Prismacolor Practice

The first time I tried Prismacolor ... you probably don't want to see.

But you can if you want - 

Not the best.

Shading is not the best on the BEAR, looks too flat - but does give transition to charcoal.

So over this past week, I sneaked into my sister's room and found her stash of Prismacolors - hehehe

She let me ... No need for a suspenseful story. Anyway, I had some practice with those colors, I don't do a lot of Prismacolor pictures, so I needed to brush up on my skills (or would it be pencil up on my coloring skills). I penciled up pretty good and got some good shadings especially on the face of my second drawing.

I'll talk about my first picture first. Haha. 

How did I decide. With the help of my younger sister we got the idea to draw at random ... Yes, I'm talking statistics, - A math term - Don't worry, I survived. We found her Saints Memory Game and drew from Random, yes from random one of the Saints. Guess who I chose. No need to guess - just look below, or keep reading.

Our Lady of the Rosary - Yup! You guessed right ... Or maybe read right - those English classes really paid off then - Go thank your English teacher.

Our Lady of the Rosary

The value of the yellows really turned out well - my favorite color to shade with. I used yellows and browns to add the different tones. The faces were the most difficult because I couldn't figure out how to get darks and lights from the peach color.

Then I remembered - "Make your own colors" 🔴🟡🔵

I remembered that on my second picture. But overall I think I improved since the first time I used Prismacolor. Well done. 👏

Close-up of the faces

-My Second Picture

For my second picture I chose Saint Therese of Lisieux. This time I remembered to make my own colors for the face. I rummaged through my sisters massive stock pile of Prismacolors, actually only 24, and found a golden umbery color, a red, and a white and started creating the face. (all after I did a sketch the night before).

After many layers and shading with a blender, I added more layers and darks and lights and it looked much better than my first face.

I kept working on it that day and didn't stop until I did some more ... I finished the next day. I didn't stay up all night and hold a spoon so I wouldn't fall asleep - it might not have turned out the same.

And when I woke up it looked like this

It wasn't finished. That meant there was more to do. After many more layers and much hard labor it looked like this.

Saint Therese of Lisieux

And when I put it in black and white, it appeared to be colorless and looked totally different, yet the same.

Yes, now I saw much improvement, and with practice much can be accomplished. I think I'll start a series - I'll probably call it, 'Saints on 7.25 X 9.75 Paper' - More will come.

If you have a suggestion on which saint you would like to see next please suggest it in the comments.

What's Next In The Studio

I might start another 'Saints on 7.25 X 9.75 Paper' or maybe ... yes I should probably use up the last of my Titanium White that's waiting to be used up - I had left over paint on my palette (Ice cream bucket cover) that needs to be used - an excuse to do another painting. 

Titanium White: "Joshua, come paint me on your canvas, don't just leave me on this cover to die. Ohhhh! Aahhhh! Ohhhhh, come use me up, I'm drying out."

Joshua: "Don't worry T.W., I'm coming, I had to finish my other projects first ... and get another idea. You're always complaining, wait your turn. Prismacolor was in need of some attention this week.

Yes, I should probably paint so I don't get Titanium White too sad - maybe a hospital scene for my sister.

✏✎✐✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏✎✏

- “Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.”

― St. Therese of Lisieux

A little extra time to Art :)

That's Strange, they keep lengthening my break - maybe they are adding Spring Art, where you have two extra weeks to draw, paint or do art.

I guess inspiration comes in many forms - requests from others is how inspiration spoke to me this week. My cousin saw my Padre Pio painting and wanted one for herself.

I CANNOT PAINT MULTIPLE PAINTINGS OF THE SAME THING

So I decided to paint a different view of Padre Pio, in this painting he is at mass. This time I tried a undercoat/base coat with acrylic paint just to get some value down.

Acrylic Base 

A monochromatic with browns for the undercoat.

First Coat of Oils

Look how the oils transform those acrylics into a brighter picture.

Finish/Details

Those details really make the finished painting stand out

I've Still Got Another Week To Do Art! :)

I'll probably work on my drawing skills, maybe start a painting or do some small sketches.

Thank you for viewing my art.

- "In drawing, one must look for or suspect that there is more than is casually seen." - George Bridgman

An Oil Painting and ...

Here is the painting I've been working on for the past week. It is painted in oils ... wait!

Not 

-Engine oil

or Olive Oil

But

Oil Paints

I decided to paint a portrait of St. Padre Pio

The first day I worked on the face. It is much easier to blend in oils than acrylics because they let you have a bit more time, unlike acrylics who dry out on you.

DAY 1

The second and third day I worked the background in and brushed in his mustache, t-shirt, and cloak.

DAY 2 & 3

And the third and fourth and ... all the other days I worked on it, I added more details including the hair and beard, also touched up some blending.

DAY 3 to Finish

God enriches the soul which empties itself of everything.
-Padre Pio

This piece probably took about 10 hours to complete ... maybe a little less. (I should have kept track.)

This is probably one of my better faces ... but I haven't really painted many faces, so I still need to practice. 

AND as always,

What Will I Do Next

We'll have to wait and see. I have no idea ... actually I do ... but am not 100% sure. I'll wait for  Inspiration to come along and say, 

"Oh. Joshua, why don't you paint that gunny sack?" or "You should draw that chair."

And I would answer Inspiration something like, "You're right Inspiration. You are always inspiring me. What would I do without you?"

And Inspiration would say, "You wouldn't be inspired without me."

And I would answer back, "You have a sense of humor Inspiration. I think you would get along well with Hope, and Patience - probably Perseverance as well, they are all pretty funny."

He would answer, "I can't wait to meet them!"

"I'll introduce them to you when they come home from work."

Thank you for reading this post. 🖌 Comment Below. ⬇️

- "Drawing is the basis of art. A bad painter cannot draw. But one who draws well can always paint". Arshile Gorky

S'more dogs...

Nope, I did not roast any dogs. S'more was just 3 letters shorter than "some more."

But I did draw s'more dogs! But I am not sure who they are for. Probably some people that have dogs - the dog market?

I exploded, no no ... I enlarged the two dogs from one image - Magic, the magic of art.

The first dog had big ears! I'm guessing it's some sort of chihuahua - for people that want a small dog, but don't like cats. I've actually seen a dog cat. It looked just like a cat, but BARKED!

The Big-Eared Dog

Drawing fur is a bit tricky, so I did what I could.

The second dog had somewhat big hears, medium-ish and a longer face, just look below and you'll see. 

"Eye" like how the eyes turned out in these pictures - they have depth and realism to them. This dog seems as if he/she is looking for something, maybe his/her long lost friend or his owner to come home and give him bacon, or perhaps their shoe to chew on. You never know unless you imagine, or you actually do know.

The Somewhat Big Medium-ish Dog

Sometimes eye like to start another project to get some variety in, so when I wasn't drawing these two dogs I was working on this picture of Saint Michael.

Eye wasn't sure if this was done yet, so I darkened the background so the light areas would pop out more.

And the picture started glowing, like an angel perhaps. Because the dark background popped the light area out so much.

So I darkened some areas by the wings and added some more value in the lighter areas and this is how it looks now.

And what am I doing next?

- An oil painting.

- A portrait

I have it all sketched out on the canvas so I don't think it will change this time, because it's looking pretty good. Maybe I shouldn't add color then - a painting without being painted - my quickest painting.

No, I'll paint it!

Thank you for reading - until next time - when my painting is finished.

“I draw like other people bite their nails.” Pablo Picasso

"One must always draw, draw with the eyes, when one cannot draw with a pencil." Balthus