The charcoal pencils came unsharpened and fell apart when I tried to put a point on them, with two separate sharpeners and a blade. They weren't well made so they were binned. But she was also given a tiny A5 (8" x 6") sketch pad of black paper, the charcoal pencils were meant to be used on.
So out came my watercolour pencils for an experiment.
The thing with experiments is, you never know what you're going to end up with. I learned the limitations on such dark paper, with pencils. They weren't very vibrant. I used the watercolour pencils dry, so I struggled to develop highlights on a black background.
I tried to use a black marker pen, to get some detail in the leaves, but fear I only made it look more messy. You never know if you don't try these things out though. This was not meant to be my best work, just demonstrating the results of an experiment. Perhaps prisma coloured pencils would have worked better? I know with such a small pad, I cannot use my chunky charcoal blocks or oil pastels.
The inspiration was my luffa vines, which are sporting a lot of leaf cover at the moment, but no flowers as yet.
This is lovely. I think that prismacolors might have done well on black background. I haven't tried it. I believe you can get great results on black with pastels and I have a set of neon colored pencils (I have to look for the manufacturers). Adding subltle highlights with whites will really make this work pop and don't be afraid to go darker in the greens too. Its a low key work but even then, highlights bring the work forward more. It can be a multimedia work as well-so don't be afraid to shave off some white charcoal and apply it with a brush. I love it as is though.
ReplyDeleteThe prismacolors would have been better, but unfortunately I don't own any yet, lol. My art supplies list is growing!!
ReplyDeleteI'll give the white a try, but I struggled to get the pale yellow to go over the dark greens, as I think it was starting to burnish. I had to press fairly hard to get the colour to show. I learned that no ordinary pencil will work on this paper. I should give other mediums a try though. :)
I own prismacolors colored pencils and I am not impressed with them. The wood cracks when sharpening and they are much too expensive for that to happen. I have read reviews on them and most artists dislike them and are upset with the company who apparently fixed the issue then reverted back to the problem for some reason. I have no idea why. But buyer beware. There have to be better products out there. There are also gelli pens meant to be used on black paper-that would definitely work. Is the paper conducive to pastels? the chalk kind that is. I thought you said you had pastel pencils but I might be mistaken.
DeleteGood to know about the Prismacolors coloured pencils. Thanks for sharing your experience, because I've heard its either Prismacolors or Faber-Castell Polychromos coloured pencils. My mum always vouched for the Polychromos. She would use it on her mixed media paintings, for very fine detail she wanted to draw attention to. They would work over the dry paint.
DeleteNo soft pastels yet - only oil pastels (some metallic) but looking at purchasing some of the softies, soon. The pad says its good for pastels, so just need to budget for them. ;)
The blog is on my sidebar-Make a Mark. She has a pencil review page somewhere on there so if you are going to invest then read that to see if you can spare your money by buying a good product from the start. I notice that only some colors of prisma colors crack while others don't. AND in some colors, the pigment falls out of the casing-this is due to wood expanding.
DeleteStudent quality pastels should not be expensive but this depends on how big a set you buy as well.
Thanks, will check it out. :)
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