It Helps If You Know What You're Doing

 First, this is the dining table:

I used to do all my art work here, but none of the chairs were ergonomically good, and I got back and leg pains, so now I'm using the couch/coffee table, which is less than ideal.  But I persevere in my pursuits, which lately involve learning all about colored pencils.

I'd done a few portraits of the Good Omens characters, but didn't like the way the colors blended (or rather, failed to blend well).  So before starting this one (of Aziraphale the angel from a scene set in 1793), I found a YouTube tutorial on colored pencil blending techniques.  It was quite instructive, and I tested out several methods, including the use of solvent (mineral oil), applied with a watercolor brush.  

The results made me very happy:

Then I took a short break to do another Zoom sketch session with the Seattle folks.  We chose an octopus:

But I couldn't just stop at the ink drawing.  I simply had to color it in -- the pencils were right there,  how could I resist?  It's possible that I went a little wild with the color:

Then I decided to test out my new knowledge of colored pencil techniques on a portrait of Pippin.

I also got some better paper suited to colored pencil work (Strathmore 400 Bristol Vellum).  It is sturdy and can handle a lot of layering, burnishing, erasing, and solvent use.

I also bought a pencil sharpener made specifically for the ones I use (Faber-Castell Polychromos oil-based colored pencils).  A very fine point is necessary for details such as this eye, which is 1/2" across.  The sharpener produces an extremely sharp point.

Here is the finished portrait -- his fur is complex!

Then it was back to the Good Omens character drawings.  Rather than do yet more simple portraits, though, it was time for a new challenge -- drawing a complex background.  The angel character lives in an old, cluttered bookshop, and I found this reference photo of him reading at his rolltop desk.  It had just the right amount of fun background to practice my new skills on.

The focal point would still be the character, of course.  

Here is the new coffee table workspace, though I had to return to the dining table whenever it was time to use the solvent, as it has toxic fumes and that's the only spot where I could open windows.  So I went back and forth many, many times.

In the reference photo, the background details are out-of-focus, which works well to highlight the character, and I tried to replicate that effect as best I could.  It was quite challenging, as I couldn't tell what many of the objects on the desk actually were, and so I simply replicated the colors and shapes and hoped it would look okay.

I was glad that he was wearing white gloves, as I hate drawing hands, and the gloves seemed a lot easier to deal with.  

All in all, I'm pretty pleased with this piece, though still have a lot more to learn about this medium.

Before tackling another complex picture, my plan is to test out other solvents, along with other papers and application brushes to see if I can figure out what works best for good blending.  It's a tricky process -- when the solvent is added, it doesn't just blend the pencil color, it also moves it around to some extent, depending on how much solvent is added and the way the brush is manipulated.  This can create wonderful effects -- or horrible ones that you don't want!  I'm looking forward to experimenting with this fabulous technique.

Happy Monday, and stay safe out there!