Goddess of the Sea8 1/2 x 11 inches
Acrylics and Coloured Pencil on Wood
As many of you may know, I love trying out new surfaces and experimenting. One of the things I hate most in preparing for exhibitions is the framing process. I stumbled upon a small stack of pine bread boards in a clearance sale the other day, and thought I would use them to try out a different surface, with the idea of possibly hanging them in exhibitions with no frame at all, but just as they are. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the wood accepted the coloured pencils (the softer ones such as the Derwent Coloursoft were more receptive than the harder Polychromos that I usually prefer), particularly on the face where I had done a very light undercoat with white acrylic.
I know there will be some exhibitions, where this type of presentation would not be accepted, but still thought it was worth a try. I was reading about an American artist (I can't recall his name) who draws on wood, then applies two coats of fixative, followed by three coats of gloss varnish.
The other thought I had was that clients might like their commissioned portraits done in this way, which means they don't have to worry about getting their portraits framed, and offers quite a unique gift. Watch this space :)
5 comments:
I think this has worked really well. If you are thinking of varnishing it I would recommend a fixative spray first. The white undercoat has given it punch. I also like trying different surfaces with CP, great fun.
Brilliant idea Karen. Hope it takes off. Looks great and seems to work so well with the CP as you say.
Great job. I'm impressed.
Thank you Pauline - I definitely would be using the fixative spray first (probably two coats as advised by the artist that I mentioned - I wish I could think of his name!).
Thank you Dors - we'll see if it takes off, but it's something different again :)
SNAP!
This is a great piece Karen! No frame needed in my opinion, and these are sure to take off!
I've done one (not finished yet) on a big slab of marine ply - about 2ft x 3ft. A girl and her kingfishers. I was all inpsired by Audrey Kawasaki who pretty much just draws girls on wood. Her PRINTS sell for hundreds of dollars and all the editions sell out. She just had an exhibition of originals and prints in Sydney and Melbourne, and just the prints came to Perth. Awesome talent.
The lady I have told you about here in Perth that is cleaning up with the same techinque (she's even had a tv show dedicated to showing off her last exhibition and this technique)is Judy Rodgers. She's won thousands of $ in the last couple of years, especially from the local council exhibitions.
She doesn't frame them, but hinges 3 panels together so they can stand up as an open sided box. This qualifies them for 3D class entries as well. She uses a lot of graphite directly onto the wood, with some acrylics laid dowm as well. (If you do a search on her it's not "artbyJudyRogers", check out the local council awards).
Can't wait to see more!
Cheers,
Cindy
Thank you so much for all that info Cindy. I was actually lying there the other night mulling over surfaces and thought of the artist you mentioned who worked 3D on wood but couldn't remember her name, and that inspired me to try the wood. How funny that you are working on timber as well - I really can't wait to see the finished product!!! I'll go research those artists now - you're a gem!!! :)
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