Mr. Stripey

 

9/1/26 Neocolor II on UglyPads paper

Once again, my friend Alice generously shared her garden’s bounty. I think she picks out the prettiest produce just for me because she knows I will want to sketch it! Last week she gave me Mr. Stripey (the actual name of the variety), a humongous tomato that was so sweet, he almost tasted like he was sugared. I guess I’m going to have to stop eating tomatoes until next summer because anything I eat after that one would be a letdown.

Before Mr. Stripey became salad and caprese, however, he had to sit for me. It was an opportunity to try an idea I had been thinking about: using Caran d’Ache Neocolor II crayons on UglyPads colored paper. I had hoped that the Neo IIs would be opaque enough to cover the paper, and the bright teal blue would sparkle through as an “underpainting.” I had to work harder and longer than I expected to get the coverage I wanted, but the result is exactly what I had hoped for with an oil pastel-like effect. After applying many layers of Neocolor II, I used a dry-ish waterbrush to very sparingly activate some areas. I avoided activating too much because I didn’t want to obscure the underpainting. (I also know UglyPads paper can’t take too much water.)

Once to sketch and once to eat: Thank you, Alice, for the double gift!

I've long suspected that my scanner is no longer picking up some colors accurately. This image from my phone's camera captures the teal blue much better (though not exactly) than the scan at top of page. Hmm... maybe it's time to get a new scanner.