Jaguar-Pastel Pencils

[CindyH]

This is a piece I did awhile back with CarbOthello pastel pencils on black paper.

There are several WIP photos and I will post them in order so you can see how the colors are layered.

I would be happy to answer any questions if I can remember the answer. Comments welcome....

[CindyH]

Second installment

[CindyH]

Third installment

[CindyH]

Fourth Installment

[CindyH]

This is the final version, it has been framed and is hanging now...

[CindyH]

This is a WIP on this guy in the Pastel Pencil forum...just thought I would post the final image here. It is about 9" x 10" on black paper using CarbOthello's by Stabilo.

[Arlene]

WOW!:drool:

[Toni]

Wow Cindy!

He's beautiful.

Nice depth, technique, color and .....a little to close for me!!! Yikes.

TJ

[Nancy]

This is wonderful!!! I have wanted to use pastel pencils for awhile now. How do you like them? Is there are particular kind you prefer? Can you give us any pros & cons, tips, etc? I would love to try this out! ..... of course, I also need some tutorials to start with .......

[Alyona]

WOW! Beautiful work!:clap: :clap: :clap:

[Rollow]

WOW WOW

It does'nt get much better than that.

Ron

[CindyH]

Thanks Arlene....I had never seen a "drool" smilie before!

Thanks Ron!

[CindyH]

Thanks TJ, Nancy and Alyona!

Nancy...if you go to the Pastel Pencil sub-forum you will find this as a WIP (work in progress). I have only worked with the CarbOthello's but I liked them alot. I am very excited about having a Pastel Pencil forum here so we can all learn.

[Dee]

I say...WOW too.

Pastel pencils huh?

I've seen some in the Art Store. Do you have to use special paper? Will they work on Stonehenge? That's what I currently am using. Are they faster than CPs?

Sorry to have so many questions. :blushing:

[larsnip]

Awesome!!!

[Gemma]

Oh Cindy,,, this is sooo cool! Absolutely Beautiful!
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Gemma

[Jazz]

Thanks so much Cindy for showing the progress shots,

WOW!! what a ride, I really thoroughly enjoyed watching this emerge and the final piece is absolutely amazing!!! No wonder it is framed and on your wall, I wish I could do stuff like that!! :eek: :drool: (click on the word 'more' and you can get other smilies).


Do you have anymore that are done in pastels Cindy? I would love to see them :) .


Huge hugs,


ALI

[lene]

hi

WOW - This is so georgeous :clap: what size is it ?

[larsnip]

Wow!!! this is awesome, great color and he looks so soft
Wonderfuf stuff!!


Dave

[Lahree]

:clap: :clap: :clap: WOW! Fantastic! He's is GORGEOUS!

[Greg]

Wow. That is very nice. I can't tell if I'm looking at a photo or a painting. Wonderful job.

[Meisie]

Terrific job Cindy! :clap:

Meisie

[ladybug]

I LOVE him, Cindi! You are doing a spectcular job! Wow, the eyes definitely have him! Love the colors you have brought into the painting! your use of the subtle blues, tying into the distant background setting. Excellent! I can't wait to see MORE of your work! I'd like to show you one of my cats, but, haven't figured out how to do that yet on this site. I will, though. Eventually.

So, how do you like those CarbOthello's? I wonder, how lightfast they are? I don't believe I have any. I just bought a bunch of Derwent Pastel pencils. I used to do a lot of pastel work, years ago, before I discovered CP's. Now, I am so hooked on CP's. But, still, occasionally I want to do an oil painting again,for instance. Usually when I do, though, I am just reminded of WHY I love CP's so much. But, Lately, I have been wanting to work again some in pastels. Seems like the pencil form should be a lot less messy. I did hate the mess. So, what would you say to me abotu your CarbOthello's, vs, regular soft pastels? Vs, these new Derwent pastel pencils I just got? (have not so much as drawn one mark with them yet, thats how new they are) What paper would you suggest? I was thinking I should use something with some tooth. Mi-Tientes, I suppose, obviously, but, I really prefer a heavy stock, and want it archival. Thats important to me. What about Fabriano Uno? (I think its abotu 300#)

Ahah! I happened to find how to upload an image. But, sadly, all my files are too big. Every one. That really surprised me. Oh well.Only one was as low as 129 KB, but, it can't do anything bigger than 122 KB. Guess I am just out of luck. Well, I am sure Gemma can help teach me how to make a file smaller somehow. She's just amazing!

Anyhow, I love your Jaguar! I know I will return to it often! Ad, you say its a work in progress?

Ladybug

[CindyH]

Thanks Dee! For this I used Black Artagain by Strathmore. I have not tried it on Stonehenge...there may not be enough tooth...but I would have to experiment. Pastel pencils are considered more Pastel than Colored Pencil I think. The binder is similar to pastels...and the pencils are on the hard end of the spectrum. Pastels come in hard (Pencils, NuPastels),to medium (Rembrandts for example), to very soft (Ludwigs and many others. There are also MANY different kinds of pastel papers. One that I like is Wallis sanded paper, which Toni/TJ uses for her portraits in cp.

Many pastel artists use them to sketch with and to put in details like tree branches, or details on a portrait.

Thanks Dave! I appreciate it!

Hi Ali! No, not in pencils, I have a few that are with soft pastels...but this is the first (and only so far) piece I have done with the pastel pencils.

Thanks and hi lene! The size is about 9" x 10".

[CindyH]

Thanks Gemma....from the "master of animal portraits" that means alot!

Thanks again Dave!! Thanks Lori! Thanks Greg! Hi Meisie, thanks!! Thanks ladybug! I will try to answer your questions...

I love the CarbOthello's...it's the only pastel pencil I have tried. It was actually kind of an experiment. So I don't know how they compare to other pastel pencils.

Pastel Pencils vs. colored pencil (Prismacolor is what I use). It's like comparing apples and oranges. The advantages of pastel pencils are less layers, richer color on dark paper, can complete a piece in a fraction of the time it takes me to do a cp piece. The disadvantages are they are messier, need to be sharpened alot to keep the point, of course the framing issues are the same as pastel....you need a little space between your piece and the mat so the dust particles can fall between.

As for paper, definitely one that has appropriate tooth for pastel. One that I like is Wallis Sanded paper, it gives you a completely different look to your pastels. You may want to check out TJ/Toni's work as I believe she uses Wallis paper alot for her portraits. Another that is not so pricey is ArtSpectrum by Colorfix (or maybe it's Colorfix by ArtSpectrum?). It also is a sanded paper and comes in different colors. I buy it at Hobby Lobby or Michaels. Haven't tried Fabriano Uno so I can't comment.

Yes, this is a WIP...go to the Pastel Pencil Forum and it is labeled Jaguar.

As for you images being too large. You can resize them in your photo editing software. I have Photoshop Elements and once I have them looking correct I resize them into a jpeg file for uploading. Hope that helps. If not I'm sure a PM to Gemma will fix you right up.

[Dave]

Holy cow! This is fantastic! What the........I could have swore I saw him blink! :D I really like your choice of colors.

[wanda]

I am just going to echo what has already been said. But really just amazing. I love the way you used the blue it makes it so much better than using white. :clap: wanda

[kimo]

Absolutely gorgeous!! :clap:

[CindyH]

Thanks Dave....I do think he blinks every now and again...it's kind of spooky!

Hi Wanda, thanks for taking the time to comment...I'm glad you liked the blue undertones. I thought it might be a little flat with just white.

Hi Kim....Thanks! Good to see you here :bye1:

[knelson315]

Cindy - as usual - just a beautiful piece. I love the blues! I've wanted to try pastel pencils as well, but think I need to find a teacher to help me with technique.

[JudyakaPinky]

Cindy!
Did I ever see this one? (scratching head...)

It's gorgeous truly gorgeous. :clap:

Can I ask you, do you spray workable fix between the layers, or no?
I tried pastel pencils, once, and I made a huge mess! lol

[CindyH]

Hi Judy...you probably hadn't seen this...it was posted in the Pastels forum at the other website since pastel pencils were not part of the forum.

I didn't use fixative on this....I've used it on other pastel pieces in the early stages but not at the end. I have been told that it darkens the colors. I tap it pretty hard so the dust goes in the trash, and then frame it with a spacer inbetween the painting and the mat. Any leftover dust then falls down between.

They do kind of make a mess but not as bad as the soft pastel chunks. The pencils are little bit more in the "hard" range.

[CindyH]

Thanks Kathee....I think you would do a wonderful job with them..just jump in and try it :D