Posts Tagged ‘Animals’

Doodle Tres

Without ink outline and details

With ink outline and details

Well, as I planned, I got out my old set of regular Derwent Watercolor Pencils and and used them for this third and last exercise.  I have to admit that the colors from the Inktense set were, in fact, brighter, both going onto the paper and as the water was applied.  I had to work harder to get as much color as I was aiming for using the regular set.   In the middle of the exercise, it occurred to me that I really should have done these on watercolor paper to have a true test.  In the future, when I decide to complete something using w/c pencils, I’ll run a short test on probably 140 lb paper and see what the difference is.

I still have a problem, however, with the Inktense lead color not representing the final color well.  It really means making up a sample sheet with the colors and their names for future use and filling in several colors that weren’t represented in the set that I got  (like a true red, for instance).

Well, this was a fun exercise and I hope you enjoyed my efforts.  Any questions about what I did (or anything else, of course, are more than welcome!)   Enjoy!

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Bearded Collie

This is a 9 X 12 pastel of a Bearded Collie done for my sister’s birthday.  She has had several and I can understand why.  They may be in the herding group, but they have a very out-going, playful personality.

 

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December Drawings

Well, as you can tell, the past few weeks have been hectic and I haven’t gotten too much done during this time.   The drawings above were done with a sepia pen on 3-1/2 X 4-1/2 sketchbook that I carry with me in the hopes of grabbing a moment or two.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and enjoy the drawings.

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Back to Dogs…

Don’t you just love them?  Although we own two Shih Tzus, this happens to be a Bearded Collie (Beardie) done on 9 X 12 Wallis Sanded Board using various soft pastels.   Enjoy!

 

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Almost Daily Sketches

Three more sketches to show.  Hurricane TV watching made sketching in my 5X8 sketchbook easy.


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Almost Daily Sketches

Just a couple of quick sketches to get back in the groove.  Each was done on my Canson 3 X 5″ sketch pad. Hope you enjoy!

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Beardie in Pastel

Bearded Collie (Beardie to friends)  8 X 10 pastel

If you have read the blurb at the top of the blog, you will note that I always intended this blog to track what I’m doing at any given time.  I promised myself that I would post the day’s work whether I liked it or not, because, as I am sure you know, you learn more from your mistakes than anything else.

I’ve been concentrating on landscapes now for quite awhile and realized I hadn’t ventured into other areas.  I have also been thinking of  doing a painting of a Beardie since they have such an unusual appearance and I know three people who own them…one, my sister, who rescues them.

They are wonderful dogs with funny personalities.  They are definitely working dogs and love hearding.

Now, I have to say that I am not really happy with they painting, so I thought I’d post it anyway and critique it so you know my thoughts on the matter.

1.  I just jumped right in and now feel I should have completed a drawing first to make sure I was getting the relationships and shapes right.  As you can see, they have large heads, long bodies and an abundance of hair.  They can be various combinations of Black, white and grey.  They also come in a light brown (or blonde) with white.

2.  I was using very soft pastels which makes small marks difficult.  I will do the next one in a larger size to give myself a little break.  I used pastel pencils for some of the detail, but it’s hard when the first layer is very soft.

3. I’m also planning on a different color for the background.  Although I am suggesting grass and bushes in this painting, I’m not entirely happy with the green.  I’ll have to try some other colors out before I commit to a different background.

4. All in all, it’s a reasonable start, but not up to what I’ve done with other breeds, so stay tuned.

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Shatze

The following are the steps before completing my latest pastel.  It is a 9 X 12 on La Carte Pastel Card using mostly Unisons.   This is the first pastel I’ve done on any surface besides Canson and watercolor paper.  I think I have found a new friend….it was a lot of fun working on this surface!

I enlarged a photo of Shatze and taped it to the top of my table easel.  I know a lot of people use their computer screens. Perhaps that will be the next step I take.   Anyway, here is the drawing done in a reddish brown  Nupastel.

I don’t usually do the background first, but when I saw how brilliant the colors were showing on this paper (card?), I felt better about working on the cat with some area of comparison.  I didn’t want the background to over-power the cat, but I still wanted to include the delightful colors in the what I think is a blanket over the back of the couch.

I was fairly happy with the face at this stage, although later I could tell I had painted the nose just a bit too long and so corrected it by scraping off pastel and repainting.  But that wasn’t until the rest of the picture was completed.   I’m sure we all go in and make “corrections” after we’ve covered the surface.  But, I think that faces on people and animals are of primary importance. If the face isn’t right, it’s not the right cat!

I think this is where I discovered the nose, plus a few little picky items to correct.

And here I call it done.   (Unless something else jumps out at me after letting it rest a day or two.

Enjoy!

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Name That Cat Contest!

Yes, that’s right….a contest!   The first person who can identify the cat in the 9 X 12 pastel painting wins the original work!   You can either add a comment to this post, or send the name via email to: jan@clearmountaindesigns.com.     Good Luck!

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Almost Daily Sketches

I’m working on several things at once, but have to stop occasionally and get some drawing in.  These were drawn (quickly, I might add) on a 3 X 5 sketch pad using a brown Sharpie.  As you can see almost anything catches my attention when I’m in the mood.  If you can’t identify the flowers, don’t worry.  I took artist’s license to improvise as I went along.   Hope you enjoy

Sorry the film is so faint.  I should have stopped and made sure I had more light on the easel, but then there you are.

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