little thought, other than following the directions that the hairs run.

Colors used: Chocolate, Dark Blue, Indigo Blue and Violet/Wine

Note: The colors mentioned are descriptive names, NOT the actual names on the pencils. Why did I do it this way? Well heres an example, Sanguine. . . what the heck color is Sanguine? (It’s a ginger/pumpkin color for those who are curious.) Also, I usually use multiple shades (2 or 3) of each color listed.

Here, I added water and blended out the color. I tend to use small brushes (For this, I used a #5 round.) I prefer to use cheap brushes, as the scrushing action (not a real technical term) of lifting the pencil into a liquid paint, tends to ruin the brushes.

I select the area to work in by following the muscle shapes or shiny coat lines. I do this, so if there are any heavy lines of pigmentation around the edges, they work with you in laying in a denser color for the shadows. In this instance, I worked the main neck muscle up to the shoulder line.

I wet a small area at a time, working quickly, so there is a minimum of hard edges. Again, try to follow the hair growth. It will look a little patchy. But because multiple layers will be applied, how it looks at this stage is kinda irrelavent.

Note: You could use a larger brush. Just be aware that this will put down more water. You may want to consider using heavier papers or stretching your lighter weight papers if buckling becomes a problem.

After the paper has dried (approximately 1-2 minutes) I add the second layer, again following the direction of the hair.

Colors Used: Chocolate, Purple, Terra Cotta, Indigo, and (very limitedly) Black.

Then apply water wash as before.

Hair effects are created by scraping a sharpened pencil through the existing layers of color, while the paper is still wet. I generally don’t do this over the entire painting. On this painting, I will only use this technique for the extreme highlights on the face and crest of the neck, as this is where I want my attention to be. Most of the neck will be done with a dry pencil.

Here, along the crest (top of neck) the scrape marks are freshly done. While the scrape marks in the area of the neck have had additional color applied, with a dry pencil for more subtle blending.

Note: If your paper dries before you finish with scraping in hair, just re-wet the paper using your brush. A Q-tip also works well to wet, as well as to lift off areas of intense color.

The neck area is now half done. All of this work was done dry. I burnish in color until the paper no longer accepts more. Then if necessary, I go in and wet the paper again. This will allow me to continue to add more layers of color.

Colors Used in Shadow Area: Chocolate, Purple, Terra Cotta, and Indigo.
Colors Used In Highlights: Cinnamon, Ginger, Periwinkle and Light Blue.

This is pretty close to being completed here. I say pretty close because as I work, I tend to go back in and adjust coloring to fit the rest of the painting. Nothing is really considered completed until I have signed the painting.

Watercolor pencils look pretty much like colored pencils. The main difference being the water-soluble nature of the lead. They can, in theory, be used multiple ways. I say in theory because I have only found the first three ways as being really useful. I’ve included the others because in certain situations, they may be the way to go.

• Use them like colored pencils
• Color or draw, then add water for watercolor effect. (My primary way of working.)
• wet brush, then lift color off the pencil. (Occasionally, I do this, especially for putting in long hairs or signing my name.)
• wet pencil then draw. (I use this for putting in white highlights, such as in the eye.)
• wet paper then draw. (Not recommended for most situations. This puts far too much pigment down, and will hinder any blending.)
• Color on separate paper, then lift color with wet brush. (Never tried it.)

Watercolor paper
I thought I would take a moment to mention watercolor paper, as it goes hand in hand with watercolor pencils.

There are three types (surfaces) in watercolor paper, and what I use exclusively with watercolor pencils is Hot Press. The smooth surface allows for smooth blending and getting in all the little hairs. The rougher texture tends to grab more pigment off the pencil and deposit it in the divets on the paper. I could see this being a fun effect for some, but I am a woman who is set in my ways. Hot Press only for me.

• Hot Press. This is the smoothest texture
• Cold Press. This has more texture and is quite commonly used by watercolorists.
• Rough. This has the most texture with a very dimensional surface.

Watercolor paper also comes in varying weights. I have not experimented with a lot of different weights. Since I tend to work my pencils quite dry, I generally use #140 weight. Papers can vary between 90# to 300# and more.

I would suggest using a heavier weight paper if you are fond of using a lot of water, or if your finished pieces are buckling. Another option would be to stretch your lighter weight paper while painting, by taping or stapling it to a board. This will allow the paper to dry flat.

Faber Castell <-----> Derwent Rexell

Watercolor Pencils: What I Use
I have primarily two brands that I use. Rexel Derwent and Faber Castell. I haven’t been working with watercolor pencils for some time now, so I am sure there are loads of new high quality pencils on the market. Since these two brands are the ones I have the most experience with, they will be the topic of this post.

If anyone out there has any brands that they prefer, I would love to hear about them and why you like them.

Rexel Derwent
This was the first set I bought myself. They are a mid-range brand of professional pencil. Personally, I feel the colors are a little more flat looking compared to the Faber Castells. Other than that, I really like these pencils.

Derwent has recently added a new line of watercolor pencils called Signature. They are all made to the highest standards and all have the highest lightfast rating possible. There are only 40 colors available currently. If I continue to work regularly in watercolor pencil again, I will definitely be getting a set.

• Common in most art supply stores, so they are easy to get open stock replacement pencils.
• Dense lead offers a fine point with minimal breakage
• Pencil can be sharpened with most standard pencil sharpeners. (Note: Faber Castell have a bigger barrel and require a larger sharpener.)
• Large assortment of colors. (72)
• You can download a lightfastness chart off their website
• hexagonal shape minimizes rolling.

Faber Castell
My favorite brand because of their luminous color. They are a little more spendy than most, but they are of the highest quality. And the way I see it is, you get what you pay for.

• Dense high quality pigment with the lightfast indicator on each pencil.
• Extensive color range (120 colors)
• Large hexagonal shape keeps them from constantly rolling off my drafting table.
• Lead is SV bonded, meaning the color is glued to the wood the full length of the pencil. for added strength and less breakage. (Note: These are still more prone to breakage than my Rexel Derwent pencils.)
• All non-toxic and acid free (ph neutral.)

About Lightfastness
Both of these brands are tested for lightfastness using the Blue Wool (BW) Scale. The highest BW value is 8. Values of BW6 or higher are considered lightfast.

The Faber Castell system uses a star rating. This is printed on each pencil so you can tell at a glance just how lightfast the color is.

***maximum light fastness BW7,BW8 (100+ years)
**very good light fastness BW5,BW6 (25+ years)
*good light fastness BW3,BW4 (5+ years)

Again, to see Derwent lightfastness ratings for their pencils, you must visit their website.

This month in the gallery, it has been uncharacteristically busy for a February. This is a good thing. (A really good thing.) But it has left me very little time for painting. I did manage to finish up my Earthmovers painting today. Whoohoo! I will post it, just a soon as it gets scanned for the print making process.

Last week, I had some small snippets of time in which I wanted to create. But, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have enough time to offer my full attention to the Earthmovers piece. So I decided to do a small, brightly colored painting of Budda. My creativity muse was seemingly out sick that day. So I decided to try something that I had been planning on doing for years, but just never got around to trying. That is, taking some photos and playing around with them in Photoshop.

Original Photo
This first photo is an untouched image.

The following photos only had minor adjustments. It wasn’t so much that I wanted something to copy. As it was, a desire to spark a new way of looking at the image.

Increased Saturation
When I printed this out, I thought…”Well thats interesting, but it really doesn’t do me any good.” And I tossed it aside.

The next day I had my art group, so I took the painting along with me to work on, while we all sat around and talked. I also took the original photos (not the Photoshop’d versions) for my reference. It wasn’t until I got home that, (to my complete surprise) I noticed how much my finished painting resembled the color saturated image. Apparently on some level, I had soaked it in. (osmosis perhaps?)

Posterised
I don’t think I used this posterised image at all. (not even by osmosis.) But I included it, as one of the two adjustments that I did. I really like the look that posterising creates and may try it again on another project.

Cropped and Rotated
This photo has not been digitally manipulated and was my main reference image. It was cropped and the image was rotated by about 45 degrees. (I did this by hand, by laying strips of white paper over the photo until I got a composition that I liked. No computers necessary.) I really wanted to keep it a small, easy, and fun painting. So I elimated all the extras in the background and simplified the whole thing with cropping.

Bright Eyes - Oil Pastel 8×8
Copyright by Mona Majorowicz

Finished Painting
It is quite a bit darker here than in real life. But you get the idea. The painting’s greens. blues and purples are quite vibrant, and is actually what makes the painting. This isn’t great art. But it was a good way to loosen up a bit and have fun with color.

I was recently reading one of my favorite blogs. Maggie Stiefvater has both wonderful artwork, as well as a great writing style. One of her recent posts was about complementary colors. This got me to thinking of what complementary colors I use in my work.

Periwinkle is my all time favorite color for painting. (It doesn’t really appear anywhere else in my life.) Nearly every painting I do has periwinkle in it. I almost always couple it with ginger. The two complementary colors just pop when placed together. I actually purchase more periwinkle and ginger pastels, than I do blacks or whites.

The three paintings I have shown here are all recent examples of paintings where I utilize these complements in greater and lesser degrees. On the oil pastel tiger painting called Making Waves, the gingers are obvious, but the periwinkle is subtle. The black stripes are mostly a deep purple with periwinkle hightlights.

On this oil pastel painting of the Belgian draft horse team called Days End, much of the shadow area is done in a wine color mixed with purple. Nearly all the highlights on the flynet and tack are periwinkle.

And with the mare and foal oil pastel painting called Devotion, yet again periwinkle colors are used instead of all grays for the nose and eye areas. The lavendar color adds a softness which lessens the harshness of the grays.

I am not sure how I got to the point of loving this color combination. It just sort of happened. My techniques develop almost organically, without a lot of directed thought. I think that is why I am a self-taught artist. It is all about the exploration and discovery.