The Lone Walk

COLOUR PENCILPASTEL

11x14 inch Strathmore 500 Mixed Media Heavyweight Champion of the World
Caran d'Ache Luminance and Neocolor II wax pastels
Derwent USB rechargeable eraser, Slice tool, Embossing tool
Reference: Unsplash
Mixed Gummy Bear selection

Having taken the plunge from monochromatic graphite a few years ago, I still absolutely delight in the tremendous vibrancy possible with colour pencils. They do pack a chroma punch, and that is something I very much wanted to emphasise in this piece.

A quick crop to change the composition and my lone walk was ready to rumble, or transfer to be more precise. I used home made graphite transfer paper on this occasion, not because it is necessarily better, but I do enjoy a smug sense of economy in doing so!

I set two primary goals for this piece: to work on my soft, out of focus area representation, and to consume a goodly number of exotic flavoured Gummy bears. The latter was accomplished with aplomb and I am subsequently open to Gummy Bear manufacturer sponsorship opportunities.

The subject presented the perfect opportunity to combine Neocolor II with colour pencils... they do make the cosiest of bedfellows, and the sky was swiftly dispatched in dry Neocolor before moving on to pencil. The sticky properties of the Neocolor came in to their own later as I removed a lamp post with such efficiency that civil engineers would surely have been green with envy.

So, moving down with pencil now, I established and double checked my perspective and key points. Pencils were swished and applied liberally with the occasional caffeine refuel, paying careful attention to the transition from soft focus to sharp, all whilst retaining the wonderful lights and reflections to recreate the feel of the original scene.

Embossing tool, Slice tool and Derwent eraser were then employed with abandon on the nearest foreground sections to texturise as appropriate, et voila.... the lone walk was complete and I hope you find it pleasing to the eye. Have a good week one and all 😊