Wednesday, October 10, 2007

A Little Experiment




Last night I was tired. You know that sort of...not-getting-up-for-another-thing tired...too-tired-to-scoop-myself-ice-cream tired. (This fatigue has nothing to do with the Cowboys improbable, amazing to the final second win on Monday Night Football. :-) So, I thought I'd just curl up with a little Monet reading till it went blurry.

Then, I realized that art has been getting the short stick around here lately, which is necessary, but tends to make me grumpy. Anyway, I was too tired to work more on the commission, so I decided to just find something on WetCanvas and have a play around. Right before I did that I decided to check Maggie's blog for a little humor (as I was grumpy). Lo and behold, she had a great post on her process for acrylics. (It's really interesting both in content and that Maggic writing of hers.)

Her process sounds just like Monet's in oil. So, as I had hinted yesterday, I wondered if that sort of "sculpting" idea would work in CPs. The majority of WIP CP works that I see don't follow this sort of process - I assumed that it had something to do with transparency and the need for planning. I left a comment and wandered over to WetCanvas. In my self-imposed time limit of 10 seconds, I found a photo.

Then, I decided that I didn't need to wait for Maggie's answer, why not try "sculpting" this piece in CPs? It's only a "get me out of the grumps" piece anyway. So, above you see my efforts. It's not a tremendous piece, but it was an exciting time of development:
  • Working all over the piece and not developing any part of it more than any other part. (I already know this is profitable, it just takes discipline to do it this way.)
  • Trying to not forget about values and their importance (this is where the sculpting part really sings - but is also a little tricky).
  • Guessing around at which colors I really wanted in there (note to self, find a better way to sort your pencils then throwing them randomly into three different cups)
  • Working without an outline (please forgive the wonky pots)
It's all more food for thought for me...

4 comments:

Maggie Stiefvater said...

Who is this Monet guy? ;) No seriously, I really think more people should try the "sculpting" method with CP. The sanded papers in particular make it easy to refine as you go along, and if you pick a dark paper -- even easier.

I'm really glad I could inspire you with my Maggic. ;)

Rose Welty said...

Hmm. I haven't tried any sanded papers. I've been pretty devoted to that ever-erasable drafting film as of late. Not that many layers there. I'll just have to have a play both with the drafting film and some sanded paper. Thanks!

Jo Castillo said...

Rose, looks like you had fun and are getting the hang of color and layering. Good job.

Jo

Rose Welty said...

Thanks Jo, it is nice to have a fun thing going on while trying to do a more serious commission.