Over the last day or two I have been able to think about the workshop a bit more and organise my brain and my photos a bit better as I unpacked my bags and finished off a few pieces.
We covered a lot of territory working with both white paper and black.
Here's my mark on watercolour paper with Graphitint pencils - a mixture of pigment and graphite.
Here's some more initials - this time I used the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolour crayons. They were so creamy and I was impressed by how little you needed to create such vibrant colours. I was using a soft sable brush for the water and it just wasn't firm enough to pull the pigment out of the dimples in the cold-press paper, so I have learnt to now use an acrylic brush on this sort of paper - thanks Gem!
I did another initial this afternoon - again the pencil lines are still there because it was wet when I finished, but it was also from some more gravel 'mulch' as we call it - hence the M.
After doing a couple of these we then moved on to black paper - mmm.
Graphite pencil on black paper.
And a bit of detail (before rubbing out)
Then it was on to colours on the black - metallic pencils (be kind) and plain coloured pencils (be gorgeous). These two are book marks.
And some details
I like the combination of these three phrases - be brave, be kind, be gorgeous.
There were other exercises as well - we were busy in the nicest possible way.
Here are some of the other folks' work, I hope I got names right!
Helen's I's G and swatch - a work in progress.
Helen V's metallics on black - so vibrant.
Greg's blended colours inside a letter (sorry for the bit of blur) - wow.
Desma's graphite pencil on black, I love the extensions, just stunning.
And I did rub out the lines of those two earlier pieces and they almost look complete!
I've been back in the studio working on another piece and doing my homework - two small booklets. It has been great to have the time to re-enforce my learnings and explore a few new things with my new-found knowledge. Where to next I wonder?
We covered a lot of territory working with both white paper and black.
Here's my mark on watercolour paper with Graphitint pencils - a mixture of pigment and graphite.
Here's some more initials - this time I used the Caran D'Ache Neocolor II watercolour crayons. They were so creamy and I was impressed by how little you needed to create such vibrant colours. I was using a soft sable brush for the water and it just wasn't firm enough to pull the pigment out of the dimples in the cold-press paper, so I have learnt to now use an acrylic brush on this sort of paper - thanks Gem!
I did another initial this afternoon - again the pencil lines are still there because it was wet when I finished, but it was also from some more gravel 'mulch' as we call it - hence the M.
After doing a couple of these we then moved on to black paper - mmm.
Graphite pencil on black paper.
And a bit of detail (before rubbing out)
Then it was on to colours on the black - metallic pencils (be kind) and plain coloured pencils (be gorgeous). These two are book marks.
And some details
There were other exercises as well - we were busy in the nicest possible way.
Here are some of the other folks' work, I hope I got names right!
Helen's I's G and swatch - a work in progress.
Helen V's metallics on black - so vibrant.
Greg's blended colours inside a letter (sorry for the bit of blur) - wow.
Desma's graphite pencil on black, I love the extensions, just stunning.
And I did rub out the lines of those two earlier pieces and they almost look complete!
I've been back in the studio working on another piece and doing my homework - two small booklets. It has been great to have the time to re-enforce my learnings and explore a few new things with my new-found knowledge. Where to next I wonder?
both posts have been fascinating. such marks and colors make for beauty in reading. i want to touch them, too.
ReplyDeleteThey encourage touch and holding don't they Velma? I think to add beauty to words is a precious thing, and hope that I can do it a few times using some of these ideas.
DeleteHow lovely these two posts have been and how interesting to see some of the responses by the other members of the group with such different colour choices. Greg's letter J just sings!
ReplyDeleteWasn't that J stunning! I'm glad you have enjoyed seeing how it all went and what we did - it was a great workshop to participate in. Go well.
DeleteReally interesting work!
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharmon - there are lots of possibilities and ideas to explore...
DeleteWell you have had a fun weekend :-) Who would have thought there were so many colours in gravel -and yes, if we mimic nature it is hard to go wrong. On the other hand I so often wonder at the gorgeous creations of nature and wonder why I both at all!
ReplyDeleteI had a fab fun weekend thanks! The colours in what I thought was 'bone' gravel were extraordinary. I think I will look to nature a lot more now...and I agree that sometimes nature just gets it so right and so perfect that there is not much point trying at all!
DeleteJust curious about what you use to rub out the lines? And is it difficult to rub out when you have used graphite? I don't know much about water soluble graphite, etc.
ReplyDeleteSandy in the UK
Hi Sandy - on the white paper I just used a plain white eraser, and because the water had set the pigment on both the graphite and the coloured pencils, there were no dramas. Rubbing the liens off the black paper was different because the pencils were all dry. I used a black eraser, as well as an eraser guard - a small piece of thin metal with different lines and shapes cut out of it. The guard part protects the paper and the cut-out line allows you to just rub out that part. If that makes no sense I'll send you a photo!
Delete