Using those Rembrandt coloured pencils

work in progress 
Penwith, on the Moor, Approaching Rain, Rembrant coloured pencils,  about 12 inches tall.

I've been using my lovely prize Rembrandts to check them out.   I wouldn't normally use cp's alone to work on an image this size - I'd go into mixed media and use some watercolour to underpaint.   That's partly because I like to work fast and partly because I like the wider variety of marks you can make by mixing media.

It's looking a bit too fairy tale at the moment, not yet rugged enough.  The foreground is obviously only just begun, lots more to do to that if I decide to finish it.   It may just stay an unfinished experiment in the sketchbook though. 

There are more subtle veils of colour than the camera ever picks up :>(   - there are amber colours in the sky, soft and pale but echoing similar colours in the fields.  The camera picked up the pale pinks but not the amber.   It has made the clouds a little brighter in colour as well - they are a bit more brooding in real life with transitions through purplish to bluer to greyer.

Verdict on the pencils:   The colours overlay and mix well, the Bristol board allowing layer after layer of scribbled colours to be built up.  The range of colours is really good too.  So I'm a happy bunny with my prize. 

Comments

Anita said…
Lovely lovely lovely! Your skies are so stunning!
Great composition, my legs feel stiff from walking up the hill, (made it to the cottage just before the downpour).
Lunar Hine said…
Vivien, I learn so much from your blog, I wanted to say thank you. I've been considering experimenting with bristol board (with PITT artist brush pens) and wondered where you get yours? There seems to be a bewildering array of options - like every new piece of art kit!
Lunar Hine said…
Forgot to click the follow-on comments button. Gnat-memory has infected me too!
vivien said…
thank you all :>)

I didn't stray too far from the car that day Lisa! but oh I love those threatening skies to draw and paint.

I got the pen from ebay as most of the art companies I deal with didn't stock them. It's the kind with a proper brush - in actual fact I also bought the Bristol board pad from there as well.

I deal wherever possible with Ken Bromley online - it's a small family company so doesn't have the range of bigger ones but it has a really good customer relations/communication ethic and good arrive fast, they ring you if they are out of anything. Jackson's have let me down badly twice and blotted their copybook, no more orders from me. You order online, it says 'in stock' - goods are slow arriving and when they do, they contain a note saying half the stuff was out of stock :>( so you have another delay while you search elsewhere.
Lunar Hine said…
Thank you Vivien :o).
Jean said…
Vivien, I wanted to say thank you so much for your blog.... I have just spent the last few days going through it (and I mean all of it!) and it has inspired me. I am just about to start A Level Art (at the age of 43) and can't wait to get experimenting. If I cover half of what's on your blog, I'll be a very happy person. E.
vivien said…
Thank you Eliza :>)

Good luck with your A level - I did my A level art at school and then did my Foundation year at Art College - but did my degree later when my daughters were still at school. Being a mature student is great as you know what you want out of it and maybe handle critique better.

Incidentally - I can't comment on your blog. I think it's a blogger problem, a friend changed the way she had hers set up and it cured it but I don't know what she did! (Katherine Tyrrell on Making a Mark) - there may be people like me who would leave you feedback but can't.

I hope you will post your coursework.
annie said…
Vivien, that moody sky of swirling clouds is so wonderful. I wouldn't expect so much depth from colored pencils.
annie
vivien said…
thanks :>)

well it's slow work as it's a matter of building colours on top of each other to get the depth but you can get very deep tones out of them
Jean said…
Thanks Vivien, I've reviewed all the settings but don't know if that will work.

I shall post my coursework and would welcome feedback.

Regards
Eliza

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