Pencil Head Mixed Media

 

7/3/23 Earthsworld reference photo

When this inspiring portrait appeared on Earthsworld’s Instagram, it was irresistible! (Where can I get that pencil headgear? Yes, I did search, but I couldn’t find it.)

If I hadn’t been such a stubborn purist during last month’s direct watercolor challenge, I wouldn’t have waited until making this portrait to try using watercolor pencils along with watercolor paint. I was pleased that my initial drawing was minimal: Only the profile line plus a few marks to help position features. The rest was wet-in-wet watercolor straight from the Sakura Koi pans or mixed directly on the page – no mixing tray used (as usual, I was too lazy to go upstairs to get it). I was especially pleased with the skin tones that I was able to blend spontaneously using a Zorn palette – warm red, ochre and cool black. Finally, after all the paint had dried, I used Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles in the same colors to crisp up a few details and add stubble and brow texture. That kind of texture is hard to do with watercolors, yet so easy with colored pencils.

Although I wouldn’t say it’s my best portrait, it was satisfying to use each medium to do what it does best: Watercolor for subtly blended skin tones (which would have taken much more work with colored pencils); water-soluble colored pencils for details (which can end up looking overworked with a paintbrush). It was also satisfying simply because I could get a better resemblance with much less effort and frustration, just by making a few pencil marks.