Thursday, May 11, 2006

Bluebell beginnings - an update


Sometimes it doesn't take long to know which bit you want to tweak next!

The image I uploaded two days ago was a lot darker than the effect I was trying for. I also wanted to get more sketchiness into the detail of the grass and bluebell leaves and more textural marks on the bark of the silver birches. Plus I wanted to redefine the path leading out of the wooded glade in the top right quadrant.

So I've been having some fun drawing with my electric eraser. With a bit of practice and a light hand it doesn't take much to use this as yet another drawing tool - cutting out the highlights and the edges which you want to be seen. The electric eraser takes off the top layer of colour off without smearing the artist quality coloured pencils and reveals what's underneath. Sometimes I then refill the erasure marks with another colour - and sometimes I don't. When I want a very clean sharp line I replace the eraser 'stub' and start to erase with a precise edge.

Comments and constructive criticism welcome.

Previous posts: Bluebell beginnings; Sketching bluebells.
Technorati tags:
, , , , ,

4 comments:

  1. Wonderfull images in this blog.
    One question: How do you make the thin white branches? Is it pressing the paper before drawing?

    ReplyDelete
  2. You can do it that way, but I prefer to lift out, as described in the post, using the electric eraser. That way I have some control over how far back to the paper I go. Lots of what looks white isn't - it's very pale colours of various hues.

    I'll post a photo of the eraser tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, oh, oh I want one of those. Yes I like this even more than the previous stage.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Katherine, such a wealth of wonderful stuff to look at! I am in love with the stages of bluebelled woods! The combination of your talent and your industry is so immpressive. And inspiring.
    L(lines)

    ReplyDelete

COMMENTS HAVE BEEN CLOSED AGAIN because of too much spam.
My blog posts are always posted to my Making A Mark Facebook Page and you can comment there if you wish.

Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.