Cherry Leaf – Loose and Optical

 

11/4/21 Caran d'Ache Museum Aquarelle on Stonehenge hot press 

Before my cherry leaf crumbled, I wanted to try a couple more things. The first was simply to get out my Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles and make a fast, loose sketch (at left). As I’ve mentioned before, “loose” doesn’t come naturally to me, but something about making a tight botanical drawing prompts a need to swing in the opposite direction (I recall feeling the same way after I drew a beet in Kathleen McKeehen’s class last year).

Next, I wanted to think more about the “optical mixing” concept that Crystal Shin talked about in her workshop. Although her own style is to blend colors seamlessly, she showed us the work of other artists and students that were good examples of optical mixing. Instead of blending completely, individual strokes from various colored pencils could be discerned when examined closely, but their cumulative effect from a distance is a solid color. Pointillists and Impressionists are known for their use of optical color mixing effects.

In my own sketches, I’ve seen the results of optical mixing most obviously when I use a CMYK-based primary triad. The three bold hues seem to visually vibrate, and a bit of cyan or magenta when it’s not expected can be a delightful surprise.

11/4/21 Derwent Lightfast and Prismacolor on Stonehenge hot press

For the sketch at right, I wanted to try a CMYK triad in the Derwent Lightfast line, but strangely, the set doesn’t include Cyan or anything close to it. A Prismacolor True Blue (903) stepped in. The Lightfast colors used were Magenta (which is darker than I like in a CMYK triad, but it worked well on this leaf) and Banana Yellow.

I try to make pencil strokes in the direction of the form as a matter of course (a basic technique I learned from Suzanne Brooker in my first class with her), even when I intend to blend them fully. But when the pencil strokes are intended to be visible, I get more bang for the buck from this technique in defining the form.