Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 7

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 7

            More detail in the head now, and started working down the chest.

This certainly is a learning process for me. Pastels are new to me and, though I’m making progress, it’s been slow. I’m still finding my way handling this medium, especially as it relates to detail. And, I like detail. Soft pastel sticks do not lend themselves easily to great detail, at least for me, so I elected to do the main figure work with pastel pencils. The pencils are harder and can be sharpened to a point. An artist I’ve been studying for pastel pencil work is Cuong Nguyen. He is simply fabulous and his portraits can inspire any artist to do better! Check out his website and time lapse videos to see his amazing work.

Anyway, critical to detail work with pastel (as with colored pencil) is a very sharp point. I think I’ve been a little lax in that respect. That, I’ll have to work on. Another aspect is planning and drawing in detail prior to filling in color. I need to concentrate more on drawing in the line work first, just as I do with colored pencil. I alluded to the similarity between colored pencil and pastel pencils at the beginning, but somehow I failed to keep that in mind as I went forward. I blocked in areas of color first and had problems drawing in the line work on top. The blocked in color didn’t always correspond to the line work, and so I would have to work over those areas again and again. Gradually I’m getting a better feel for the medium. Again, keep a sharp point, draw in the line work and gradually fill in the color. Always keep a sharp point if you want detail. Same as colored pencil!

I’ve added some Stabilo Carb Othello pastel pencils to the mix to get the proper colors. The few basic colors I’m using now to get in the chest fur for Peaches are Carb Othello 105 (ivory), 615 (dark ochre), Faber Castell Pitt Pastel 280 (burnt umber), 169 (caput mortuum) and 182 (brown ochre).

I have to say, though, that I’m enjoying the pastel and will probably continue using it.

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 6

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 6

            I’m making some progress on this.

Have some more detail in the face, progressing in the right direction. I added a bit of the background in  - and that is helping to define the edges of the body. Most of the background is being laid in with soft pastels, and defined a little with pastel pencils. The curtain colors so far are raw sienna and burnt umber (Sennelier).

I’m a little disappointed in my ability to get in the detail that I want with pastel, but I think that is mostly due to my learning curve with pastel, a new medium for me. I like pastel but have to get used to using it. Although the likeness is good, I want greater detail. I think I can achieve that through further refinement. The harder pastels of the pastel pencils will not easily go over the top of the soft pastels, especially when the surface is loaded with the soft pastel. The pastel pencils sort of plough through the softer pastel without producing the fine lines I want. I’m finding that, with the pastel pencils, detail can be achieved by a slow buildup of light layers of pastel, working in the detail as I go. This is very much like laying down color with colored pencils. Light layers are built up slowly, and working mostly from light to dark. Once the tooth of the paper is filled to a greater degree with pastel, it is necessary to use softer and softer pastel on top. I can’t add pastel pencil on top of many layers of soft pastel that has been built up. If I’m going to stick with pastel pencils (and I want to, at least with portraits), color must be built up slowly in light layers, mixing as I go. Using the pencils takes more planning – just as colored pencils do. With that in mind, I should be able to succeed in establishing more detail.

Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 5

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 5

            More of the head is refined here. I spent more time on the eyes and nose, making more adjustments, deepening the color. Most of the work was with brown ochre (182). I used that color, with a sharp point, to define more of the hair on the right side and on the neck. The right edge of the fur along the top of Peaches’ left ear was defined more by coloring in the couch behind her. There, I used some brown ochre, burnt ochre (187), and burnt carmine (193). It’s a little too red at this point but it helps to define the edges of the ear.

            The eyes received more attention in this session as well. There I used dark sepia (175), black (199) around the upper circumference of the eye, and under it, where it seems to have a bit of red color, I added some burnt carmine. The iris itself is an interesting combination of colors, and I don’t think I have it quite right yet. The colors used there are burnt umber (280), black, burnt sienna (283), a little burnt carmine and cream (102) for the lighter areas of the eyes. The pupil is black. I have a good start on the eyes but I’ll need to refine them further. I think the highlight needs to move a bit and, of course, become brighter.

            The nose has much black in it, but also has some brown ochre and cream along the top. There is also some burnt umber and brown ochre on the edges of the darks.

The light areas on either side of the nose, marking the outer edges of the muzzle were first indicated with a bit of warm grey I(270), but I later added some brown ochre to color it a bit. So far, the lighter areas around the eyes and nose haven’t been filled in yet, as I wanted to get more of the defining features first.

The areas under the nose, around the mouth and the chin have some warm grey I, along with paynes grey (181) and black. I’ve also put in a bit of brown ochre. At the corners of the mouth, where the cheeks turn down there is a bit of reddish color, and there I added in some burnt sienna, along with the darker burnt umber. I haven’t worked the mouth completely yet either.

I’m working all the areas on the face, here and there, as I look to the photo reference, and as I do so, I keep checking measurements – the size of the eyes, the distance between them, their relationship to the nose. All these measurements are important and I don’t want to stray from them as I further refine the features.

Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 4

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 4

            My stage 1 first drawing resulted in a rough block in of Peaches. From there I went back over and refined the block in by doing a second drawing over the first. I switched from light flesh used in the first drawing to van dyke brown for the second. Still checking angles and measuring distances with a divider, I did more refinements to get more detail. The body is still a bit rough, and I’m not concerned with it. The proportions are right. Details of the head are important, so I spent more time on it. I’m getting closer.

From here I’ll begin to start to work on darks, midtones and the lights, continually checking the angles and distances and further refining the details.

Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 3

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 3

            Finally got a start on this portrait. In the end, I decided to block in the portrait with pastel rather than charcoal. I felt the lighter color would be easier to work with and allow me to gradually darken the figure without having to worry about covering the charcoal. I wanted to start the block in with a color that was just darker than the paper and chose light flesh.

            The first thing I did was to estimate what size the figure had to be in a photo such that I could reproduce the figure on pastel paper at twice the size. Even multiples work out nicely. After figuring that out, I printed out the photo I would be working with. Next, I lightly ruled a painting area on the pastel paper 16” wide by 20” high. From the photo I judged where I would place the figure within the ruled area. I lightly drew a short line indicating where the topmost point of the head would be. Using dividers, I marked in the level for the bottommost point of the chin. The angle from the topmost point of the head to the bottommost point of the chin was then lightly drawn in. These would be my beginning reference points. I also marked in the levels of the top and bottom of the nose, and the mouth.

            The next step in this block in was to roughly outline the entire figure. Rather than immediately trying to work in the curving lines around the body, I picked out important points around the body where there was an abrupt change of direction. Using dividers and judging angles, I found these obvious points and drew fairly straight lines connecting them. I was not interested in any subtle curves or details at this point, merely getting a somewhat accurate shape and getting the dimensions right. Everything would be refined in later steps.

            Blocking in the head proceeded in the same manner. Using the reference points of the topmost point on the head and the bottommost point of the chin, and the center-line, I found the side of the head, the size and shape of the ears, the placement of the eyes, and their width, the shape of the nose and the shape of the muzzle. I constantly checked angles and distances from one point to another as I built in more features. As more feature edges were added I used those to check newer ones, and constantly back checked previous ones to make sure I was maintaining fair accuracy.

This all resulted in rough first stage. From here I’ll go back and begin to slowly refine it.

Work In Progress: Peaches, Update 2

Work in Progress: Peaches, Update 2

            Although I haven’t made a great deal of headway on this project, I can see things beginning to clear a bit, enabling me to find more time to work on it. I just finished up a colored pencil class and it was great to see the progress made by all the students. I hope they enjoyed it as much as I did. We were able to explore technique in detail, something that seemed beneficial to all – and something I will be stressing more of in future classes.

            The Rainbow Springs Fine Art Festival is tomorrow and I’ve been busy getting ready for that. I’ve finished a commission piece and I’ll be delivering that soon. Although I have another class coming up in early December, my plate is beginning to clear some, so I’ll be able to spend more time on this portrait

            As with all my projects, I’ve been doing some planning and preparation. This will be a pastel portrait to begin with. The size will be 12” by 16” high and will be done on Canson Mi Tientes pastel paper – colored. What color occupied my thoughts for a while and I decided on beige. It’s a warm color. Her fur is termed buff, a light beigey tan, and the surroundings are all warm in color. I think the toned paper will serve as a good base.

            Backgrounds vary considerably from portrait to portrait. Vignettes contain no background, others just consist of abstract colors that complement the subject. Other portraits have realistic surroundings. It depends to a great deal on the client. I’m going to include a full background on this one. I don’t want the subject to appear isolated. Peaches was a part of our family and our home and I think including the surroundings she was a part of seems right.

            I’m going to try developing the portrait directly on the final paper rather than drawing it separately and transferring it to the support. I drew directly on the final paper with my portrait of Savannah and, right now, it seems the right approach. By carefully and accurately working up the proportions, and re-checking them as I go, I think I’ll do better than having to transfer a drawing. Details can be altered or lost when transferring from tracing paper to final paper. I’ll work up the drawing with vine charcoal rather than graphite. It’s more easily erasable when necessary and fits in better with pastels. It can also be integrated into the pastels to create darker darks.

Busy - busy - busy

 

This has been a busy week for me. I'm in the middle of preparations for the Rainbow Springs Art Festival that will be held this weekend in Dunnellon, FL. Also in the middle of teaching a class on colored pencil. This one will finish up on the 17th of November. And, I've just completed a commission - a Home Portrait of a beautiful historic house in Ocala, Florida. Consequently, I haven't gotten much done on the portrait of Peaches. I hope to get some of that done this week as other things wind down. I'm anxious to start the portrait.