Love dahlias, not just because they are so ornate, but also because they bloom so very late. The tuberous begonias and potted dahlias are still in full bloom at the start of November, how cool is THAT? (For the northern hemisphere and 47th parallel, no less!) This is a stylized drawing in colored pencils.
I first bought some cheap soft pastels back in 2018 and did a couple of sketches. I bought a nice set of Rembrandt pastels a few months later — didn't use them. I bought some pastel pads, none if which seemed right. September 2020, I bought a couple more sets of bargain pastels and tried a couple of pieces — no good, still couldn't bring myself to use them. Jess bought me pastel pencils for Christmas — I was too scared to use them. I even bought a pad of Pastelmat which is supposed to be THE paper to use for pastel paintings in January. I was too scared to use that as well!
FINALLY, after a few unsuccessful attempts at working with watercolour (brush issues), I cast aside my fear and thought I'd mess around with pastels. Some time later, and this was the result. I've finally broken through my pastel fear-barrier.
I've got to say, I love soft pastels and I'm excited about doing more pieces in this medium.
Rendition of Michelangelo pre-sculpture sketch work two men fighting 4 ft by 3 ft. Corinthian column added original 3 ft by 2 ft. Done on wall in home with 14 number 2 School pencils over a 2-week..
This was Emma Thompson in one of my favourite films, Stranger Than Fiction - she is brilliant! I used just colouring pencils in this one to try out a soft, harmonious look, on the background of blue A4 card. I quite like the relationship between the foreground and background in this piece; had the background been white, I don't think it would have worked as well.
This is another way of working that I really like. Fine liners and chalk (colour) pencils were predominantly used, with a quick smothering of acrylics for her scarf and coarse posca pen marks for the jumper :). About the subject, Handmaid's Tale was one of those rare books that I read more than once growing up and it stayed with me, hence why I decided to draw Margaret Atwood (not seen the series yet though but I hear good things!). I accidentally had her hand cut out while penning the figure - still working on my scale and composition!
With the help of liner pens, Col-Erase pencils, and a white gel pen, I was able to design a fighter type character.. That doesn't have a name yet. I'm open to suggestions if anyone wants to give her an official title.
This is one of the pages of my handmade picture book (made w/ watercolor paper, watercolor paint, color pencils, and pen & ink). I really wanted to focus on illustrating the beauty of the architecture and vibrant colors of the buildings.
