Thursday, October 10, 2013

Smooshing my Morning Glories




This post is a bit about my colored pencil work. A while back I found out just how much fun colored pencils can be. I came across a set of prisma color pencils in my husband's old art materials, and thought I'd try them out.....as a nice change of pace from acrylic paints.

I gathered my reference photos of some morning glories …..


and real life props of some rattlebox, a lovely purple and green “weed” that sports lacy ruffled leaves in the fall.


I started in outlining the morning glory blooms randomly on a piece of beige matt board, then added in some rattlebox leaves and twines of the morning glory vines. I decided to add a colored ribbon to.....tie....things all together.

I then started on the “fun-est” part of coloured pencil work for me, the moulding of the blooms and leaves. I laid in a couple of layers of colored pencil color then got to the.....and I'm using a real technical term here.....”SMOOSHING”....of the colored pencil layers. “Smooshing” is just pressing really hard on the layers of colored pencil you have applied. The pressure and movement of the next colored pencil strokes makes the wax of the colored pencil melt a bit, allowing you to move and blend the colors you've laid down. You can also use a colorless blender pencil, one that is just wax, no pigment. It makes some of the smooshing process a bit easier.


You continue smooshing all your forms till you're satisfied with the result. With colored pencils you've get great details and total control over your blending!

This is a pic of my setup for Morning Glories






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