9/18/17 Wedgwood neighborhood |
Today’s sketch was an experiment (well, I guess they all
are, but this one was more consciously experimental than usual):
For most sketches done on location, I’ve habitually used
water-soluble colored pencils (mostly my favorite Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles plus a few others). I don’t even
carry traditional colored pencils with me. Compared to using dry colored pencils, it’s so much faster and easier to intensify colors simply by
adding water, so it’s only natural that I’d favor watercolor pencils in the
field. But the mess I made yesterday
when I squirted water on my sketch – I was aiming for the colored pencils, but
I forgot that the marker I’d used underneath was water-soluble, too – made me wonder
if I rely too much on water to intensify pigments. Under the same time and
condition constraints, would traditional colored pencils be that much more
difficult or time-consuming to use? I put them to the test.
I could have used my usual set of water-soluble pencils
and simply left them dry, but to be honest, I didn’t trust myself to stay away
from the water – it’s such an automatic habit now! So I brought along a
half-dozen Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils
in fall foliage hues, and I went out hunting for color. I chose Luminance
specifically because they are among the softest pencils I own, and I knew I
could build rich color with them very quickly.
Indeed, this sketch took no longer than any of comparable
size and subject that I’ve done with water-soluble colored pencils plus water. (In
fact, it may have taken less time because I didn’t have to wait for water to
dry before putting in details.) When I use traditional colored pencils at my
desk, I build up many layers slowly and gradually, using a light touch
and the pencil point held at a 45-degree angle to the paper, as I was taught.
But out on the street, I went against everything I’ve learned in class and bore down hard on the broad side of the core to
apply as much pigment as quickly as possible. The pigments look just as
intense without water, don’t they? What I lacked in finesse I made up for in
speed and efficiency.
This experiment bodes well in another way: Today’s sketch
was done on the last page in my current signature of my usual Canson XL 140-pound paper. It’s my favorite
when using water-soluble pencils because it holds up well to heavy washes and
sprayed water. At least for a while, I’m going to give a serious try to my new Stillman & Birn Nova sketchbook
with toned paper. Nova paper is the same weight as S&B’s Alpha paper, which
is about 100 pounds and a bit too light for spraying with water. While I’m
using a Nova book, I’ll resist water (except in small, controlled doses applied
with a waterbrush) and see how I do. Bonus challenge: It takes even more
intense color to show up well against a gray or tan background. Am I (and
dry colored pencils) up to the challenge? Stay tuned.
Beautiful trees! Vibrant color and beautiful lines.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cathy! You'll be seeing more dry colored pencils in my sketches soon!
DeleteI think you got the vibrancy of the colors without the water. I'm curious to see how they work out in the S&B Nova series. I'm sure it will be quite a while before I find the new sketchbooks here. It took me forever to find a place that even carried the softcover sketchbooks.
ReplyDeleteIf you get tired of waiting, the new Nova books are available online at Blick.com as well as Amazon.
Delete