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There is a PDF version of the sweet jar image if you wish to print it
I
COLOURED PENCILS ON COLOURED PAPER
( Particularly Black Paper )
Black paper offers a number of challenges but also provides some interesting alternative approaches,
In this section, we will look at a few good reasons for considering a dark background.
Most of this section looks at using black paper -
Other dark colours will also benefit certain subjects and this will be covered in an additional page at a later date
‘Crabapple Tea’ worked on Stonehenge black paper with Faber Castell Polychromos and finished off with highlights of Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils. Original Photo by Gemma Gylling CPSA.
This was a first step into the magic world of black backgrounds
and the techniques for handling extreme contrasts.
From this, I learned that it is best to use the actual colour desired
and not put down a layer of white first under the colours.
I found that it is also best to start off with a hard or medium
hard pencil and keep the softer pencils for the final stages and highlights.
I also learned that you do need to keep the background ‘clean’ so a
protection for the working surface is preferred.
I cut a piece of clear plastic in
an ‘L’ shape -
that the wrist of the working
hand did not rest on the paper,
or rub the already completed
Image.This has proved to be a
useful piece of kit on other occasions
So what makes a suitable picture for a
black background ?
Have a look at this photo of a Wine Merchant (‘Cave’) and Bar
In the small southern French town of Sorez.
The varnished wood surround to the shop front has carvings in it and the old shop is in a parade of half timbered buildings with some interesting shapes to it. Think of doing a painting of this on white paper and an immediate problem presents itself. The grill on the inside of the window and the posters in the window and on the door present a load of problems. And how are you going to work around the lettering on the window with black and get the letters nice and crisp ?
Yes I did make a start on this on white paper,
and I quickly decided that the likely end result did not justify the effort.
I made a second start on black Stonehenge paper and carefully drew out the image with a white Caran d’Ache Pablo pencil
The lines get the general shape and you can then refine and correct as you work the colour.
An afternoon’s work on a wet day and we finish up with a fairly respectable stab at the shop front.
So let us look now at a more controlled and ‘finished’ picture.
This has echoes of the ‘Crabapple Tea’ picture at the top and was a photo I took of a jar of sweets just after Easter this year. The image was designed to work with black paper and the jar was photographed against a sheet of black mount board. The arrangement and the selection of sweets was not ideal, but I knew that I could correct that as I worked the picture.
For those of you who are interested in trying this picture at home, I will put up the photo of the sweet jar as a high quality PDF file to print from.
THE SWEET JAR
There were a number of factors to consider.
1/ How to ensure that I got the correct shape for the ellipse of the jar top and the lid.
2/ What brand of pencils to use
3/ What techniques would be required
1. The drawing.
I could have drawn it freehand as I did the shop front, but the chances of accuracy would have been low. I opted to do a trace of the critical shapes... The lid has three curves, the jar itself has the top edge and the bowl. These curves I traced. The rest I did freehand.
2. Brand of pencils
I have a large collection of different brands, and I was unsure which to employ.
I could have used a mixture from all the boxes, but I tend to select one box and work with that for each picture. That way I am able to say at the end which brand I have used and I can use the experience of working with just the one brand at a time to develop my knowledge of the differences between them.
IN this case I did a chart on the paper I selected ( Stonehenge ) with a range of
colours from the different boxes. The idea was to set out a number of squares of
colour done in five stages -
I noted the pencil number down against each one
and I listed the brands from top to bottom as
Pablo, Supracolor, Polychromos, Prismacolor,
Coloursoft, Luminance,
Lyra Polycolor and Albrecht Durer
The idea of showing both dry point and aquarelles was to see if the different types of pencils made any difference. The colour ranges of both Polychromos and Durer and also Pablo and Supracolor, are the same within the manufacturers, so I did try out some alternative colours in those pairs to take the opportunity to spread the sampling.
RESULT -
Prisma and Luminance worked well -
Polychromos and Pablo offered the greatest colour choice ( 120 in the tins )
Coloursoft and Lyra Polycolor were too restrictive in colour choice but still worked well.
I didn’t have the full range of Prismacolor, I decided to use the Pablo. But I eventually used some Polychromos as well to get a better range of reds.
3. The Technique
I was unsure how to approach the different shades of colour in the shiny sweets ( candies to those of you in the USA ). I set out to trial sample ones on a piece of Stonehenge, and the first sample worked so well, I stayed with that method. I took four shades of the colour . The lightest shade in the box, two intermediate ones of the same general tint and the darkest one I could find. To these I added white and sometimes black for final touch up in a final layer when deeper shadow was required.
The samples came out like this -
So now we can make a start,
I will invent some sweets to go in the darker areas of the jar later, the choice in the house when I took the photo was a little limited !
At this stage, the bulk of the work has been done.
All that remains is to tidy up the edges, complete some missing bits on the egg wrappers, look again at the twisted ends of the transparent wrappers of some of the sweets, and then punch in some stronger colour and white with some very sharp points on the pencils.
Working on the limit of the paper, the colours would take only a little more in some places, so I broke open the box of Luminance pencils which are much softer than the Pablo
I have put in some of the reflected back light in the glass. It looks quite heavy in the scan, but the original is nowhere near as strongly tinted with the very pale blue. I have added in one or two bits of colour to make shapes more logical and used a mid grey to represent some of the twisted transparent wrapper ends.
I think this is about done, but I will look at it again in a few days. The final step was to work over the black surface with a ball of BluTac to pick up any pigment dust and sharpen up one or two edges with a clean ordinary plastic eraser
OTHER COLOURED PAPERS
Users of soft pastels will already be familiar with the benefits of using a coloured support ( paper ). The background provides a unifying tint to the colours applied. This can have a marked benefit in subjects like Autumnal scenes where a red or red/brown coloured paper gives unity and extra ‘bounce’ to greens
Using Coloured Pencil on a Canson pastel paper or one with a definite grain to it, will allow the underlying colour show through in the speckles of uncovered paper. I will add a further page to this section at a later date to expand on this.
A GOOD WHITE PENCIL FOR DARK PAPERS
I was doing some testing this afternoon of CP and Aquarelles on black paper, and picked up a white pencil from my ‘Sundries’ pot on the desk to test against a brand I had just received for examination.
SURPRISE SURPRISE ! The result on the paper was excellent -
I will have to have a further look at the performance of this pencil and will note any more information below when I have it. IT is certainly worth acquiring one if you see one listed.
GENERAL C.P. TECHNIQUES
WORKING ON COLOURED PAPER
Coloured Paper enables the artist to
tackle pictures that would otherwise be difficult to work in Coloured Pencil
As of July 2011
We are developing another topic on the range of coloured papers available in the UK
and also looking at how stable to colours are.
It may be some time before this topic is completed as we are
also undertaking some tests in bright sunlight on the range of papers.
This topic will be sited in the ‘Surfaces’ section
Manufacturers do their own tests under laboratory conditions for their own benefit.
Our tests involve the simple siting of sample sheets of coloured paper on a sunny window ledge for a month or so during the summer. This does not produce a scientifically measured result, but it should show up which papers are more liable to fade than others. Pictures on coloured paper can be sprayed with fixatives which have UV filters, and this will reduce fading.
The best site for any artwork will always be out of the sun and if possible on a North facing wall.
Coloured Pencil work is no different to watercolour art in this respect.
There is also a Step by Step illustration of a picture worked in Mixed Media on to Black paper using Pastel Pencils for the underpainting, and wax type pencils for the final detail.
The pastel pencil base is fixed a couple of times to provide the basic light and dark shapes and to provide the best surface for working the final stages
See the Example in Mixed Media -
SHARPENING PENCILS : Completing BACKGROUNDS in CP : MATCHING COLOURS when you
don’t have the exact shade in your box : The Picture COMPOSITION -
The use of COMPLEMENTARY COLOURS to darken : Notes on working CP on COLOURED PAPER :
and STILL LIFE DRAWING notes