Marbelicious

This is a tedious painting because it’s painted on drafting linen,

a type of paper that architects use to print out plans. I got this from my husband, who is an architect (lucky me!)

Why linen paper? Well, I’m being ambitious, wanna try coloured pencil on canvas, how about that? So dear hubby said, why not practice on linen paper first? (So sweet of him) So here goes my “experimental” piece. Not too bad, I say!

Instead of using Derwent cp, this time I used solely Faber-Castell polychromos. Their cp colours are super vibrant and are oil based. The texture is creamier and  have a slight gloss finish look. And another thing that I like about FC is that they don’t easily break.

I used measuring cups to draw the circle, yup! the measuring cup for baking (another hobby of mine) as they have different sizes. The inside details of the marbles, I applied the coloured straight on, adjusting the lines using cp. The beauty of cp is that they are able to cover over most of the colours, not totally though, but will give it the transparent look.

I’ve learned that when using cp on material, the tip of the pencil cannot be too sharp as it will pull away the thread. If doing outline, just need to lightly sketch over it, then use the blunt side to cover the intended surface. It needs at least a few layers of burnishing to cover/ penetrate into tooth/groove of the material.  If not, you will see tiny white spot, which is the sunken weaving of the cloth. It’s quite painful on the wrist after few hours of painting.

Another thing that I’ve learned that after burnishing, use a finger to rub into the material, so that the pigment will stay embedded into the linen. The first few time, I’ve used a brush to brush away the residue and guess what? The colours on the marbles came off!!! …re-colour again…

So throughout the process, I have to be very careful not to knock the easel or my table. To re-colour again is no joke!!!

Only after I spray on the fixative then I can relax. Phew….!!!! No more marbles for me….

Oh yes, I came across the reference picture from Dale Jackson, who, so sweet of him to post and permit anyone on google+ and also Colored Pencil Magazine on Facebook to use his pictures for their work. He’s an artist+ photographer.

This painting took me almost a month to complete because of the tiny detailing.

So end of another work. Going off now to start a new one, a portrait!!!! OMG, worse of all! But I want the challenge. The subject? My poor nephew. fingers crossed.