Thursday 16 June 2011

Going for the one

I'm getting myself psyched up ready to have a go at doing a big painting. I have painted big before - well up to quarter imperial anyway, so it's not going to be such a big deal. I even got my oils out of storage to remind myself of the colours I have and to make sure I had everything I might need if and when the inspiration and time arrives! I'm still undecided about whether or not it's going to be an oil, a pastel or a watercolour. I may even go for gouache. I'm thinking of doing something based on the charcoal drawing in my earlier post, New Horizons, which seemed to get a very good reaction from all of you lovely people out there. It was done from imagination so I have no colour references to help me to take it from the value study I had done but I had a little play with my Inktense pencils just to get a feel for how I could approach a colour version of the scene. I expect I will do a few of these sketches before I'm happy enough to do a full painting.

PS Most pencil manufacturers will tell you not to dip their products directly into water but if you sharpen Inktense pencils properly - with a craft knife or similar, not a conventional sharpener - and expose enough of the core, you can then dip the leads directly into water and then you get fantastic effects almost like painting with mini oilbars! The slight caveat is that continuous dipping of the pencils, as is the case with other water soluble media, does tend to soften the core a little so just be aware of this.


14 comments:

  1. Good morning Michael.
    A really lovely painting, well done. All the best Michael.
    Vic.

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  2. Great sketch. The fully worked up one should be stunning :)

    I've never tried dipping my inktense straight off, I have brushed over their marks with a wet brush, though. They're great pencils :)

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  3. I'm looking forward to see your coming big painting project. That would be a great one. This one is so inspiring. BTW I like to visit your blog because you write more on what you are doing with regards to your painting and gives also some interesting stuff.

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  4. Looking forward to see your big painting! This sketch is great! I too enjoy your information about the materials and methods you use. I saw you are planning a page about that.

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  5. Victor - Hello again! Thank you for your kind comments. I think it's looking at your beautiful oil paintings that's got me fired up about trying it again! All the best :)

    Pat - Thank you. Not sure I can do stunning but I'll certainly give it my best shot. I love watercolour pencils but Inktense are just gorgeous. However, watch out with some of those between yellow orange and purple with low lightfastness. You can get LF ratings for all Derwent products on their site :)

    Cora - thank you for your comments and for coming back for a visit! I enjoy sharing any knowledge I have and writing about the hows and whys so I'm glad you enjoy reading it :)

    Judy - thank you and I just hope I can get the time now to produce a big painting. Glad you enjoy the info too. Yes, I will be posting to my Materials and Methods page soon. Keep checking :)

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  6. I'm looking forward to seeing a big painting. I particularly like the yellow/lime in the trees playing against the touches of turquoise in the water. It gives it a lot of energy to my eye. I'm a fan of inktense too, it's nice to have a pencil with meaty colour to play with.

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  7. Thanks for your lovely comments, Lisa. This is just to hopefully give myself some ideas on how to approach a bigger painting. At the moment I'm busy putting a wooden floor down so it may be quite some time before I post again :)

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  8. I love the colours in the hills - another great sketch.

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  9. Beautiful painting. I'm curious about your big picture and what materials you will use. Good luck with the planning of your big painting.

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  10. John - many thanks. I like the hill colours too but wondered if they were right so it's nice to get your positive feedback on that :)

    Renske - dankje! You're very kind. I hope to make a start on the 'big' painting very soon :)

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  11. You have obtained a singular effect with these pencils! The sky seems made with watercolours, while the darkest parts of the painting show a grainy effect that only pencils and pastels can give.
    I hope to see your "big painting" very soon... but don't hurry... the fact that you're thinking of it means that in the back of your mind you have already started making it.

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  12. Thank you Lucia. Yes, Inktense are a lovely expressive medium as you say: sometimes watercolour, sometimes pastel or pencil, a painterly and linear media all in one!

    I have made a start on my big painting but I'm not happy with it at all at the moment so it may be sitting on my drawing board for some time while I think about it some more ;)

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  13. Very nice picture! Love the colors.

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  14. Hi Linda. Thank you very much for your kind comments and a big welcome to you out there in West Virginia!

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