Looking for a Mate - Coloured Pencils on Wood

Looking For a Mate

19.5 x 29.5 cm

Coloured pencils and Pan Pastels on Wood

I'm actually between illustration jobs, but just wanted to squeeze in a quickie (I am referring to artworks by the way) just for fun. I am going to try to create one artwork on wood per week, even if they are simple ones like this. My husband was fairly unimpressed, declaring that it seemed to be missing something... to be fair I usually do add a lot more detail, but for a change I am looking at doing some Trompe L'Oeil scenes that are quite simple in composition.

The Uninvited Guests

The Uninvited Guests

30cm x 30cm
Coloured pencils on wood

What fun I had with this artwork! This time the wood was sealed first, then an undercoat of acrylic applied to the appropriate areas, and then two coats of clear colourfix primer was applied. I am struggling now, to find plain pine breadboards, and so tried this bamboo and pine combination breadboard. The bamboo is much harder than the pine of course, and even though I gave it a good sand with a fine sander, it still has more texture than the pine and probably more than I would like, but it was a fun experiment anyway. This is my last artwork on wood for a little while, as I now have to buckle down and do some illustration work, but my goal is to do more of these pieces, as I have so many ideas floating around that I could sit and draw for months - sadly there just aren't enough hours in the day!!!

Contemplating Mischief

Contemplating Mischief

8x11 inches

Coloured pencils and Pan Pastels on wood

More experimentation with wood, only this time I primed the wood with Clear Colourfix primer and then sanded it with very fine sanding paper. I think this surface worked slightly better with the coloured pencils than just the acrylic or wood on it's own, although next time I would probably do another coat of primer and sand it even smoother. I do prefer the smoothest surface possible. I miss the fact that you can't really scratch the colour out like you can on drafting film, but there are so many other aspects that make the wood very pleasant to work with.

The reference photo for this cutie was provided by Ainhoa pcb on Flickr and was used with her kind permission. Some of you might remember I used this image before to do a graphite drawing called Whistful.

Goddess of the Sea - Trying out a new surface

Goddess of the Sea

8 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 :)