Saturday 25 October 2008

Virtual Sketch Date - October

Time for another Virtual Sketch Date, and I have to say I've really enjoyed the ones I've done so far. Of course one of the best bits is seeing what other artists have done. Here's my first version (one just never seems enough...)

'3 Pears'

23cm x 15cmm

Graphite & Carbon Pencil on Paper



Every time I see the work of Marsha Robinett on 'The Extraordinary Pencil' I'm impressed so I wanted to try her style, particularly with the use of carbon pencil. The blackness you can achieve is impressive but not without effort, the rest of this is goood old fashioned graphite. I think I'll be using carbon pencil again. If you've not see Marsha's work it's brilliant and inspiring, go see it!




For my next effort at this reference I went to watercolour. I quite liked the result but when I scanned the piece it went very yellow so I've took a photograph too to comapare but it came out really dull looking, as you can see.



'3 Pears'

21cm x 15cm

Watercolour on Paper (scanned image)


(photographed image)



Neither of them really captures the colours in the original. This is the first time I've noticed such a marked difference between the original and the scan - I've always scanned before. And yet the photograph looks very dull, but then I'm not a photographer. Anyone else have this problem?





24 comments:

Jeanette Jobson said...

I love the carbon/graphite piece Andy. Then again, I'm a pencil fanatic :)

The watercolour did come out very well. The colours are lovely. Scanning and photographing are fraught with frustration I know. The originals are so much better I agree

Unknown said...

Hi Andy. Your first study in carbon is great. Dramatic yet smooth. Good stuff:)

BARBARA WEEKS said...

Another ambitious person with many versions-all of the great. I really love the cropping on the first one!

Grangry said...

Nice work Andy, especially the graphite/carbon. Something else for me to try!

Melissa Muirhead said...

Gorgeous, both pieces, but I really love your graphite/carbon one.

Marsha Robinett said...

Beautiful work Andy. Of course just as Jeanett, I'm partial to the carbon/graphite drawing. You're right drawing is always more work.

I consider my self a 'watercolor want-a-be! I do some, but not as good as what you've shown here. Well done.

Thank you so much for the compliments and link to my site.

Leslie Hawes said...

Beautiful.
Do you feel the scan to be closer to the 'real' color, than the photo?
My scan grabbed the yellow more than typically. I wonder if it the nature of the way the machine 'sees' that particular color?
Do you have a digital camera? If you do, try myriad lighting conditions and see what differences happen. Sometimes just three inches closer to a strong natural light source changes everything.

Beautiful in any light, though!

laine lea said...

Great work Andy! Like the idea of doing in different mediums.....

Stacy said...

I am always impressed when someone does more than one version and this is no exception. I like the delicate graphite shading against the dark carbon background. For the watercolors I love the purple cloth with the green pears.

Regina Calton Burchett said...

I like both of your pieces, but think I like the impact of the pencil one the best. Good job! On the color one, I have a lot of problems in photographing yellow too - not sure why that is.

Andy said...

Many thanks to all for the positive comments, much appreciated. I think I'm going to have to experiment with how I show my work online, camera v scanner.
Thanks again to everyone who left a comment :o)

Rhonda Bartoe Tucker said...

Both of your pieces this month are great; but love the carbon/graphite. Nice composition.

Vivienne said...

Hi Andy, great graphite and watercolour work! Do you use powdered graphite at all, or is it all pencil? I think the professionals iron out some of these problems in Photoshop with saturation buttons and other magic toys. You'd think scanning would be more accurate, but perhaps the light passes through transparent and opaque colours differently. Mine was quite a lot paler and yellower than the original.

Linda said...

Andy -- both versions are wonderful! I've found that scanning is usually less work than photographing and can be pretty accurate-- I then use Picasa to tweak the colors to normal if necessary and then use it to upload, too. I photograph a lot of work, and the trick is to do it on a clear sunny day, but do it under shade so that the sun isn't hitting it directly. Even then, those still need to be tweaked sometimes...

Jan Pope said...

Very very nice. You're right - one just never seems to be enough.

Check the white balance in your camera. If the plate in your original is white, it's showing up as a bit gray on my monitor, then the white balance could be your problem. Also if your photographing under incandesent light, move outside or use a natural daylight bulb for truer colors.

cathyswatercolors said...

Your black and white drawing is really bold and strong. I love the painted pears with the purple backround. Actually I did an acrylic painting of the pears with a bright pink backround and a purple serving tray. I didn't submit it though.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

The darks you achieved with the carbon pencil are marvelous! That pear is a stunner.

Kathleen said...

Hi Andy - love the color and the graphite piece -

I have the same issues ( scans & photos ) and even twiddling the images in photo shop I can't get it right sometimes it improves my work and sometimes not - I'm not sure what the answer is

heyannie said...

Hi Andy, I think your work is delightful. i especially love the purity of the first one in graphite. The painted pears really sing out with the violet background. I too find myself fussing around between photographing the pieces and scanning them. Don't know what would work to reproduce the sketches as they actually are.

"JeanneG" said...

Great job. Kudos for doing more than one. I really like the first one with all that white.

Paulette said...

Your water colours are lovely, but your graphite/carbon is brilliant!
I think you have done a wonderful job of listening to Marsha Robinett.
For photographing check your white balance, your manual should tell you how.

SYLVIANE said...

I am so impressed by your work, Andy, I like especially the nudity of you graphite ones!

M J Muir said...

Beutiful work. The graphite version is striking.
And the watercolour is very fine as well,

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