Thursday, August 18, 2011

Pastelbord is a beautiful thing, new colored pencil work in progress

Untitiled colored pencil on pastelbord work in progress (detail)

Way back earlier this year when my computer got sick and had to be rushed to an electronic medic I took some time to experiment with my colored pencils.

I'd been hearing good things about using colored pencils on pastelbord (which is basically a sanded surface mounted on hard board), mainly that:

1. it's faster because of the sanded surface there is no need to layer color super lightly (which takes hours) 

2. colors appear brighter and more intense on pastelbord than on traditional paper 

3. there is a possibility of framing a piece painted* on pastelbord without glass.

Which meant of course that I had to rush to my local art supply store (Ogden Blue FTW!) and stock up. 

I came home SO excited I could hardly stand it! And as soon as I had some free time I laid out all my lovely pencils and got to work. 

And here's what I found: Numbers 1-2 were dead on.  

It was faster! Because the tooth of the sanded paper is able to hold much more color, much more quickly there is no need for laborious layer upon layer of colored pencil! Of course there is still some layering involved, but not nearly as much because the tooth of the surface fills up pretty quickly. Which means that you must be decisive and accurate about what colors you will layer early on.

So, basically I'm in love with colored pencil work on pastelbord. It is a beautiful thing. :)

Huzzah! See you next week everyone!

*colored pencil work, when done in a way that the entire surface is covered with pencil is often called 'painting' even though there is no paint or brushes involved.

P.S. I don't think I've taken the time lately to let all you guys know how much it means to me that you read my posts, look at my work, tell others about it, and say some very nice things to me and about me. Thank you, my friends, so much for your support and kindness, you rock in an all out glorious way. :))))




20 comments:

  1. LOVE!!!

    Seriously, your art makes me itch to pick my pencils up again!!

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  2. Crystal this is fabulous!! I may actually get my colored pencils out again. In college that's all I used for renderings of interiors. I have my large tub of expensive pencils sitting in a closet. I used to only sharpen with a hand sharpener I felt that the electronic sharpeners caused breaking easier. I would save the shavings and make collages out of them for cards. Anyway, your process and materials are very intriguing. Beautiful work!!

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  3. Crystal, this is so beautiful. You are very talented, I will have to try out the pastel board!!

    xoxo

    Karena
    Art by Karena

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  4. Beautiful work Crystal, I don't think I would have the patience to do that sort of thing.

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  5. Yet another gorgeous painting. It looks complete to me, although you say it is a work in progress?...superb as ever.

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  6. Hard to tell this from one of your watercolors, Crystal. Absolutely beautiful! Like Frank, I don't quite have the patience thing going for me either. That's a problem.

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  7. What an expression! Fantastic. I have a feeling you could make a portrait from coffee grinds and it would still magically glow.

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  8. Oh, the glow is beautiful! The piece is exquisite in composition, color and value. Thank you for the tip about clapboard and color pencils. I will be sure to try. Your technical profiency as with watercolors is superb too:)

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  9. Love love love this.. And thank you for keeping all of us energised and happy with your work.

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  10. Just amazing! I just want to reach out and squeeze those little cheeks~

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  11. Hi Crystal, that's good info about colored pencil, thank you. And your drawing/painting is, as always, exquisite! Love those cheeks!!! m:)

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  12. This is STUNNING already! And so vibrant! I had never heard of pastel board before. I would have assumed it would only work with pastels and not coloured pencils - which I am clearly wrong about! Brilliant info, thank you :0)

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  13. I've never even heard of pastel board and now I'm interested in trying it myself. I love working with colored pencils and after seeing what you've done here...I don't expect the same results but who knows? Have a wonderful weekend.

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  14. Wow! Another wonderful piece! Interesting about the pastel board. I never would have thought to try it.

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  15. Your posts are awesome, Crystal. And of course, your paintings are always so beautiful! I painted my wedding picture with pastelbord and using pastels on it was such a pleasure. Blending was so much easier and it looked really nice when finished.

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  16. I've been working on Pastebord with colored pencils for years now. Love the stuff! Great portrait!

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  17. Wow Crystal! This is just gorgeous and you seem to have gotten a hang of the medium right from your first work. Thanks also for your nice comment.

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  18. a splendid reason why i shouldn't try colored pencils. it's being done and perfectly. breathtaking!!!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment they really do mean so much to me! Because not all bloggers have their email enabled so I can reply directly through email I will try to reply here in the comments. If I don't please forgive me, life must have been hectic that day! :)) Huzzah!!

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