So recently somebody asked to seem my process. I don't own the equipment to do any filming, and I'm unlikely to get anything anytime soon, since d/t the insanity that is my family, finding a quiet time and place to film would be nearly impossible unless I did it in the middle of the night. So instead I took some photos. I'll try to walk you throiugh what is going on as best as I can.
I had a sketch on a page that I didn't much like. So I covered her over, first with some gesso, then with some collage papers. The papers are post it notes that I got from Walmart. I literally reached over and just grabbed off my desk what was on hand. I liked the grid pattern of the post-its. I glued them down using gel medium, which isn't actually my favorite thing for gluing. The kind I have (Golden soft-gel semi-gloss) tends to leave the page feeling like you coated it with plastic. Which I guess you did. But again, it was what I had on hand. I am a bit heavy handed when it comes to applying things like gel medium. I put down a blob with a plastic pallet knife, then I spread it over and under the papers I am gluing down. I TRY to wait for it to dry before moving on, but I'm not always successful. Today though, I managed to wait (only because I got busy doing stuff for work.)
Once the gel medium was dry I sketched out this funny bunny with a 4b pencil. I like 4B and higher because they are soft and dark and thus go onto any glop I happen to have on the page. If I'm sketching only, I go for 2Bs or HBs.
Once she was sketched, I started adding in shading using a watercolor crayon (Caran D'ache Neocolor IIs). I go around the edges of the face, under the eyes and around the shadowed edge of the nose.
Using a water brush, I start to move the line, spreading it outwards from where I applied it. I do this leaving only a thin coating of color. Because I'm painting over gel medium, the color sort of sits on the page, not soaking into the paper really, so I'm careful to let it dry before going further or it will wipe right off.
I deepen the shading using the crayon straight. I move it around with my finger only, skipping the water at this point because I want what was already down to stay where I put it. I add in another color of pink and keep the white that was already on the page to use as highlights. I want a transparent look here, because I want the grid of the collage papers to show through somewhat.
I add some color to her shirt,ears and eyes here. Once that is dry, I get the gesso back out. Putting on a small drop, I use my pallet knife and fingers to smear it around, softening around her shirt, the edges of her ears and even some around her face. Don't be afraid to do this, especially if you are using a cheap-transparent gesso like I am. (Martha Stewarts brand) This will give a sort of dreamy look to the piece. If the watercolors reactivate and smear, that is okay too. It'll tint the gesso some and make the piece more "cohesive". You can always go back with a crayon later and add back in some definition if you want. I also added some random bits of darkness, since the background was so very white. I wanted a white sort of "minimalist" look here (I'm channeling Mindy Lacefield in this piece, I think...or maybe Misty Mawn?) But still, it was SO stark. I used a water color crayon to just scribble at random.
I wanted to make her pop a little bit, so I added some shading under her head and around her neck, just a little bit of purple, smeared out with a tiny bit of water and my finger. Like her curly-q on the top of her head? Yeah... me too.
I added a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson, just using straight crayon, and a little bit of book page with a heart drawn over the top, to bring more yellow back into the piece. I think I am done with her at this point...since I'm going for that primitive sort of look.
So, what do you think? Look at the gorgeous texture I ended up with.
Now, go get messy!!
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