Friday, April 8, 2011

Color choices

Time to add color to the Penny pen and ink drawings. The drawings are on Arches 140 lb. hot pressed watercolor paper blocks, ready for wash. But before I apply paint to the relatively expensive surface, I like to test my palette choices with colored pencils on photocopies of the final drawings.

Here are the two images with colored pencil treatment:  



(I'm using Dick Blick colored pencils. I have the 72 pencil set, lots of rich color choices and of a good quality for blending - even on cheap copy paper - and very reasonably priced.)


I'm fairly pleased with the look. Of course, watercolors won't be exactly the same. I'm not talking about wet vs. dry - this exercise is about finding the color not texture. I'm talking about how my paint pigment choices are different from my pencils, but I expect to be able mix good approximations using these pencil mock-ups as a guide.

I've decided not to fill in backgrounds this time, not even with a light wash. I don't want anything to compete with the definition of the characters. I may ink in more detail after the watercolor treatment, which I'll start tomorrow...

2 comments:

  1. I think so far you are right on with your color choices. Nicely balanced, and I agree with your instincts about leaving the backgrounds uncolored. I am looking forward to seeing the watercolor versions. Thanks for sharing a little of your process.

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  2. Thanks, Rose! I hope to be posting the final versions in a couple of days.

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 Just checking in to say I am still alive but less active here, obviously.  You can find my more recent art posts on social media, especiall...