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Post by Rosemary on Jan 16, 2004 18:23:38 GMT -5
Drawing eyes is the most important feature of the face. It is one of the most essential elements in bring life to a portrait. Eye shape: After drawing the eye out with a light #2 pencil, I use a flesh colored pencil and cover the eyelid, eyebrow, as well as the area below the eye. Add Tuscan red and pink,leaving the light area to represent the roundness or bulge of the eye. Add brown pencil to the eyebrow area. Blend the tones together with a tortillion. Add dark umber in the crease of the eyelid. Eye color: I usually use one of those graphs that have circles to draw out the eyeball iris and pupil. That way it is perfectly round. Begin with the iris, pupil, and catch light. The catch light is always half in the pupil and half in the iris. It is what makes the eye look shiney and expressive. With black Verithin, add tone around the edge of the iris. For Blue eyes: add Indigo Blue, creating some patterns coming out from the pupil in a starburst design. Add white Prismacolor to the catchlight. To add a littlel more depth I also use a light blue Prisma around to the bottom of the eye a bit. To burnish cover everything with white Prisma and reapply your colors to enhance the patterns. A burnished eye looks shinier than a layered one. For Green eyes: Follow the same steps but use Olive green. A light olive for the bottom of the Iris for some depth. For Brown eyes: follow the same steps but use Dark brown. Then for the bottom I use a tad of cream to give a little more light in the eye and depth. **Exerpts of this is taken from the book "How to Draw Portraits in Colored Pencil From Photographs" by Lee Hammond.
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Post by toonMom on Jan 16, 2004 19:29:18 GMT -5
I didn't know you could blend colored pencils with a tortillion! This is very good information to have, I am so bad with choosing colors. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
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Post by Rosemary on Jan 17, 2004 1:32:09 GMT -5
Toonmom! You can use either a tortillion or a colored pencil called "blender." It is clear and is used for blending and burnishing. It is just a matter of preference. Sometimes using a white pencil makes the blending come out with a haze and you don't want that.
This was just a beginning. Feel free to ask questions as you go along. Sorry I didn't provide pictures of example, but I am not real computer savy.
I use bristol board too. However, I love illustration board the best. If you have a Dick Blick catalog you can order it by multiples. I always use the Strathmore 500 series Cold press illustration board. It gives a lot and a lot, especially if you make any mistakes.
I also highly recommend an electric or battery powered eraser.......great for making highlights!
Choosing colors is a matter of experience and with the books I recommended, they should help you visually to work with some of the colors you need for portraiture.
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Post by toonMom on Jan 17, 2004 6:44:15 GMT -5
I do have both mentioned books, but they seem a little too advanced. I get overwelmed just reading them. I also have some kits from Anne's website which I haven't started because it takes so long. You don't use Stonehenge paper? I tried using the blending stick once, it didn't look like it did anything?
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Post by Rosemary on Jan 17, 2004 21:20:16 GMT -5
No, sadly I don't use Stonehenge. I used it once and like it, but I just prefer the illustation boards better as they can take so much more abuse. Didn't like the blending stich, eh? Well, I use the tortillion a lot and like it too. Just a matter of preference there. You already have Ann Kullberg's books? What about Lee Hammond? Her book is pretty basic. And Bernard Poulin's book, "The Complete Colored Pencil Book." Bet Borgeson is a really excellent too! Sheesh! I have so many colored pencil books in my studio it is disgusting! I could start an art store. I wish we lived near each other so I could show you some techniques I learned from taking 4 years of colored pencil classes. That really helps to have someone there to guide you along. The main thing is to go from light to dark and layer, layer and not to rush. It takes a long time to do a colored pencil drawing, but it is worth it in the end. I thought that Stoontoon's comments on CP were excellent too in the other thread. Hope that helps.
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Post by corky on Jan 20, 2004 14:03:24 GMT -5
rosemary; thanks for the excellent information on how to draw eyes. i, too, have a lot of colour pencil books. i recognized all of the authors you mentioned! another pencil book i like is "drawing realistic textures" by j.d.hilberry. more for graphite, but i love all types of pencil, so i got some great ideas for that. i love going into art supply stores and browsing. so many things to choose from! toonmom, here's a handy dandy tip to save you some money: when you're sharpening a colour pencil, sharpen it at the end away from the number. you can then purchase exactly the same colour, by finding that number on the pencil. in some kits, i find lots of colours that i will never use, so i prefer buying individually. i go thru more of the skin and hair colours, not as much of the brights colours. i've never used the metallic colours; has anyone else tried them?
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Post by Rosemary on Jan 20, 2004 17:29:54 GMT -5
Actually, I have never used any of the metalic colors!
I have the book "Creating Textures in Colored Pencil" by Gary Greene ;D
I could probably open up an art store with all the art supplies and books I have.
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Post by corky on Jan 21, 2004 12:01:19 GMT -5
rosemary, i love your coloured pencil work. i am quite a fan of the medium. i did post some of my coloured pencil stuff (it's all over the place!) thanks to some help from scottg and toonmom. i prefer pencil to markers when i'm doing a caricature. i would love to take some classes, as you have, in coloured pencil. i think i would learn so much more. i read a lot, and it's trial and error most of the time. there was an interesting article on a coloured pencil artist, named carrie ballantyne, in an issue of american artist-drawing, that was quite impressive. have you read it?
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Post by Rosemary on Jan 21, 2004 17:17:44 GMT -5
No, I have not read the article, but it seems the artists name is familiar. I have to look around harder for your work. I keep missing it somehow!
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Post by corky on Jan 22, 2004 10:33:44 GMT -5
check in all other art, and caricatures (or maybe caricature gallery). you're looking for a simple life, snowangel, courtney love, american idol. hope that helps. i'd really love some feedback from you on the courtney sketch, which i did in coloured pencil.
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Post by Patbhoy on Feb 7, 2004 13:01:44 GMT -5
Try again eh!, new to this computer lark.
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Post by toonMom on Feb 7, 2004 13:08:16 GMT -5
I bought some correction pens awhile ago, but I haven't tried them yet. Thanks for the tip.
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Post by Rosemary on Feb 13, 2004 20:16:42 GMT -5
I love to use an electric eraser too. Not just for mistakes but you can do some really awesome techniques from the instrument, especially for highlights and that.
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Post by Rosemary on Feb 13, 2004 20:18:21 GMT -5
check in all other art, and caricatures (or maybe caricature gallery). you're looking for a simple life, snowangel, courtney love, american idol. hope that helps. i'd really love some feedback from you on the courtney sketch, which i did in coloured pencil. Stoontoons!@ Your work is remarkable. I love them all. My favorite was the Courtney Love. I hope you saw my replies in those threads. Great job!
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