Lavina

[StephKunze]

There's a local art community group that I joined a few months ago. Each year they have themed seasonal art shows you can apply for. For this winter, they are holding a show with the theme "Complementary Colors." I thrifted a purple and yellow/gold frame and created a portrait of a deer for it using purple and yellow hued colored pencils (plus graphite). The piece didn't turn out quite how I hoped - I'm sort of wishing I would have used a different medium than colored pencils to render the deer, maybe a medium that would have given the deer a more "crisp" look, but that's ok.

This piece is very sparkly. Depending on how the light is hitting it and what angle you are looking at it, the tulle behind the deer sparkles differently and the colors change slightly. It was tough to document it accurately, this is the best I can do! I decided to name the deer Lavina.

"Lavina" (mixed media, 5 x 7 inches)

 

[Donna T]

Your work is so unique - and Lavina turned out beautifully! What a gorgeous creature she is, in a nice frame too! The tulle really adds to the glamour.

 

[PaintBoss]

Great piece. I see that some areas are really clear, but the face seems to be really fuzzy. Can you sharpen that up or do you want that out of focus?

 

[StephKunze]

Your work is so unique - and Lavina turned out beautifully! What a gorgeous creature she is, in a nice frame too! The tulle really adds to the glamour.

Thanks so much! Sparkly tulle is a pretty cool material, it makes a piece have a pretty "twinkle" effect in person. It's also fun to layer to add extra sparkle. I didn't do any layering of it here but I might sometime in the future since I currently have a lot of this tulle to use up!

 

[StephKunze]

Great piece. I see that some areas are really clear, but the face seems to be really fuzzy. Can you sharpen that up or do you want that out of focus?

Thanks! And yeah, that's the part that left me feeling like I didn't quite get the piece to look the way I hoped. The face is more clear in person (it looks like my camera was a little out of focus on the face), but that said it still has a subtle fuzzy look to it, especially compared to the sharpness of the tulle and frame. I struggled to get a sharp line with colored pencils on this particular paper. (It was a tan scrap paper, I'm not sure what kind it was.) I tried to create more sharpness using a mechanical pencil. That did help somewhat, but not as much as I was hoping. I also had an issue with the paper having a limit of how many layers/lines it could handle, it got a bit fussy at the end when I added more colors/shades. I still might go back into it though! Maybe after the show, when I have no looming deadline

 

[PaintBoss]

Yeah, I think the camera did have a problem focusing. I mean, that’s what it looks like to me. Because underneath the blurry part, I can see where you clearly delineated the eyes. The ears are really sharp. It’s a striking piece. I know what you mean about layers getting so built up that it will not take anymore. And the problem with graphite is in certain lighting conditions it comes off as reflective instead of dark. Sometimes there are a little cheats you can do if you’re doing mixed media if you think the area will accept it. Like dropping in a tiny little bit of black acrylic paint or ink, or straight black watercolour paint. This can really work well, but you’ll have to make sure that you don’t overdo it so that it still fits into the work.
Good luck at the show. I’m sure they’re going to love it!

 

[StephKunze]

Yeah, I think the camera did have a problem focusing. I mean, that’s what it looks like to me. Because underneath the blurry part, I can see where you clearly delineated the eyes. The ears are really sharp. It’s a striking piece. I know what you mean about layers getting so built up that it will not take anymore. And the problem with graphite is in certain lighting conditions it comes off as reflective instead of dark. Sometimes there are a little cheats you can do if you’re doing mixed media if you think the area will accept it. Like dropping in a tiny little bit of black acrylic paint or ink, or straight black watercolour paint. This can really work well, but you’ll have to make sure that you don’t overdo it so that it still fits into the work.
Good luck at the show. I’m sure they’re going to love it!

A little bit of carefully placed black paint or ink might do the trick. I know what you mean about the silvery sheen of graphite, haha. I wonder if seeing the piece with fresh eyes in about a month from now will help with feeling more sure of how to rework it. Just a couple months ago I reworked a piece I did in 2011, so it's certainly possible I'll go back into this one! And thanks so much, I appreciate it

 

[PaintBoss]

It’s a lovely peice, but oh yeah, waiting and giving some time definitely makes a difference. I’ve come back to pieces I haven’t worked on in 10 years and then was really fresh and was able to move past whatever was bothering me about the piece in the past. Sometimes though my style has moved on, so I have to try to re-jig it.

 

[StephKunze]

It’s a lovely peice, but oh yeah, waiting and giving some time definitely makes a difference. I’ve come back to pieces I haven’t worked on in 10 years and then was really fresh and was able to move past whatever was bothering me about the piece in the past. Sometimes though my style has moved on, so I have to try to re-jig it.

I feel that!

 

[Artyczar]

This is gorgeous! I love this. And it's perfectly framed.

 

[StephKunze]

This is gorgeous! I love this. And it's perfectly framed.

Thanks

 

[snoball]

Lovely!

 

[StephKunze]

Lovely!

Thanks so much!