Swan in pastels on black paper
Swan in pastels on Clairefontaine Paint On black paper.
This drawing, like many others, took a different turn mid-way. I was actually intending to use pastel pencils, since this paper is an unsanded paper and I didn't think it would take soft pastel sticks well. I started off with a thin layer of light blue Panpastel for the shadow areas. The blue doesn't show up very well, it looks more grey. That's the problem with black paper.
It was at this point that I saw the reference photo had large patches of bright white and I started to think that maybe soft pastel sticks would be a better bet. I wasn't sure how the layering would go, but decided to give it a try. I blocked in the shadow areas in dark purple and the white portions with a Unison pastel stick.
As it turned out, the white went on pretty well, though I was mindful not to muddy the white parts as I figured I wouldn't be able to layer too much. After the initial blocking, I decided that I really like the painterly effect.
But I felt that the swan needed more colour, so I gave the shadows a blue tint. Did the reflection and then painted on more layers of white to fill the paper. Bits of the black still show through but I think it's alright - looks like part of the shadows.
This painting has been another great experiment. I now know that I can use pastel sticks on this paper, which I've raved about constantly. It's a mixed media paper, and works very well for coloured pencils and pastel pencils. For pastel sticks, it doesn't take too many layers before the paper is saturated, but the texture grabs the pastels well enough.
Drawing on black paper has become a favourite setting for me now, and it's great to find black paper this versatile. I love it so much I just bought another pad of the Paint On Noir. It's very cheap, it's like a thick card, and is achival quality. Such a great find.
Comments
Post a Comment