Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Cameo on Pastelbord


This will look very humble after the last one!

This is a little 5 x 7 on Pastelbord using Prismacolors. It is of my niece and is supposed to match the two I did of my daughters that I gave to my mother.

This little project has reminded me just how much I enjoy working on Fisher 400 and just how much working on Pastelbord is a struggle. Why would I even use Pastelbord? Just because it can be varnished and framed without glass. Its ok, despite the struggle, for still-lifes and even gives them a pleasant illustrative quality, but for portraits its just not worth it. & then there is the grain problem, unless you want to add watercolor, solvent or wear out your wrist with a blending brush, then you are left with the grain which in the case of portraits I find distracting.

So I fulfilled my promise to my mother and back to Fisher for my next portrait!

3 comments:

Chantell Van Erbe said...

Nicole,

She looks beautiful despite your concerns with pastel board. But I can understand completely. For illustrative and landscapes, it is a dream and can add lovely nuances. But when a finer look is desired - as is the case with your portrait, pastel board is very porous & difficult.

I'm currently working on a piece done on textured clay board. The word 'nightmare' is what comes to mind. I've placed down more layers than a cake. I've even resorted to Zest-It. The only pencil that can get in the large nooks and crannies are Polychromos. The Polys are behaving almost like pastel on this surface. Ok, I'm rambling and should keep this rant to my own blog..lol.

Again, your portrait is very pretty.

Angela Finney said...

I am really liking pastelboard and colorfix for animal portraits. I have yet to try Fisher UART. I have my first people portrait commission to do now - and they want pastelboard because I talked about it in my brochure for animal portaits as not absolutely requiring glass in framing! You have forwarned me. I love your portrait anyway -- yes I can see the texture, but I think that is o.k. I can see that having an alternative to texture could be desired, though. Angela

Marsha Robinett said...

Nicole,
I don't know a lot about colored pencil and the surfaces used, but you've done a wonderful job capturing the innocence of this child.

A wonderfully done portrait. Great composition.