Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Feeling "soul comfort" with a new technique...

In my last studio blog post I wrote of my experimentation with the use of colored pencils for detail work. When I started painting the Independence resin commission I had in my mind that I wanted the throw something new into my technique. I had purchased two sets of colored pencils about 5 years ago and used them once or twice....giving up when the pencils would not leave any color on my painting surface. At the time I was using a slightly glossy sealer to seal my oil paintwork before moving to the next step of the application of the colored pencils....thus the sealer surface was the reason for the colored pencils not working well.

The two sets I purchased were the Prismacolor Premier Portrait Set  and the Derwent Graphtint Set of 24. 

With the Indy project I began with an oil color base coat and applied the acrylic and colored pencil detailing directly over the well dried oil colors. I can say without a doubt that this is my "soul comfort" zone of technique...you artists know the feeling ...when you have stumbled upon a new technique that you want to take to a higher level ...to take and improve upon....and that you REALLY REALLY like the look of the end result. 

I am also using the chestnut and warm grey colored pencils for adding flea bites to the Stormy commission project....I want to work in some of the white pencil later on for white detailing and highlights...curious to see what the look will be using the white.

Stormy is sculpted by the super popular Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig.


Here below you can see the Derwent white, warm grey, and chestnut pencils that I used on the Indy and that I am using on the Stormwatch resin...


And here are a few photos of the completed Independence resin...Indy is sculpted by the super gifted Sarah Rose...Indy sports the colors of silver bay pintaloosa or Walkaloosa...









Have a wonderful day everyone!
Sandra Hottinger
C.S.Richmond Studios











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5 comments:

  1. Melanie B.October 2, 2012 at 2:07 PM

    Wow! That looks awesome, thanks for sharing this. :) Always had the problem that my coloured pencils scratched the surface of my model or you could see nothing. ^^ Do you think this might be working on a acrylic base, too? I do not have oils here. :)

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  2. Sandra HottingerOctober 2, 2012 at 2:49 PM

    The oil colors are a bit tougher than acrylics....if using acrylic as your base color I would suggest applying a matte sealer before you use your colored pencils on the surface. I also found that if you apply your sealer holding the can at least 12 to 14 inches away from your project while applying the sealer, your sealer surface will have some "tooth" to it to grab your colored pencil colors while you work. I applied one layer of acrylic hair details and then one layer of pencils on my dry oil surface...and then a layer of sealer (holding the can far away from my subject while spraying) and then I continued on with my layers of pencils...spraying in between layers.

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  3. Melanie B.October 3, 2012 at 6:32 AM

    Thanks for the detailed answer! I am mostly working with pastels, and I also spray after I have finsihed my base coat colour with acrylics with a sealer to make the surface sticky. I will try that out some day. :) Also want to work with oils some day. :D

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  4. Sandra HottingerOctober 3, 2012 at 8:40 AM

    I have found the Derwent brand of pencils to be more workable than the Prismacolor pencils....the Derwents seem to be softer and easier to get to stick to the surface I am working on.

    Happy to help!
    Happy painting!

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    Replies
    1. Melanie B.October 3, 2012 at 12:45 PM

      Yes, that is true. As I am also drawing woth coloured pencils I have some from Derwent and I just love the texture! Never had the idea to use them on my models even though they are so soft. They are called Coloursoft Pencils, I think!

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