Thursday, July 14, 2005

It's amazing what the right paper will do for you...



Coleus Color Sketch No. 1

This was so much fun to do. I couldn't wait to get to it after dinner last night. My wife is great. She doesn't mind me doing my thing in the evening.

Anyway, I didn't want to do the water color in the molskine. As much as Jim's technique of wetting the paper first works well, I needed the control that WC paper could provide. So I scanned the drawing from the moleskine and printed it out on WC paper in my ink jet printer. (yea, that 'ol trick) And then did water color washes, pastel and finally colored pencil.

I'm getting closer to the final vision of what I want this to do, but it's not giving me the same results that oil will. I want something looks very rich and more simplified. Hopefully, I figure it out soon.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like the results. Do you find that the inkjet lines run when you add the water or does letting it set up a few minutes prevent that? Maybe it doesn't matter when you're working with dark colors on top, though, come to think of it. I've got to try this, it looks like a great workaround for times when you can't paint in the book - and the w/c texture adds so much.

Kathleen Pequignot said...

You've certainly captured some rich colors here. I think your project is interesting, as you are approaching it in various creative steps and mediums. I can't wait to see more. I love these plants. There are so many varieties--the possiblities for drawing studies are endless. :)

Anonymous said...

Love this one. I agree with kathleen marie, it has very rich colors. Very expressive.

inki said...

Chuck, that is simply LOVELY!

Shelly McC said...

I think this has come out gorgeous.

pedalpower said...

Wow, very pretty. It is facinating watching how you are aproaching your painting. Coleus are wonderful, aren't they? Every color imaginable-this year I planted some giant ones-the leaves are bigger than my hand and the whole plant is the size of a bushel basket.

Linda said...

Oh yeah ... this is good! Good solution to the bleh paper, too!

Terri said...

My immediate reaction to seeing this was that you managed to capture the texture of the coleus leaves really well. :o) I'm also watching your experimentation with different media with interest. I've just completed an initial sketch of a large hibiscus flower and have given it a couple of WC washes but feel it needs some more intensity of colour and texture. I'm about to try to enrich it with pastels and pencils. Fingers crossed.

Dana S. Whitney said...

1. What is a skine?
2. I'm glad you added color to the birds.
3. Where do I get to the heart of the moleskin controversy?
Thanks... Can you tell I'm new to EDM?

Chuck Rose said...

1. I don't know. I do know that these little books we've been yacking about are pronounced "mule a sky na"

2. Thanks. Me too. Althought I like the strength od the B&W version too.

3. You must buy one. Sketck in it with a Pilot G2 gel pen and then, if you dare, try to paint with water color on it. Then you will know....

So am I. Don't worry about it. :-)

Anonymous said...

HEY CHUCK!!!

I'm just getting my surfing time back, and it's soooooooo nice to see your site! I just love everything and this piece is so amazing, i'm running out of words.

Next week should be more normal for me, so i'm looking forward to getting caught up on what i've missed.

Fantastic.

Anonymous said...

Mmmm. Great textures and shapes, lovely muted colors. Can't wait to see the next installments.

Carolyn A. Pappas said...

I like the b&w version better than the color one because there seems to be more contrast in the pen and ink sketch, especially in the leaves in the lower right hand corner. Perhaps the greens are a bit dark here. I'm not sure.

Carolyn A. Pappas said...

Note that I have never seen a coleus plant before so I have no idea what it naturally looks like.

Anonymous said...

very nice...


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