Step one: The focal point
Step two: Add second bird
Step three: Add third bird (I'm detecting a patteren here)
Step four: You guessed it - Add fourth bird
Step five: I'm out of birds so I start to go over the drawing with a Pilot G2 pen. Building up bold lines to emphasise focal points
Step six: Finished pen drawing
Step seven: Just add water(color) I should have stopped at step six!
Dinner time
I am taking a detour from the beach for a moment. These finches were going to town on the bird feeder last night. I thought they made a nice subject.
I'm doing this in my new Moleskine. I got to the point where I had to decide if I were going to add color to this. I really want to color it, but it's on this really weird moleskiine paper that makes the pen work look great, but the watercolor sucks.
What the Hell.... I went for it. Maybe I'll find a way to get a unique look out of the awful paper.
23 comments:
beautiful sketch...colored and in black an white!
Great sketch. You've done a wonderful job despite the paper.
I must say I think this fashion for moleskines is just that, a fashion, and a pretty expensive one at that. I remember when everybody had to have a filofax - at least you could change the paper in a filofax!
Moleskine, schmoleskine - a tad over-rated in my opinion, unlike your work which I think you seriously under-rate.
Detlef
http://www.detlefjumpertz.com
I love how the coloring turned out.! It gives the drawing a very unique feel.
These are beautiful, Chuck.
this is a gorgeous sketch! thank you for sharing your amazing talent here.
WAY too cool.
The drawing is wonderful! I think the coloring turned out well, considering the very frustrating paper.
beauitful and I am right with ya on the moleskin, just posted about mine. painting the color on was like painting on plastic and having the plastic suddenly morph into a wad of toilet paper!
What if someone produced a beautiful little book with a stylie pocket and put good paper in it... Hummmmmm
Your work rocks!
Thank you for showing us the steps you took. I have a moleskine also and am learning to cope with the paper like the rest of you. Who was it that was so crazy about them in the first place? I don't mind that the paper doesn't take watercolor so well, you've adapted to it, I think, and I bought a second one for when mine is full (2/3rds now). Keep us posted on your thoughts, Chuck.
Hey Malinda,
I'm getting use to the look of Watercolor on this paper. It is unique. I love the books tough because of the way they are bound. You can get a nice flat fold no matter where in the book you are. I'd love to have a WC book bound that way.
LOVE your step by step chuck!
Chuck, I really enjoy seeing your process. Lindsay
I'd like to know if your Pilot G2 pen smudged or ran at all when you added the watercolor? I thought they were NOT waterproof. But I've tried so many pens, I may have remembered incorrectly. I'd like to try the G2's if they don't make mud. I think the colored version came out very nice, and it doesn't look like the pen lines were disturbed by the water media. I know the Moleskin takes a bit to get used to, and I agree, a bound book like the Moleskin with quality watercolor paper would be so convenient!
Good question about the G2. I did find that if I didn't give the ink about 5 minutes to dry, the ink would smudge a bit when I wet the paper.
Hi Chuck, just grabbed a few minutes to visit my favorite blogs! It is fascinating to see your process. I think the finished drawing is absolutely gorgeous. As for the moleskine---I'm one who doesn't buy into the hype about them. Nice little notebooks, but I'd rather spend my time painting on a surface that isn't oppositional ;D.
Hey Laura,
I have to agree about those little books. I may have to break the cardinal rule of moleskines and start pasting in water color paper. :-)
How is everything going with your family?
Shoot me an email if you have time. (which I know you don't)
I love the step by step process makes you appreciate the final piece even more so! Great blog!
Chuck -- I agree with you and all the above about the Moleskine paper. It is great for pen and ink, and that's all I use mine for now. Well, it also does well with rubber stamps (believe it or not), and I've done some color blocks with an ink pad, but that doesn't really count... The Neocolor thingies work okay on it for a couple of layers, but they are hard to work with, too. Anyway, I really like the drawing you did, despite the color difficulties -- birds can be tricky, since they just aren't very cooperative and keep wanting to hop around and all that cute stuff. Nice piece, and thanks for the step by step!
Hey Chuck, Yes, I love your work here in EDMG; it inspires me to work just a tad harder. Anyway, this particular posting of the finches really "spoke" to me. I've been a sort of "hit and miss" technician with my skethcing and watercoloring, so this was a clarifying experience for me. thanks! Now, about the moleskine, I love mine. What I do is wet the section I want to paint, let the "sheen" disappear, and add the paint. I learned early on that adding the paint with out the wash causes the spotting and unpredictable coverages. Wet, dry just past the sheen, paint. Maybe you're already doing it that way, it looks like you do. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration. By the way, my "Joe" made the cut for a juried show here locally. It's my second, so I'm pumped.
Here it is: Joe
Sigh. i'm no Moleskine fan. Actually, i like'm for sketching but not for watercolor...
You've really done something special here. Surprizingly, you've gotten alot of color out of this consider the paper source.
A+
Great work. I'm finally catching up on your blog entries. Your style is wonderful. I love seeing the progression of the drawings.
I'm with Detlef on the moleskines. They should really put out a lightweight watercolor version.
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