Wednesday 17 April 2013

Zebra foal - experiment

I think I may have found my muse - about time too! After an awful long time since I last produced anything I am now getting some ideas as to what I want to do. I am thinking of a new direction but feel it is so easy to slip back into what I was doing before, not that there was anything wrong with that, just that I would like to do something a little different....sort of.

Still doing animals, but on a completely different surface, this young zebra is done on stretched canvas primed with white acrylic paint....I don't think this is what I should have used as it feels quite slippery, but I will finish it and try something else for the next one - gesso perhaps?

Coloured pencils: FC Polychtromps and Prismacolour.
Size Approx. A5
WIP

6 comments:

  1. Off to a great start Bev, I love the subject.

    Interested to hear how you get on with cps on canvas. Our 'Made in Whitstable' group leader recently announced a challenge for artists in the Group to produce 'a portrait' on canvas. Canvasses to be supplied by him at £5 each. I was tempted but wasn't sure about using pastel or cps on this surface - I don't know how to prime them etc.

    I hope you'll keep us updated with how it all works/feels.

    Thanks.

    ps: (Polychtromps)? Do you mean Polychromos?

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  2. gesso def. works better on the canvas when using cps, and pastels for that matter. just need to spray varnish the canvas so neither of them rubs away

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  3. Don't want to hijack Bev's post here but just read your comment Jennifer. I never went to Art College and so didn't experiment with different media and so am sadly lacking behind in technical knowledge.

    What is Gesso - perhaps you or Bev will explain (also how its applied) and how do you spray varnish a canvas. Do you buy an aerosol varnish?

    Sorry Bev ...

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  4. Don't worry Sue, highjack away. Gesso is like a paint with fine grit in it that you paint onto canvas or board (just like applying any other paint)to prepare them for oils or whatever you are using....I guess I knew I should have used it instead of acrylic paint but as Acrylic is what I had I thought I would try it.....but it is way too slippery to take cp well so I will be doing another one using gesso to prime the canvas.

    LOL yep I meant Polychromos, fingers working overtime!!!!

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  5. Thanks Jennifer, i will be trying another one so keep looking in, I might just crack this ;-)

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  6. :) if you are working right on canvas, sometimes you dont even need to prime it with gesso if using cps :) really all comes down to the look you want, so its trail and error. acrylic would have worked if you throw some sand or something else gritty in it, because like bev said its too slippery by itself

    spray varnish

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