the older sister

& now here is my older daughter who will be 9 in less than a month. This portrait was much harder as the values weren't as distinct as the other portrait, but this pose and lighting suits this daughter much better.

5" x 7" prismacolors and coloursofts on pastelbord

Disaster!

You won't believe me when I tell you what I did... its something that was so stupid, that it can't be true.

Well, the pretty portrait of my daughter Lizzy... is no more. I sprayed it with two coats of my usual Lascaux fixative and then used my new Lascaux brush on varnish on it... and it picked up the colored pencil and redistributed it with every brushstroke. It made me sick to my stomach to see it wrecked like that.... so I had to redo it. :-(
The one on the left is the wrecked one. It is darker because the pencil from the dark areas are now spread around, plus you can see the brush strokes where the pigments huddled together.

So yes the one on the right is the beginning of the redo. I was heartbroken and hoped I could replicate it. I find redoing a picture I was happy with very very hard to do. Instead of doing things in order I jump to what I know I did before and forget some important steps.

Well here is the finished do-over. Remember when a do-over was a good thing... something you begged to be able to do??? I hope this one doesn't disappoint.

portrait of a princess

I don't have any immediate deadlines... so I did something for me! This is a 5" x 7" on Pastelbord little portrait of my 4 (and a half) year old daughter. Now that I have it up, I see a couple of things to help the likeness abit... but its basically finished. I may repost after the little changes.

Sealing Experiments

I've had loads of questions on how I seal my colored pencil drawings on Pastelbord to make them frameable without glass.

I've been using first 2 coats of Lascaux fixativ and then 4 light coats of the Kamar varnish spray. I have had good results except that it ALWAYS darkens the colors. Sometimes that's a good thing... sometimes its very bad. Ideally your spray shouldn't change colors though... I mean you work hard to get a picture perfect and then hope the spray doesn't change it too much. That's not good policy.

I found out why the spray (aerosol) varnish and some fixatives change the colors. To keep the sprays liquid they all have a little bit of solvent in them, in differing amounts for different brands, which is why some brands of fixative change colors more than others. If you've ever used solvent when you are making a drawing you can attest to the fact that the solvent with colored pencil really darkens the colors.

So that's why I am so excited about my friend Gary's experiments with brush on water-based varnishes and why I'm joining in on the fun. I had been using the spray aerosol varnish because the colored pencil on Pastelbord is a bit unstable anyway (can be brushed off fairly easily) so I was afraid to brush on a varnish. BUT it seems like if you use a good fixative first you can avoid smearing. Gary has tried Golden's varnish for acrylics with good results so far.

I tried brush on varnish from Liquitex yesterday on a test piece and had some trouble with the pencil smearing. Lots of trouble when the colored pencil wasn't fixed first and much less when it was fixed. Gary gave me some tips to try and I'll see if I can't get it not to smear.

Next I'm trying Lascaux's varnish for acrylics. It too is water-based. They also sell a sprayer that you can use with it so I bought it as well. I'm hoping that since I use Lascaux fixative first, that the varnish, although it is water-based, will have no problems adhering which could be another problem.

The nice part of these alternatives, as well as them not changing the colors of your drawing, is that they also have lightfast qualities to protect your work even more.

So I'll let you know soon!

Step by Step colored pencil drawing

Here is a step-by-step to entice you to come to my workshop this weekend (mentioned in yesterday's post). You will have to come to the workshop to find out the color theory behind the piece. :)

It is done using only colors from the Prismacolor Lightfast 48 color set, as that is what we use at the school. Pencils are provided for all students and Pastelbords (5x7) can be purchased at the workshop.

Feel free to click the images to see them larger. Maybe you can tell me what I'm doing in each step!

WORKSHOP SATURDAY!

There are still opening for my workshop this Saturday in Keene, NH at Artworks.

Colored Pencil Color Theory
Saturday, November 10, 2007
11:00am-3:00pm
Artworks in Keene, NH
www.moco.org for more info
This class teaches color theory to students in a way that relates directly to the colored pencil artist. Students will learn how to make good color mixing decisions as well as using color theory for better color compositions. The class will make their own color wheels as well as a still-life implementing the theories. Ages: Adult - ALL LEVELS Cost: $40/workshop

Beach Nocturne

Nocturne 6" x 18"

I was trying to not work on anything for a little bit... but couldn't help myself! I'm just happiest when I'm working.

Tomorrow I'll be hanging the show at Amherst Library. I've had to swap around some pieces so the Amherst show will be different from what I had put up for the preview. So much for the preview!

They also will be hanging the miniature show tomorrow at the Sharon Art Center in Peterborough.

Framed

Framed Minis for the upcoming Sharon Art Gallery annual holiday miniature art show in Peterborough, NH. All ready for delivery tomorrow!

I've got some more news! The Monadnock Fine Art Gallery (Keene, NH), where my work can always be seen, is highlighting 3 artists later this month, including me. So, I've had to rearrange my work a bit. I will update the preview for the library show as I switched what is going where, but I'll still have the same amount of pieces at each venue. My large Apple Buffet piece (12" x 36") will now be part of my work at the Monadnock Fine Art Gallery, as well as the White Pumpkin and Grandma's Tea Set. If you are in the area, look for the ad in the Sentinel!

Also, I just got a call from Gallery 297 in Bristol, Rhode Island. They are opening a new gallery in Portsmouth New Hampshire that will be opening at the end of the month and want some of my work to display. I'm very excited to be a part of this new venture and have my work near the coast!