Monday, November 22, 2010

Farley finished

Farley
12'x10' Coloured Pencil
Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

The portrait of Farley is now finished and has been for over a week but thanks to Blogger having a wobbly I couldn't upload any images at the time. And then of course it slipped my mind later!

I am currently trying out new papers for my coloured pencil drawings as, after years of using Fabriano Artistico hp watercolour paper (and shouting its praises to all who asked), I've decided it is too 'off white' and cream coloured for my liking - I want a paper that is a lot whiter. I probably would have quite happily carried on using the Artistico paper had it not been for my wanting to try Mellotex. Mike Sibley, who needs no introduction and whose work I greatly admire, uses this paper as do more and more pencil artists it seems.

Mellotex did take a bit of getting used to as it was so smooth but what I liked straight away was the whiteness of the paper and the fact that this in turn made getting prints of my drawings so much easier - made my Artistico look yellow in comparison! I encourage any artist who hasn't tried this paper to give it a go - you wont be disappointed. The range of darks you can achieve with this paper is reason alone - lots of lovely blacks:)

Unfortunately it is just too smooth for my coloured pencils hence my search. Farley has been drawn on Fabriano 5 described in Jacksons catalogue as 'a very white paper ideal for botanical work'. Sounded ideal, and still being a hp watercolour paper I knew it would have enough tooth to take all my many layers of pencil. But, for some reason or other, I didn't enjoy working on it and found it hard going. I still got the results I was after only I had to work harder to get them. I'm not an expert on papers but did wonder if the fact it was mould-made using 50% cotton rag as opposed to 100% in the Artistico could make a difference. I'm probably way out and clutching at straws but it is the only difference between the two papers, besides the colour, that I can see and it would be interesting to know. Maybe I got paper from a bad batch, who knows.

I will try it again but for my next portrait, which I'm currently working on, I'm back to the Artistico this time in extra white. No problems to report with this paper so far (still not as white as I'd ideally like but thats being picky) and there are a few more out there I'd like to try. Especially one from a fellow coloured pencil artist that I hadn't come across before and, thanks to him, have small samples of to scribble on and play around with.

I am working hard on my next portrait but unfortunately can't show you how this is progressing (yet) as it is going to be a present for somebody and it could ruin the surprise. I will of course post the stages as soon as I can.

Tuesday, November 09, 2010

More on Farley

Farley
A Work in Progress
Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

Still working away on Farley - was hoping to have him finished over the weekend but had to down tools thanks to the cold of all things. My boiler decided it had had enough and as a result we had no heating or hot water (technically still don't - long story!). To say I was frozen would be an understatement and it really didn't matter how many woolies I threw on as it made no difference. So the majority of the weekend was spent under the duvet trying to stay warm. I do think I'll need to invest in some thicker jumpers (and fingerless gloves so I can still draw) should something like this happen again. Fingers crossed it doesn't.

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Farley

A quick post as I have lots to do this afternoon/evening, but wanted to show where I am at with the Rough Collie portrait I'm currently working on. Meet Farley, or at least some of him ........

Farley
A Work in Progress
Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

I could have got a better scan looking at it now on screen but it'll pass - better ones in next post!

Update: Not so good image removed and better one put in its place - feel a lot better now:)

Tuesday, November 02, 2010

'New' blog!

A Work in Progress
Coloured Pencil on gessoboard
Copyright Laura Hardie 2010

Couldn't resist playing around with templates in Blogger and give my blog a bit of a make over. I'm happy with this template (for now:)) but may make a few small changes here and there over the next couple of weeks. I know you can add pages for example, and I want to see if I can do this - hopefully it should be simple enough! Staying on the subject of my blog I'd like to draw your attention to the link to my Facebook page (on the sidebar to the right) and encourage anyone interested to follow my work and goings on there too - I tend to update this page slightly more frequently than I do my blog for some reason.

I've made a start on my next portrait, which is of a Rough Collie - not enough to warrant a photo for my blog just yet but those will follow over the next couple of days. I always find the start of a drawing takes the longest time as I find my way around and get to know my subject. I prefer the middle stage when everything seems to 'flow' a lot better.

The image in todays post is my Lab on gessoboard started back in September and currently still a work in progress. I'm still deciding what exactly I want to do with the background and if I should be brave and go for silver leaf in places. Need to give it lots more thought as I'd hate to ruin it at this late stage.