Sunday, January 18, 2009

First blog

















Thought I'd start my first blog with a small daylily study I did in colored pencil - it's an 9 x 10 on white, bristol paper. I decided to use a black ink wash for the background after I found the white background made the flower look too flat and the black background seems to be more dramatic. I've worked on black paper with colored pencil before and have had trouble getting intense colors, so I think using the black ink this way may solve that problem. I do know that other colored pencils artists will apply an "underpainting" of white or cream over black paper to help make top layers of color more intense. That method doesn't seem to work well for me but may be worth experimenting with if you're having the same problem.
I also like the way the light hits on areas of the pedals - I want to work on that effect more. The center of the flower could probably use more darks too.

12 comments:

  1. Anonymous1/19/2009

    Diann, this is a great tip as I have just been playing around with color pencils on black paper and had some difficulties with it. Love your flower! Great blog post! Keep it up.

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  2. So pretty! It looks like an actual photo!

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  3. Absolutely stunning!

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  4. Anonymous1/19/2009

    This is lovely work!

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  5. I love this flower anyway and live just down the road a piece and east in Aurora. Go to http://beadfluff.blogspot.com and you can see my first attempt at using watercolor pencil.

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  6. Beautiful drawing! And welcome to EDM!

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  7. Anonymous1/19/2009

    I love the black background. I agree that a little darkening in the center and in the shadow areas would add to the dramatic effect. Dorothy

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  8. Anonymous1/20/2009

    Wow..... this looks amazing!!

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  9. That's gorgeous! Welcome to the EDM group.

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  10. This is a beautiful piece. Welcome to the world of blogging. It took me a while before starting a serious blog too. (I just started blogging seriously in September 2008.)

    I too am a coloured pencil artist (well, that is currently my main medium). I prefer Prismacolor. I have tried others and keep going back to the Prismacolor. I do keep others around for specific effects or textures as needed. However, I rarely use them.

    Welcome!!!

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  11. Oh just beautiful! What an introduction to the group!

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  12. This is absolutely beautiful. The shading is great.

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