Classic Tomatoes in Pastel

This is the last painting I am reworking in pastel pencils over colored pencil. This was done on brown Colorfix sanded paper and was just too dark (posted originally on Dec 21, 2007). Again, these pieces photographed beautifully, but framed and hanging in regular lighting just disappeared.

You might want to click on the image and see the details as I have used lots of crosshatching and scribbling with the pastel pencils.


Classic Tomatoes I (7.5" x 11") Colored Pencil/Pastel Pencils on Brown Colorfix (12" x 16" Framed)

Workshop was wonderful!

The workshop using watersoluble products and colored pencil on pastel bord is over. It was a wonderful group of 17 people, from beginners to accomplished artists.

Many of the folks loved the pastel bord and using the water soluble products to do the underpainting. One of my good friends told me this morning that she ordered a set of 72 Derwent Coloursofts after I let a couple of students try out a couple of my CSofts. We all worked on the Pear Study and everyone of them was bright, rich color with lots of dimension and texture. A couple oil painters actually had finished pieces that looked like oil paintings.

Two wonderful ladies from the local Denver CPSA Chapter brought pieces they did on black after the last workshop in February. I was in awe and so humbled to have inspired them to create such lovely pieces. I can't wait to see what people do on their own after this workshop.

I actually took my video camera, it was set up on a borrowed tripod....but I got so involved that I forgot to even turn it on. I also took my digital and it stayed in my purse the whole time.

I was wiped out afterwards and all day yesterday. But I managed to drag myself out of bed this morning and get to paint group ;-)

The next workshop will be the fall.....stay tuned for details.

Pear for Class Study

Tomorrow is the workshop on colored pencils on pastelbord. This is the class project, starting with the finished piece, then the grayscale and the last is the underpainting with Inktense/Neocolor II. Pear Study 5" x 7" colored pencil on Ampersand Pastelbord

Botanic Garden

Botanic Gardens 9" x 13" Colored Pencil/Pastel Pencil on Brown Colorfix

When I first started working on sanded surfaces, I loved working on dark-toned Colorfix paper by Artspectrum. What I found, however, is that the finished pieces seem so dark. They photograph very well and might make good prints but at this point, I don't do prints.

The thing I love about the sanded surfaces:

- you can work more quickly

- lights will go over the darks more easily

- landscapes are easier to "pull off" than on regular paper

I have moved on to a sanded support that I like much better, the pastelbord by Ampersand. What to do with all of the work done on colorfix???

Throwing caution to the wind, I have tried the pastel pencils (Carbothello by Stabilo) to rework these pieces making them "mixed media" pieces.

Spring Fever!

Spring Fever! 11 x 13" colored pencil/pastel pencils

I originally completed this piece two years ago as a colored pencil piece on brown Colorfix sanded paper. It never felt quite finished.

I have been rereading Carole Katchen's book on pastels "Express Yourself" and just felt like playing. So I took my pastel pencils to this and I am much happier with the feeling conveyed.

This wild expression seems to be appealing to me lately, see "Psycho Pear", an earlier post. My approach is usually very realistic and I'm sure I will go back to that, it's just that I needed to express myself.

Pepper is done!

Pepper 5" x 7" Colored Pencil on pastelbord with marker underpainting

Pepper 5" x 7" grayscale to show values

I've tried photographing this with my digital, but it doesn't look right. So this is a scan straight from the scanner. The photos were too harsh. In real life, the underpainting adds a nice warmth underneath all the green.

Psycho Pear - Markers and Pastel Pencils

A little break from the pepper work in progress.

This was another underpainting I did as an experiment with the Staedtler markers on 5" x 7" Ampersand pastelbord. (See the last picture.)

The big problem I had after I finished the underpainting was that the edges particularly in the background were much too hard and would have been difficult to overcome with just colored pencil.

Before throwing it in the trash I decided to try using my pastel pencils to paint over the psycho underpainting. It was great fun to be loose and free, as most of my work is very realistic. Even with the looseness and all of the color, it does have a value structure. (See the grayscale.)

When viewed up close this piece appears very textural and colorful, but when viewed from a distance of 8-10 ft the colors blend beautifully and it reads as a pear should.

Friday's Progress on Pepper

A little bit of time to work on this today....still have to tackle that darn stem. I also e-mailed Staedtler today to inquire about the lightfast qualities of their markers. Didn't find anything on their website.

I've heard from another artist in one of the forums that the Faber Castell PITT markers are good. So I will also have to research them.

The drying time was a bit longer than I had anticipated when I did the underpainting with the markers. Here is CO it was about 24 hours, in a more humid climate it could be longer.

Pepper - WIP

I had some space to concentrate today, so I worked on this a bit. The background is nearly done and I've started modeling the pepper and working on layering the color.

The good news for me is that the cp's layer beautifully over the markers, actually better than over the Neocolor II's, about the same coverage as Inktense. The markers, however, are much more brilliant and go on more smoothly (remember I am not a watercolor person).

I'm very excited about this experiment with the markers and will be researching the lightfast qualities of different brands.

Wouldn't You Like to be a Pepper Too? - WIP

This is 5" x 7" on Ampersand Pastelbord (I recently learned I had been spelling it wrong). The underpainting, this time, is with Staedtler triplus markers. I have loved working with the Inktense and Neocolor II's and they are legal products for CPSA exhibitions. But now I've decided to try the markers, since the CPSA entries are done.

They are definitely more brilliant...LOVE THAT! I have never worked with them as an underpainting, so let's hope the colored pencils go over them nicely. One drawback that I've noted so far is that they take much longer to dry than the watersoluble products like Inktense and Neocolor II's. I also don't have any info on their lightfastness qualities, but I'll be doing some research....especially if I am happy with how this turns out.

One good sign is that it does resemble a pepper top at this point. It's going to be a colorful but yet green pepper.