Monday, May 19, 2008

Flower drawing update

Cosmos
CP on bristol vellum 9 x 12
copyright Jeanette Jobson


Its the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada and I haven't had much in the way of commitments until tonight, so I'm trying to catch up on some drawing.

I transferred the cosmos line drawing onto Bristol Vellum on Saturday and have made some inroads into the background and the buds. The flower is slowly coming together but there are sections that I have removed and will do over. It doesn't 'flow' for me. But of course, being a flower, that's my usual dilemma! Now in the process of removing some of the pigment on the flower, a small piece of the paper has lifted off, as I was using sticky tape to lift off the colour. I will try to go over it and see what the result is. Any tips from people who have fixed similar problems would be more than welcome.

I'm aiming for a soft, mottled background , predominantly green and am now introducing other colours into to provide interest. I'm pleased with the background and buds so far. I just need to fix the main flower. I'm bringing colours from the background into the flower and hope that will give it some lift. I want it to remain soft and subtle but not be boring.

11 comments:

Paulette said...

Jeanette this is looking gorgeous!

Robyn Sinclair said...

I agree! Gorgeous, Jeanette.
No tips on damaged paper, I'm afraid. I can't see it in the drawing though which is a good sign.

Jan said...

I hope you'll quit saying that you can't do flowers! This is looking great. I don't have any tips for repairing paper either but I cannot see any damage either.

Oh, aswexpress.com has some "liquid watercolor paper" that could possibly work if you could get the right color. I saw this in their catalog and thought it was a great idea if it would work. I haven't tried it, nor have I ordered any. I know it's not feasible for you though unless some local art store carries it.

Here's a link if it will work -
http://www.aswexpress.com/discount-art-supplies/online/2414/art-supplies/4

It's called "aquacover" by Creative Mark if that link doesn't take you to it.

Jo Castillo said...

Jeanette, just gorgeous, from me, too. Cosmos are very lucky, I hear. :)

Rose Welty said...

Jeanette, it does truly look lovely. You may not like doing flowers, but they like being done by you!

Teresa Mallen said...

Hi Jeanette, I agree with everyone, this piece is gorgeous.

With regards to the paper that has lifted off, do you have a colorless blender? Prismacolor makes one and so do other brands. It can be purchased in open stock along with the other pencils.

The colorless blender is what the other pencils would be like if pigment wasn't added. Prismacolor pencils are wax based as the manufacturers use wax as the binder. Therefore the Prismacolor blender pencil has just a wax core and as the name suggests, it is colorless. If you have lifted fibers and you now have a rough patch, I would try going over it with this colorless blender. The wax will cause any fibers that are sticking up to flatten back down and the wax will allow you to lay down a colour over top of it.

If you don't have a colorless blender, I would suggest going over the area with a white pencil first. Unless this area has to remain white, I would suggest next applying Primsacolor's cream pencil PC914 as it seems to be more of a 'waxy' pencil than white.

I would stay away from sticky tape on Bristol Vellum (like you are going to use it again now that you have lifted off some paper. :-) ouch). I suggest using something with less tack like reusable adhesive (sometimes called mounting putty) or a kneaded eraser. Use the lightest pressure you can get away with to lift the pigment. Many papers, especially smoother papers, can be downright fussy when it comes to lifting pigment. If you are used to a robust paper like Stonehenge, it can be quite a shock.

Good luck with the repair job!!

Jeanette Jobson said...

Thanks Paulette.

Luckily - I think - the torn piece was in the white section of the flower, so it may not be too noticeable.

Jan, thank you. That's a clever idea, liquid watercolour paper. I'll have to invest in some of that for the future I think.

Thanks for the link.

Thanks so much Jo. I'm slowly feeling my feet with florals. Its one of the areas I want to conquer this year.

Thank you Rose. I'm pleased with how it is coming along. The white flower I'm a little hesitant about, but I'm hoping it will all come together in the end.

Teresa, you're an angel! I tried the colourless blender pencil and it worked perfectly!! The roughened area is now smooth and I can incorporate it into the overall shading of the flower. You'd never know there was a problem with it now.

I usually use an electric eraser or poster putty, but this morning I was doing this at the dining room table and was too lazy to go upstairs and get them so used tape. No more!!!

Thanks so much for your advice, its really appreciated.

Anonymous said...

This drawing is beautiful! You have captured the tenderness of the flower, the fragility of the petals, and the sturdiness of the stem.

Good work!

Anonymous said...

quite' a beautiful piece! the background is looking wonderful as well. I understand the soft and subtle yet un-boring look you're aiming for. Maybe add a little more contrast to make it bolder? But it may be the picture has lost some contrast because of the camera itself. It's looking very promising however!

Unknown said...

Love it Jeanette! It's really soft and beautiful.

Jennifer Rose said...

Glad that someone had a suggestion that worked! Would have been a shame if the piece was not finished. The petals have a very soft delicate look to them. Not boring, but I would try not to add too many colours from the background onto the flower, might get hard to separate the two. The flower might end up looking too much like the background.