Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Catching Up

Twelve hour work shifts don't really leave much time for anything else, especially 6pm-6am in the middle of nowhere.  Well, I am back on a more manageable 10 hour work day, so yesterday I finally broke out my new Derwent Inktense pencils.  I have always liked the idea of watercolor pencils, but hated the obvious pencil marks left underneath- especially on lightly shaded areas.  The Inktense pencils are much more what I had been looking for.  Whether deep and heavy colors, or just hints, once you apply water (I used q-tips and baby wipes- hey, I'm in the Army! lol)  all pencil marks disappear. Controlling the amount of water also changes the effect.  Obviously the more water used gives a more traditional watercolor look, but for just blending heavily covered areas, a light once over will get rid of all of those annoying little blanks spots and give you a smooth solid color.  My favorite result is today's Sketch of the Day.


WANTED
Unfortunately, I am still stuck with just my phone as a camera.  The red outer bullseye is done with Inktense Poppy Red.  The black is sharpie that I had finished awhile ago.  This drawing sat incomplete for the past couple of months because I was sick of my Prismacolors breaking while trying to get an even solid color- that would be the inner ring.  That Prismacolor is now only five inches long just from that small part.
I also tested the Inktense on my old Leo drawing and paid homage to some classic David Bowie.

after Inktense
before Inktense


















It will take awhile to find all of the techniques I like, but so far I am very happy with the Inktense.  I am also happy to report that in a few short weeks I will be going home for two weeks.  I have the studio plans pretty well laid out, so will be spending at least a few days constructing my custom canvas shelves and table.  I'm crossing my fingers that I manage to stay on budget.  At least my Home Depot experience will come in handy- cuz I have a few crazy ideas for pegboard and pvc!