I just started working on this 8x10 charcoal drawing of a LOTUS flower (reference from Pixabay) on black “CANSON - Velvet” paper. This is a fairly new product and is supposed to be better than PastelMat paper. Too soon for me to report on that yet.
Something else new (at least to me - thanks to my friend Sonia @Meme5) is that I’m using “SIMair - Original Frisket Film with low tack adhesive” for MASKING the central flower as I start work on the background. It’s a product like what you would use a masking liquid for when working on a watercolor painting. Same concept.
Terri (w2rs) Robichon
for newer members, there is also a Teri (w1r) here on the Forum
Note: the shiny part of this photo is where the masking film has been applied. I’ll remove it after the background is done. In the meantime it’s a great place to rest my hand as I draw.
I like the people one a lot. I don’t think it’s too busy. I love the diagonal cutting through the composition and I think the grays are a great choice as colors on the people because gray is often seen as a background color, IMO it’s great to change things up from expectations and you’ve done that here with the grays.
I love Astro’s portrait!! I want to give him pets - especially the ears. the white highlights really help the ear look fluffy.
For my recent work: I don’t remember if I post it here or not, but I finally managed to get the Pleiades finished in a way that I like. I used pastel pencils, charcoal and white charcoal on black Strathmore paper.
Little house in the woods. Gouache and oil pastel on mixed media paper. I tried making this image first with inktense instead of gouache and it didn’t go well, this is my second effort at this one.
Thanks for your lovely comments. I was very nervous about doin curly fur, but practiced it a few times in graphite first. The charcoal was actually easier because I had the white to add highlights.
Here’s an update of my charcoal drawing of a lotus flower on black Canson - Velvet paper. The first photo is the completed background, with the “masking film” still in place.
The second photo is the masking film being removed so I can start work on the flower - the focal point.
Hi Debbi @debbi.frost
And so you should be happy with Astro’s portrait. So cute. you’ve managed to capture those doe-eyes beautifully. I love King Charles Spaniels and looking at this gorgeous portrait makes me want one even more.
Hi Terri w2rs @robichon
Those water droplets on the leaves are so realistic If I touched it I’m sure my fingers would get wet It’s looking good already. The SIMair masking film…I assume you cut the lotus flower shape out after apply the film to the paper? Is it easy to cut or do you have to be really careful not to cut the paper?
Yes. I did my drawing first (in my case I traced the drawing using a white wax free transfer paper). Then I put the masking film on top using a piece that is bigger than I want to mask. I put a fresh blade in my exacto knife, took my time to run the blade lightly over the selected lines.
I removed the excess film carefully to make sure it was fully cut. I don’t see signs of any damage to my paper, but I use an exacto knife all the time, and the paper is high quality (and thick).
Did this yesterday on 9x12 toned gray paper with regular and faber castell matte graphite and white charcoal in the style of the “mastering metal” TVI lesson. Took me about more than 3 hours
There’s no lesson for the metal armor. What I meant to say is that it was IN THE STYLE (not yelling, juts emphasizing ) where we did the metal tea pot with lots of reflection?
I used what I learned there to draw this armor. I got the royalty free reference image either from Pexels or Pixabay. I’ll look for it and post it here as soon as I find it.
Two minutes later….I found it!
It’s looking good already. The SIMair masking film…I assume you cut the lotus flower shape out after apply the film to the paper? Is it easy to cut or do you have to be really careful not to cut the paper?
) where we did the metal tea pot with lots of reflection?