Jellyfish

I'm keeping drawing foremost in my head lately and have had the idea for this piece in several forms kicking around for awhile now.

Jellyfish are so graceful and lovely floating and pulsating their way through the ocean.  Some are clear, almost glass-like, others have colours, some reflect the light as it filters down through the water.  They do come with a sting in most cases and are usually best seen from a distance in the water.  Often I've seen them from small boats, bobbing along next to it.

This is the start of a coloured pencil piece done on 16" x 20" Canson art board.  It doesn't have much tooth but enough to get the minimal colours needed to capture this creature.  I quite like drawing on black paper and love the contrast it provides.  I know there are some papers that seem to 'absorb' the colour, but I think its more a trick of the eye and lighting.  The dark paper does show through as much as white would in providing light but so far it seems to be working in my favour.

I haven't used this Canson art board before and picked up a few pieces in my last order of art supplies, both in black and white.  Its pretty sturdy stuff and can be used for most dry media and watercolour also.