The Illustration Friday theme is “wings” this week, so I thought I’d try something different and attempt a realistic illustration. I started out with watercolor on Strathmore paper, but gave up on that (oh, well) and instead used Derwent Watercolor pencils on Canson Montval paper. I used a photo reference — it was uncredited, or I’d credit it here — and tried to build the majority of the picture with just a red, a blue, and a yellow pencil. (The blacks are built with layers of blue, red, and yellow. You can see where the red’s peeking through in some places.) This is still unfinished, but as it’s almost time for the next IF theme, I thought I’d better post it today!
I’ve tried a number of drawn-from-nature experiments recently. None of them have been entirely successful, but they *have* gotten me to use different palettes, media, and paper!
ETA: Here’s a more finished version of the butterfly…
These are both great! I especially like the shells – they still have your signature glowing color!
Thanks! I love shells, and I have a ton of them, so I keep coming back to them as subjects. Hmmm, maybe I should try them in pastels or markers or…
Loverly! There is a life-like vibrance to these!
Thanks, E!
I keep hearing about these Derwent pencils! Might have to get some with my next Dick Blick coupon. These are really beautiful! Lovely color and drawing style.
Derwent makes a huge array of colored pencils, and they’re definitely fun to play with. You might like the Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, too, as their brilliant colors and hard leads would work well with your detailed, colorful illustration style.