Chicken Lover in colored Pencil

Amy Otteson · 09-21-2004, 03:08 PM

I haven't posted in a while, and I'm not sure if this is the place for colored pencil drawings, but here it is anyway. This is my daughter Chloe with one of her chickens. I decided to try colored pencil as a medium. It seems to work okay, but might be more tedious than I like. After taking this picture to post, I realize that her face is flat and needs a deeper value on the shadowed side. I think I was afraid of mud- making with the pencils, but I think I'll try to fix that. Any other comments would be appreciated.

I would like to use pastels and haven't used them for a portrait since college 20 years ago, and I need some help getting started back into pastel. I think that it would fit my usual style better than colored pencil, as I like to be more spontaneous. Is there a book or something that would give me some pointers on what type of pastel to use, ground etc.? Thanks Amy O

Amy Otteson · 09-21-2004, 03:13 PM

After seeing my post, I can tell that my hour worth of fiddling with the image didn't work. I guess I haven't posted with the new size limitations and I could not get my image to fit into the 100kb restriction and keep it in focus. I guess i don't know what I am doing. When i posted previously my troubles were few, now they are new! I give up. What should I do?
Thanks

Cynthia Daniel · 09-21-2004, 05:40 PM

What software are you using and version. Email me your original image and I'll try to step you thru how to get a good image.

Sharon Knettell · 09-21-2004, 05:46 PM

Amy,

It is of course hard to comment on a picture that is out of focus. However I did colored pencil for years as an illustrator and had skintones down pat.

You have to squint at your reference as in any other medium to simplify the basic shapes. I think one of the problems inherent in colored pencil is that you are continually using a small point instead of a variety of brushes as in oils or the broader widths of pastels. This unfortunately makes one concentrate on individual details instead of seeing whole forms.

I used tuscan red and terracotta ( Prismacolor) as an underdrawing for the skintones. I then fixed them with workable fixative and airbrushed over the drawing with Winsor Newton watercolors, first a spray of yellow ochre, then a spray of cadmium red, the some quinacridone rose in the cheeks. You can highlight and stengthen the drawing after it is airbrushed. I would first spray a paper sample first to get the color saturation I want, then match the area I was spraying to it. Airbrushing sound difficult, but flat spraying like that is a piece of cake. You just get a good double action airbrush, like a Paasche or a Badger and some kind of pressurized air source, a compressor or tanks. You simply cut a frisket leaving the area exposed you want to spray and whale away. I have taught beginners how to do this and they picked up this simple airbrush technique in a week.
The resultant color can be very rich as you can continue to build layer upon layer of color.

The other color areas are best done in a complementary color. For example, a red shirt, as in your picture I would underdraw in a dark forest green, then spray in red.

In the section on palettes you will see my suggestions for a basic set of colors for pastel. Daniel Greene has a wonderful pastel video out. His book "Pastel" is also a worthwhile book to get. Unfortunately it is out of print, but you might be able to find it on Alibris. His pastel brand suggestions are somewhat out of date as newer and better lines of pastels have come out more recently. I am speaking of Unisons and Great Americans, among others.

Amy Otteson · 09-22-2004, 09:09 AM

Sharon,
Thanks for replying to my post. I did have an airbrush at one time and did not like using it and cutting friskets, maybe because all of that seems to be to far removed from a brush and a pencil, I don't know for sure. However, I wonder if I could get the same affect using a watercolor brush to put a nice even wash over the pencil undercoat.
Why do you use layers of colored pencil first, then coat with watercolor? Does it seem to give more depth that way? Just curious.
I'm going to try that technique out without airbrush first and see how that works for me. I'll check into the pastel book and video as well, Does anyone know of any other books just in case I can't locate the Daniel Greene book? Thank you much.
Amy

Amy Otteson · 09-22-2004, 11:48 AM

Here is a better image, I hope. Thanks Cynthia

Sharon Knettell · 09-22-2004, 12:11 PM

Amy,

It is a much lovelier and more cohesive picture, that I first thought.

You can try it that way, but the pencils are waxy, and they tend to repel the washes. Airbrushing leaves a beautiful matte surface to work back into with highlights, unlike using washes. Also, You can darken certain areas more easily that pop. Not to criticize I probably would have taken the plant down a couple of notches.

I drew the picture up quite substantially, then used the airbrush. I then later touched it up with more pencil. Take care however with too much waxy build up (sounds like a floor commercial) as it repels the airbrushing. You can hit the darks later.

Amy Otteson · 09-22-2004, 12:54 PM

Hey Sharon. Thanks for looking again. Well, duh! of course the wash would repel on the waxy surface. Boy, my brain is....somewhere. I think you are right about the plant, I didn't even think about that, but it should be in the background a bit more. I guess that is part of the colored pencil 'focus too much on the detail and not on the whole piece' problem that you mentioned earlier. Thank you for the feedback, thats what critiques are for, to criticize. I can really use it because I have no one around me that is able to help that way.
Amy

Sharon Knettell · 09-22-2004, 08:42 PM

You can get really beautiful saturated color with the airbrush method. I wish I could post my old illustrations so I could show you. You can get them as rich as any other medium.

One of the problems I have seen with colored pencil is its paleness. Try really pushing the color on the next one. If you know your way around an airbrush, try that. You seem to have the drawing skills to accomplish something quite lovely in this medium.

If you have any further questions, let me know. I did that method for at least 20 years.