Pears from Life

Pears from Life

Neocolor II artist crayons on large watercolor Moleskine

Today's painting is actually catching up for yesterday, unless I get in another sketch or something I'm still one day behind. I probably will though. This took me a while since I did the first layer lightly and washed it. The whole page curled up when I did and you can see that original wash in the background that I didn't color over because I liked it - a mix of black, Ultramarine and white layering.

I used the same light green artificial pear for all three views, rotating it to see it at different angles. It's not perfectly symmetrical and I also deliberately let it vary a bit in my rendering, not worrying if I made it a little fatter or shorter. I played with color on all three versions and pushed one way back by fading out the colors with white - which showed up more in the photo than the original. But color adjustments in photos are tricky at best, get one area looking true and some other area will be washed out or too dark or too blue or something.

It's one step more intense than the chalky looking thing in the photo, more like a solid Naples Yellow than a pale grayed beige. The shadows did do that double ring effect too. Values are about right, it just paled out because of what's probably gamut issues.

Oh wow! 200th post! Just noticed that! Yay, been at it a while with this blog. Onward!

Harvest foods in Tombow pen

Harvest

Tombow dual tip pens on sketch paper

Last daily sketch of October, just decided to do a harvest theme from imagination and memory. I used my new Muted Palette set, think the pumpkin came out looking a bit cooked but otherwise reasonably happy with the rendering. Had fun with the wheat, really didn't want to do the cliche of putting corn with it. Tossed in cranberries and currants because I like them. Best item in the whole sketch is that knobbly gourd, really had fun doing that one.

Might play with some of these later or with a real setup next year when harvest decorations for Halloween are a thing from truck stops! But this completes a second month of daily sketching or drawing without missing even one. The 48 hour rule really works. I get lull days after doing something good sometimes, or just the weather catches me before I'm done. But if I just give it that extra day to catch up, I do it.

Now doing that while writing a Nanowrimo and editing a previous one is a huge challenge, so wish me luck! Might sketch for a warm-up, do a lot with these Tombow markers. Cooked Pumpkin color might work for Tawny Sabertooth fur.

Day 16: Pears, Plums and Clementine on Milk Glass

Pears, Plums and Clementine on Milk Glass

8 1/2" x 6 1/2"

Today I felt a good deal more ambitious and did this painting in several sessions with Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watersoluble crayons in my Stillman & Birn 8 1/2" x 11" hardbound journal. I love that heavy rough white paper, it has deep tooth and is very absorbent, works well with anything I throw at it.

Sketched this still life from life. A friend gave me five milk glass plates that are curved at the sides almost like a shallow bowl, I put one of them out for use. Then my home care guy went out and bought me fruit. He had an eye for the pretty ones, since he's also an artist! The big bright green pear, the two strange gold and reddish plums and a giant peach and beautiful nectarine now eaten were all a delight. I got photos of the nectarine. The peach was too irresistible.

Now that this is painted, I can find out what those plums taste like! The clementine and tiny brown pear came with my lunches from the food program I get, they were just right to add to the setup. 

I might even do another something today since it's not that late. I have the bottom of this page to do something else in water media. Might continue with those crayons or go back to the W&N markers or mess with watercolor pencils.

NC-II crayons are a lot like layering with colored penclls but softer and bolder. The light colors are translucent and somewhat opaque, though it helps to reserve pure whites. Texture is softer than the Cretacolor watersoluble oil pastels, still on the firm side compared to oil pastels. They wash out in a unique pigment rich lush color, not quite gouache as they have a little waxy shine and lack the matte effect of gouache. They can be used like it certainly! They rewet easily, going back into washed areas can create unintended lifting.

Square Fruit Still Life 30 in 30 Day 2

Pears and Orange

6" square pastel on paper

Second day of Leslie Saeta's 30 Paintings in 30 Days Challenge. I painted earlier tonight at 8pm and added more forms, this time in a different color harmony. Originally I had black lines but warmed them with a dark brown.

Once again I painted intuitively. I focused on the color harmony and went almost abstract working with the shapes. I worked from life again, my lunch included a real pear so I posed that with my light yellow green plastic pear and a very red-orange orange that caught some light on a section of the sphere.

The live pear was the same color as the plastic one. That didn't suit me so I used warm yellows in the same value pattern. This one started with Oyster Canson Mi-Tientes paper color - a light muted orange. So that called me to use orange, yellow and green with a red-orange form and then pink and lavender accents toward the back - moving around the spectrum toward blue but opposite the greens.

Hm... that's the full spectrum. Cool. It hasn't got that rainbow feel because the background accents are lighter and  less intense. I like the intense spectrum as a color harmony and may use that on another one, just go through the spectrum and sort the colors by values. But this pastels set has a blue violet and a magenta, not a strong mid violet.

So my palettes are also exploring the 24 color Cretacolor Pastels Carre' range as a limited palette in itself. I haven't used other pastels yet, set these supplies up as a physical convenience to be able to paint on bad days with field supplies.

At least one will be pen and colored pencils, this month's CP article. All will have a theme borrowed from the September Pastel Spotlight on WetCanvas.com - Line. That lets me explore any subject but keep it simplified, and I can explore different ways to use lines in painting. Yet use whatever medium fits for the day's energy, time and physical ability.

Two days in and I have hope of completing it this time. Wish me luck!

Two Apples pastel on paper

Two Apples from Life

6" x 9" pastel on Moonstone Canson Mi-Tientes paper smooth side

I reorganized my 48 Color Conte to all fit neatly into an old 24 color Conte box, just broke the sticks in half and put two colors in each slot. One red piece is just a touch too long and sticks up, so I started something I'd use that red on. It went well! The apples are on a black refrigerator top but I livened that up with various dark colors and threw in a little reflected color still with the same red.