Something a little different

Early Spring

mixed media on paper

4.5 x 6 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

This is a little mixed media experiment that I worked on last weekend. While browsing art blogs last week I came across a post on one of my favorite artists blogs, Vivien Blackburn's, Paintings Prints and Stuff. Her work posted, "A muddy lane in February" immediately caught my attention. I have long been a fan of her art and was intrigued by her explanation of process with this work. So I tried my own version using a reference of an early spring scene I had photographed while on a walk in a local park.

I used a spare piece of Canson Edition paper and began with Neocolor II crayons, sketching in areas of color. This I brushed with water and let dry. Then I went in with colored pencil, adding some of the smaller elements and softening the intensity of the Neocolor washed a bit. After that I added pastel, bringing up some of the lights and then more colored pencil to define some of the details.

This was a fun way to work with much more immediacy than using colored pencil alone. What I like about Vivien's piece is the softness combined with the expressive marks, allowing for a quiet energy in her piece. And this is where I feel my mixed media falls short. Perhaps it's a fear of pushing the media. Of course this is only one of very few attempts I have done with mixed media. It is a method I would like to explore further, but probably not any time soon. For now, I'll remain content enjoying Vivien Blackburn's beautiful art works.

Wintery sketching

This is a view looking out my living room window. Even though this sketch is more than a week old, the view is still pretty much the same. Yes, the ground rises up from our house to the road, and then continues on up beyond that. Here in the mountains there is really no level ground. You may notice the bit of a leaning tree in the upper left of my sketch. After the terrible winter storms of last year, leaning trees are a fairly common sight still, in our area. This winter has been a little calmer, storm-wise, although we have had plenty of snow already. I sketched this scene with Neocolor II crayons, washed with water.

A little scribbling

Daniel Boone Gardens

colored pencil on pastel board

5 x 7 inches

©Ann Thompson Nemcosky

Here's a piece that I did last week using pastel board. It has been quite some time since I have used this support for colored pencil and when I found a stray pastel board while rummaging around my supplies looking for something else (naturally) I decided to have a little fun.

I first sketched my composition onto the pastel board with Neocolor II water soluble crayons. I wanted to keep the feel of the piece loose and impressionistic. I intentionally chose bold colors for this underpainting step, knowing that the translucent nature of colored pencil would allow some of this highly saturated color to influence the colors placed on top. After I had scribbled in my areas of color, I washed the Neocolor with water. Above is what it looked like after that step, when the washes had dried.

 Then I went in with colored pencil. I prefer Derwent Coloursoft colored pencils when working on sanded surfaces. They are softer than my usual Faber-Castell Polychromos. Because of their softness, Coloursofts behave more like pastel pencils on the sanded surface of the pastel board. An effect that I like. My only regret with the process that I used for this piece is that I wished I hadn't started with such a dark blue in the sky. I would have liked the sky to be a lighter value at the end, something I couldn't achieve once I had that darker value of blue in place with the Neocolor wash. Oh well. It was a fun piece to play around with. And I am happy that I had the restraint to stop before I refined to many areas with detail. I do like the impressionistic feel where the mark making is evident and left alone. Pictured above is the finished piece, same as at the top of the post. I hope you don't mind seeing these pieces in stages like this. I never know if it would be interesting to anyone else or not. I know I always enjoy seeing works-in-progress that other artists share and hope you do too.

Some December sketches

Trees. My obsession with trees continues. Just can't seem to get them quite right. Of course, now that they are all bare of leaves it all really depends on the structure of line. So I have been doing a few tree studies in my sketchbook, because I need so much practice with trees. And line.

I have been reading a few books about drawing trees, too, trying to gain some insight, gleaning the wisdom of how others have dealt with interpreting trees in various media. Trees have so much character. And dignity.

I rediscovered my Neocolor II crayons the other day. They allow for drawing and painting at the same time. And unlike the brush, one has to start with line, perfect for trees in winter. With a brush it's all about shape, but with the crayon, I have to find the line first, which is a different way of seeing for me. Do you ever do that? Change your approach in order to train yourself to see in a new way? Do you more naturally draw with line or shape?

The bottom image is a view outside my living room window on a snowy day, done with Neocolor II water soluble crayons. Well, everyday has been a snowy day here lately. The middle image is a study I did in graphite from an old photo, and the top is also from a photo, taken last winter of a pasture near my house, also done with Neocolor II crayon.