Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Colors Galore! Diva Challenge 222

Isn't it just wonderful when things in life collude, coming together like they were meant to be? It just so happens, this past week or so, I've had my prismacolor pencils out, playing with them, layering, learning what they feel like at different saturations, and how they look when applied with pressure, or lightly on the paper.

burnishing blends colors

 I got out ALL the pencils! I scribbled, made lines, blended, laid it on thick, lightly brushed the tips on the paper, layered primary colors over each other to get secondary colors, and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

 There's a whole spectrum of color, and I delighted in it. Prismacolor pencils go onto the paper like cream. They are wonderful to work with.
the shadow is the complementary color





In a tutorial, I learned that the shadow of a colored item should be the complementary color. So if you have a yellow item (like the little cup in the picture to the right) you make the shadow/shading purple. which I did, and liked it.



The blue is all burnished with powder blue.

It practically glows!

This is a little drawing I did of a pot of flowers in the backyard at Wylie's place. I loved the color of the petunias so much, I wanted to draw them and color them. Now...while the petunias still need a little something, I must say, the pot makes me very happy to look at. I LOVE how it turned out. I want to do it again, only with better flowers.







Not bad, for a first try at really going for the colors and shapes I was seeing. Well, first time in a long time, anyway.







So imagine my delight when this week's Diva Challenge turns out to be a focus on color!
I had been doing spheres, shadowing them with their complementary colors, when I found what the Diva wants from us this week...and when I looked at the page, it just cried out for Nipa, which I did in various blue micron .05 pens. A little bit of shading around the wavy lines, and some thickening here and there, for interest. The one drawback to prisma pencils is they don't just blend with a stump, but there is a blending pencil by prisma, and evidently a pen with some substance that works well. Maybe that will be my next little treat for myself.


Pattern used: Nipa. Prismacolor pencils, sakura micron pens.

 
This complementary shading thing...I am definitely going to be exploring that a lot. In my opinion, the spheres with the lighter or brighter color as the main color, and the darker, or maybe cooler color as shadow, work best. So the shadowing on the green and orange balls is the most natural looking, while the yellow isn't *quite* as good. The purple is too abrupt, I think. I might choose a more blue-violet for shading yellow, and apply it with a subtler touch.

Now, looking at the red and blue spheres...I think as natural shading, the complementary colors of green (for the red) and orange (for the blue) don't work, but there's something eye catching about them. The shadows right on those spheres sort of glow, don't they? It's odd looking, and I'd want to explore it some more, but it's interesting enough, I think. Their shadows seem to glow, as if the spheres were uplit. Especially the blue one...that orange shadow makes it look like it's got glowing coals under it. Very cool, though not REALLY shadowy.

It's not so scary anymore, this thing called color.

15 comments:

  1. We must be on the same wavelength! I have been playing with my Prismacolor pencils too! You can use turpenoid or Gamsol with your stump for great blending. I found an excellent comparison video at Craft Test Dummies (great blog name, hum?)
    http://www.crafttestdummies.com/craft-product-reviews/paints-inks-dyes-craft-product-reviews/comparison-ways-blend-colored-pencils/
    Happy coloring!

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  2. My big discovery of the week----Prismacolor pencils don't blend with a stump. :) I love the synergy you experienced---playing with color and then having that pop up as the Diva's challenge. I think the opposite colors work for shadowing better than for shading.This is just an observation based on your work. Thanks for sharing!

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  3. I wish prismacolour weren't so expensive, I would love to try them. I am using Derwent coloursoft and studio coloured pencils. The coloursoft are quite good, but thick points which is hard to get into small areas. You have been busy trying out all that blending in your sketch books. Didn't know about complementary colours for shadowing before, yours really look as though they are floating above the page.

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  4. I'm telling you, there is something to this shared consciousness! I love how you showed your work in progress. Love your color work with the shadows. Beautiful!

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  5. Thanks for sharing the process, your Nipa work is so beautiful!

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  6. Your coloured Nipa is really wonderful :-) Thanks for telling us about your testing of the pencils!

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  7. Beautifully done and thanks for sharing your learning process.

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  8. Oh you've really got the colour bug! I am fascinated by your journey and so glad you shared it here. Your Nipa for the Diva Challenge is superb! Axxx

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  9. Dorita is correct. Use a bit of Gamsol on your stump and the pencil marks kind of melt. This is lovely without that, but I think you will have fun playing. (You can try a little first aid rubbing alcohol too.)

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  10. Your Nipa is beautiful and I really enjoy reaing about your process and learning new stuff. Lovely!

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  11. So lovely and colourful Nipa! Very nicely done!

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  12. I learned something today! I'll have to try that complementary colors approach. Beautiful!

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  13. Your did so well with the balls and their shading!

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  14. Very cool playing with your pencils!! Your balls are so pretty!! :)

    ~ Diane Clancy
    http://www.dianeclancy.com/blog/2015/06/my-diva-colors-of-the-rainbow-challenge-entry

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