Realistic Colors are Over-Rated, Part 2

2/19/14 Pilot Hi-Tec-C gel pens, Zig markers, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

The location of Zoka Coffee where I usually sketch is the one near Green Lake. I love the spacious room, overstuffed chairs, aged, hardwood floors and especially the huge, paned windows that bring in so much light.

Just for a change, though, I decided to go to the Zoka near the U-District today. The space is very different – a long and narrow room in a more modern building. I thought the interior space would give me new compositional challenges, but I just got frustrated finding an interesting angle, so I gave myself a different assignment instead: Make a montage of simple portraits using as many garish colors as I could. The green guy gave me a particularly challenging pose: His head was both tilted down at an angle and partially turned away from me.

Technical notes: I like the brightly colored, fine point of my Pilot Hi-Tec-C Coleto Multi Pen for contour drawing, and its gel ink washes nicely for delicate shading on faces, but I can’t get the ink to shade deeply enough for most shadows. So that’s when I bring out the big guns: my Kuretake Zig Clean Color markers. You gotta love that red! It’s the same color I use when I want just a touch of red for car tail lights, but when mixed with pink gel ink, it takes on a Day-Glo hue.