2:51 PM on Sunday, January 24. 2010
Oops
Ok, so I actually missed a day. But only one day, believe it or not. Friday, I do believe. I really wasn't feeling up to anything that day.
Thursday I began working on coloring a coloring book image I found online. I really didn't want to do the next lesson in Masterful Color, partly because I wanted to try out the technique on my own but mostly because Arlene suggests you use a LOT of colors that I don't own. Which is crazy, by the way, because I have a set of 120 Prismacolor pencils plus I've bought at least half a dozen other colors online. So if I don't have it, I'm willing to bet that most people don't have it. Another slightly annoying thing is that she uses some colors that are only found in Prismacolor Lightfast pencils, and they've been discontinued.
Anyway, I found out while working on this piece that Arlene's technique is best suited for still lifes rather than drawing something out of your head. The reason is because when you're working from a picture of from something in front of you, you already know what color everything is, the texture, the light source and everything, which means you can start laying down the complimentary colors without much thought. But when you're starting from nothing and you haven't even decided what color you'd like something to be yet, let alone texture or light source, things get complicated fast.
My decision was to start with a light layer of the color I'd like things to be so that would give me at least a starting point to work from. That was a good move, I think. Without that, I would have been totally lost. I also spent at least half of the time experimenting with colors on a scrap piece of paper. It seems funny to me that most of my effort was on this little piece of paper, and yet most people would just throw the paper away when they were done.
Half way through working on her dress last night, I decided that something had to give. I felt like I was going blind trying to see the colors I was working with, and turning up the light even brighter made things worse. I hate working at night on art; no light bulb I've ever had has come close to the clean crispness that sunlight has. Also, I know that Cat has this weird fascination with light bulbs. He just stands and stares at them whenever we go through Home Depot. So I pulled him away from his computer and we drove down to the bulb section.
We ended up getting a 100watt equivalent extra cool CF daylight bulb after looking at all the other options. I sure learned a lot about bulbs and color temperature and such from my crazy intelligent husband. In the end, the daylight bulb is better but I wish it was brighter. I'm currently pairing it with a daylight halogen bulb, and they seem to balance each other out well. The CF bulb is very blue, where as the halogen is slightly pinkish and more yellow. It's probably the closest I'm going to get to actual white light.
So anyway, here's what I have so far.
Thursday I began working on coloring a coloring book image I found online. I really didn't want to do the next lesson in Masterful Color, partly because I wanted to try out the technique on my own but mostly because Arlene suggests you use a LOT of colors that I don't own. Which is crazy, by the way, because I have a set of 120 Prismacolor pencils plus I've bought at least half a dozen other colors online. So if I don't have it, I'm willing to bet that most people don't have it. Another slightly annoying thing is that she uses some colors that are only found in Prismacolor Lightfast pencils, and they've been discontinued.
Anyway, I found out while working on this piece that Arlene's technique is best suited for still lifes rather than drawing something out of your head. The reason is because when you're working from a picture of from something in front of you, you already know what color everything is, the texture, the light source and everything, which means you can start laying down the complimentary colors without much thought. But when you're starting from nothing and you haven't even decided what color you'd like something to be yet, let alone texture or light source, things get complicated fast.
My decision was to start with a light layer of the color I'd like things to be so that would give me at least a starting point to work from. That was a good move, I think. Without that, I would have been totally lost. I also spent at least half of the time experimenting with colors on a scrap piece of paper. It seems funny to me that most of my effort was on this little piece of paper, and yet most people would just throw the paper away when they were done. Half way through working on her dress last night, I decided that something had to give. I felt like I was going blind trying to see the colors I was working with, and turning up the light even brighter made things worse. I hate working at night on art; no light bulb I've ever had has come close to the clean crispness that sunlight has. Also, I know that Cat has this weird fascination with light bulbs. He just stands and stares at them whenever we go through Home Depot. So I pulled him away from his computer and we drove down to the bulb section.
We ended up getting a 100watt equivalent extra cool CF daylight bulb after looking at all the other options. I sure learned a lot about bulbs and color temperature and such from my crazy intelligent husband. In the end, the daylight bulb is better but I wish it was brighter. I'm currently pairing it with a daylight halogen bulb, and they seem to balance each other out well. The CF bulb is very blue, where as the halogen is slightly pinkish and more yellow. It's probably the closest I'm going to get to actual white light.
So anyway, here's what I have so far.
My life is art. When I dream, my imagination flies, and when I wake, it tells its story on paper with pen. And when I look out a window, I see endless possibilities. But I have a long way to go still on my journey through the clouds of art and imagination. Won't you join me?
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