Drawing Prompt #2: Jean

Blue on blue

I think Jean has been indulging in a bit of Coronatini Time! 🍹

This is an evocotive work, the soft blue pencils giving a lovely velvet texture. There are no real sharp lines or hard definitions in this work - but I don't think they are needed. Looking at this drawing I certainly want to be reading that travel book and sipping on a blue martini somewhere other than my own back yard! 

There are a few construction issues regarding placement and perspective of the oval shapes, particularly the bottom of the glass. The right edge of the book is also looks a bit lopsided. I am not sure that the arrangement of the blueberries work as one appears to be floating. But overall this piece is more about a mood and feeling than precision drafting and as such it works very well.

Jean tells me found it difficult to get good coverage with her Prismacolour pencils on Arches 300gsm hot press paper.  I am not surprised - Prismas are difficult to work with on hot press, they prefer a slightly toothier type of paper. Prismcolours are all about building up layers of hues to get that final colour, so a paper with more grip is easier to work with.  That being said, Jean has achieved a good work that is a pleasure to look at.

Blue on Blue by Jean

Gardenia

Jean also tried the second challenge - well done! Here she has used a Canson Mi-Tientes indigo blue paper with Prismacolour pencils. She has allowed the blue of the background to show through on the leaves and in the flower, doing a creditable job of negative drawing. This is especially successful in the top leaf - she has only used colour on the outside of the leaf, letting the paper hue do the work for her on the inside of the curl. Because the Mi-Tientes is a rougher surface Jean was able to build more layers of Prismas than in the previous work. Her looser, expressive linework creates a real vibrancy to the shapes.

It seems that Jean may have tried to use a blending tool in a couple of spots, or else pressed hard with the final pencil. I don't think it was needed and these spots stand out a bit from the rest of the fluid linework. Blending or pressing too hard flattens the tooth of the paper so you lose a bit of that rough edged pencil feel.

Again, this is a good work and I think Jean has achieved a pleasing result.

Gardenia by Jean

Jean was wondering how to get a brighter white on this work - I don't think it is needed, but this is probably as white as you can get a Prismacolour to go. For brighter spots of white I would suggest trying a very soft pastel stick in bright white, something like a AS extra soft or Schmicke or Sennelier pastel. These are little more expensive than a Rembrant, but if you are only buying the one it isn't so onerous. The softness of these pastels can allow you to do some nice spot highlights of bright white if you feel it is needed.