This drawing in vine charcoal is based off an image by inna mikitas from Pixabay. The paper is a brown shade of Canson Mi-Tientes. My intention is add color with soft pastels.
Figure in Charcoal
Pixabay
Knitting Hands
This work in vine charcoal was based off a reference image by Sabine van Erp from Pixabay.
Girl on a Swing
This study, done using vine charcoal, was done on white paper toned first with charcoal powder so I could use the kneadable eraser to lift up color for highlights.
The reference image used was by Rudy and Peter Skitterians from Pixabay.
Little Boy on the Beach: Charcoal Study
The reference image for this charcoal study is by Nadine Doerlé from Pixabay.
I’ve used this same image for a work in pastel.
Snowscape in Color
Here is my snowscape done in color. The snow is partly pink, blue and yellow, and very nearly white where the small bushes are. I removed the little pine tree at the suggestion of a member of Karen Margulis’ Patreon group for pastel classes. Most of the pastels used were Richeson hand-rolled, which is fast becoming my favorite brand.
(I have the comparison between the value study and the color version below. The original image was by Alain Audet from Pixabay.)
This is how the two versions compare:
Value Study for Snowscape
Today, on Karen Margulis‘ Patreon page, she challenged us to do a painting using only hard pastels like NuPastels, Rembrandts, Cretacolor, etc. Well, my Dick Blick Artist’s Soft Pastels are roughly the hardness of Rembrandts, so I chose to use those.
Then I decided to do a value study for a snowscape based off a Pixabay image by Alain Audet from Pixabay. I may end up using this as an underpainting for that snowscape, but I suppose it could stand alone. I did this on Sand-colored Pastelmat, 9×12.
And these are the sticks I used.
Bog in Winter
This work is based off a photo by Pexels from Pixabay. I did it on a 9×12 piece of Pastelmat in sand color. I did an alcohol wash underpainting, using NuPastels in orange, rust and deep dark blue. Most of my pastels were Blue Earths and Richeson Hand-rolled, the latter quickly becoming my go-to pastel sticks.
Trying out UART 400 Paper
Today I painted the same scene as yesterday, using the same pastels, but using UART 400 paper (again from my Jackson’s Art sampler set). This paper was easier to use, and I enjoyed it very much. The marks I made were much bolder — automatically — on the UART 400 paper.
Image by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay
And here are the two paintings side by side. The velour version appears much softer, almost as if the image is blurry.
Trying out Hahnemühle Velour Paper
Today I tried velour paper that I received in my sampler from Jackson Art. It was a very different texture; it feels to me the pastels just lay down on the top of the paper. And that the paper almost “resists” side strokes. It was fun to try, using Richeson, Blue Earth, Dick Blick and my one Terry Ludwig pastel, but I’m not certain I would buy this paper on a regular basis.
The reference image is by Evgeni Tcherkasski from Pixabay
BetterLateThanNeverArt 