It’s time to go switch laundry loads, but I’m procrastinating.
Month: November 2007
Rainy Day
It’s disgusting out today. The sky looks like it would like to snow, but it’s too warm for that, so it’s alternating spitting and pouring rain on us. And it’s laundry day, which meant a trek to the other part of the building, which smells like rancid cigarettes and burnt eggs. The stompy girls’ skunky pot smoke is not nearly as offensive!
Polaroids
Overexposed
Medium
Underexposed
I’m still playing with pears, and with the Polaroid Land Camera Ms. Lea gave me. I don’t know if the film is bad, or maybe it’s not the correct film for the camera, or maybe the camera’s light meter is wonky (it does seem to understand that the shutter needs to stay open longer in low light, so that’s a start), or maybe the camera is just possessed by evil spirits. I’m not getting anything like decent–and my criteria for decent is low!–photos from it. They’re fun, though, because you never know what the camera is going to spit out.
Red and Bosc Pears
Red Pear (detail)
I’ve already uploaded details of the top two spreads, but I thought I may as well scan the full pages, too. The top entry was done before the Prismacolor drawing I did this morning. I forgot to put an interleaving sheet of paper between the pages, so the crayon and pencil transferred to the opposite pages. Oops. I also stamped the wrong date on that page. Numbers are hard, m’kay?
Red Pear (detail)
The second was done with watercolor pencils and a Niji water brush. I really like the way these brushes work, and will have to purchase a flat and a larger round when I get a chance. The little round I have is great, but not the right tool for all jobs.
Bosc Pear (detail)
The bottom one is acrylic applied with a Q-tip. One of these days, I’m going to have to actually buy some watercolor and acrylic brushes, but in the meantime, this worked pretty well. The smudgy effect suits Bosc pears, I think, because they’ve got a muted, matte finish.
This was a seriously limited palette: raw umber, burnt sienna, yellow ochre, and a touch of titanium white.
d’Anjou Pear
I occasionally forget how much work Prismacolor takes, which is about the only time it sounds like a reasonable medium to use. I also forget that it does not scan well, at least, not with my scanner, as some pigments are more opaque to light than others. Unfortunately, the ones that are more opaque are not necessarily the darkest in value, which leads to weird blotches that are not otherwise visible to the eye. In fact some of them are under-layers that are completely covered with other, less opaque colors.
There’s also a noticeable color shift, due in part to the opacity problem. The color in the snapshot is correct, but in compensating for the opacity discrepancies in the detail, I had to skew the color a bit. So, the detail is warmer than it should be, while the two-page scan is a bit washed out. (detail)
Pears, Pears, and More Pears
I thought I’d take a couple of photos of them, while they were all lined up so nicely.
My plan, at least at this point, is to fill this whole journal with pears. For one thing, they are fun to draw, because their shapes are so irregular. Even if you have just one pear, all you have to do is turn it a few degrees and it’s a whole new piece of fruit. Second, I’m rusty and simply need the practice.
Third, the little encaustic I was working on awhile back, that I’d been planning on attaching 3D elements to, may be repurposed. I’m going to leave the background as is, but I’m seriously thinking of painting a row of pears on it, instead of bones and whatnot. I’ve had the board propped up on top of a bookcase for weeks now, and after living with it, I think pears are the answer.
We are nothing if not flexible, right? Also, a bit obsessive.
I Can Has the Precious?
I ran to the grocery store this morning, to buy more pears. They had a fairly decent selection, so I got four different kinds, two of each. As I was unbagging them and setting them on my drafting table, I suddenly realized that I had a dog plastered to my side.
She’s been sitting like that for about 15 minutes now. It’ll be interesting to see how long she holds out.
I think it’s safe to say that she really likes pears.
Friday Cat Blogging
I have a piece of ugly plastic carpet protector in the hallway, to keep me from tripping over the cable cord. Pandora has decided that it’s a fine place to sleep. I think the fact that it’s right in the middle of the walkway is why it appeals to her. She’s trying to kill me.
A Pear’s Demise
This is what happens when you leave your still life sitting on the coffee table, where the dog can reach it. I think it may be time for a trip to the grocery store.
I never got a chance to draw the stupid thing from this angle. Hrmf!
Red Pear
Red Pear
watercolor pencil on 90lb Stonehenge paper
5 1/2 x 5 1/2 inches
I used Koh-i-noor aquarell pencils with a Niji water brush. You’d have to be a masochist to use water-based media on paper that is not well suited to it, when you don’t even like–or have any skill with–watercolor in the first place. Just sayin’…
I do really like these brushes, though. They’re affordable, portable, and they actually work pretty well (considering I have no clue what I’m doing). I need to get a flat one, for washes, because the little pointy one I have is absolutely the wrong tool for the job.
Oh, and I had way too many light sources while trying to work on this, which is something else I don’t really recommend. Another thing I don’t recommend is setting your big box of pencils on the couch next to you, when you know that the dog is guaranteed to want to lie down there. Anyone for a game of 72 Pick-up?
red paper boat 