Sennelier

oh man -- just tried Sennelier oil pastels -- I am stoked!! soft smooth yummy. Will switch to these for main work and just use the Holbeins for fine line detail.

Finished Cyclamen

Many hours later (anywhere from 9 to 14+ hours = sore fingers!) the drawing is finished. I carefully check all shapes making sure that they "work" -- that they read as form -- that they are not flat. Often the hardest part of a drawing is choosing the background color -- in this drawing it works perfectly -- but I am not always so lucky!!

I love the dynamic out there energetic composition of this drawing. It stretches you.

More Shapes

I continue working completing a shape before I move onto another shape. As shapes are finished I often will go back to a shape to fine tune it -- to adjust a value to strengthen that illusion of form.

Blending

Then with a soft cloth wrapped around a finger I blend the colors together to create a smooth transition between each color. I add more layers of color and blend -- creating a transition that begins to create the illusion of three dimensions, of form.

First Layer

I choose a shape in the drawing where I want to begin. Then I begin by rubbing color from the oil pastels or the oil paint sticks onto my finger -- then rub this color from my finger into the paper.

Success

begins with getting started.

(I love this quote -- and so with my next posts, I will get started with the Cyclamen drawing)

Next

I lightly grid my paper to quarters and draw from my photograph. Even though I slightly abstract and simplify my photographs for my art work-- I want the shapes of my subject matter to be accurately drawn to size. Then I do color experiments -- testing several different color schemes to choose a light to dark value range for the drawing. For this Cyclamen drawing I chose peach (lightest value), napthol red (middle value), dioxazine purple and olive green (darkest value).
Color is so yummy!!!

I Begin a Drawing

by looking through my photos of natural forms: bones, flowers, shells... I take all of my own photographs. Some days you just cannot draw/paint for whatever reason (honor your rhythms), those are great days to wander the desert, gardens and photograph -- to renourish your spirit, your inspiratation. After choosing a few photos that inspire me that day, I use a viewfinders to create interesting compositions. I keep the viewfinders in proportion to my paper sizes. I could create various sized compositions and just cut my paper, but then I would need many sizes of mats and frames -- this year I am experimenting with limiting my paper and frame sizes to three sizes to save framing costs. When I have decided on a composition, I tape a small sheet of plastic over the photo and grid it to quarters.

My Drawing Supplies

My next posts will take you with me through a drawing.
I use Holbein Oil Pastels and Shiva Oil/Paint Sticks on a very smooth heavy weight Bristol paper. I experimented with many papers, but I prefer this very smooth surface because I can more easily blend colors that flow one into the other. The xacto knife is used to cut off the waxy film that drys on the Shiva sticks. The cloth is used to help rub the pastels and oil stick color into the paper and to blend layers of colors together.