DrawWithMike.net

While still concidering the *Raven project .., I wanted to fill the gap up.., by practicing some for fun/play/study...

It's my sister's puppy, the Border collie.
She loves this dog so much, she did save him from leathal disease (she's had bought him with), therefore the bond is even stronger.

I took this opportunity to practice my free hand skills, and I did draw the outline trying to match all those shapes and proportion as best as I'm capable of.

I did mark the dog head, and some basic darker spots by brush strokes with black pastel...
Let see how it goes!

Pastelmat A4, pastel drawing.

I've been playing with Panpastels today to make the background.
I have faced some trouble to achieve reach pitch black background while applying with the brush.
I did try designed sponge, and the outcome was very similar to the brush...
I might be too gently while taking the pastel on the sponge?
Should I push harder?

I used it wet instead...
I've got some oil paint solution to dilute the paint, and I used it by dipping the brush, then running over Panpastel...
The Panpastel became like waterpaint then.
I started brushing it over the background immediately, being wonder how it goes.
It was much darker than dry application, but it might be just wet effect.
I'll check it tomorrow when it dries out.

I did apply additional layer with brush all over again (dry) to get rid of noticeable brush strokes, and make the background smoothly and evenly sprayed around the surface.

So in order.
1- I was dipping wet brush in Panpastel to paint the background like it was watercolour paint.
2- I did run a dry application all over again to mask visible brush strokes.
3- I'm waiting till tomorrow to see the effect when it dries out.

While the brush was still moistured I was making short strokes around the dog, to make marks mimicking the fur...

I'm out of my comfort zone now.

I've never been using Panpastels dry or wet ever before...
This is my first risky steps.

Wow!! That’s the kind of courage that I’m lacking!

Your experimentation is paying off though, because he’s coming along really well! What a little cutie pie

Laurene wrote: ↑Wed Aug 10, 2022 11:34 am Wow!! That’s the kind of courage that I’m lacking!

I bet you're better off, not having the courage I have

Today's update ...
As you know, I'm out of my comfort zone, so I assume I can try anything really, because it seems this drawing is nothing, but a huge experiment

So I did block in some randome colours by dry brush...
Here and there..., to roughly match the reference.

I have no idea of how feels placing wet strokes over a dusty dry pastel - nothing to lose!
Lets go

I started at the nose, then some around the eyes...
I was blending browns, blacks, white and red to mix some colours for blocking in...
It is not too bad, I actually do enjoy painting with panpastels a lot!
It's because I'm blending colours like I used to with oils, and making exactly same brush strokes, like I was painting in oils!
The benefit of using wet pastels I'm hiding in my sleeve is that, I can smudge the painting area once it is dry, or just blend dry colours over again if necessary.
So any imperfections made by wet strokes I can blend and vanish them later on.
I feel I'm free to do anything really...

That's the theory though
It's my very first experience.
Further updates coming soon!

Keep going! Because I'm loving watching this unfold... even if neither of us know what will result

Thanks Mike!
I will keep going
This update is all about gathering experience.
It's because I've been trying wet strokes over dry pastels - which is obviously very questionable.
Not.
It doesn't work well.
So I sprayed fixative over the drawing, and I'll try wet painting again, in hope the fixative helps to prevent the pastel powder being mixed with a wet strokes...
I hope it'll work out, because I'd love using wet pastels, mix colours like oils, etc.

This is really coming to life! And I love the subtle detail in the nose.

Thank you!
I mean it
By the way...
How come the graphite artist fancy the colour drawing

PogArt wrote: ↑Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:46 pm By the way...
How come the graphite artist fancy the colour drawing

I'm not against colour... I just think it gets in the way

First, I love that graphite connects mind to hand. No drying times, no mixing of colours, nothing to get in the way of thoughts transferring themselves directly to paper.

And I think once you remove colour, you force viewers to look a little deeper. You can see a brown horse in a green field and process it with a quick glance. Remove the colour, and it will cause at least a short pause before understanding kicks in.

There are undoubtedly many subjects that revolve around colour - sunsets, for example - that I simply won't attempt. But others - such as tree bark - don't require colour for their textures and surfaces to be best appreciated.