New media

I am generally resistant to new media (and also old media!), preferring to hone my skills in my two preferred "genres," watercolor and acrylic. Even though I can do stuff with pencil, charcoal, markers, or what-have-you, I'm not a fan; I get impatient having to shade with a pencil using a tiny little point (or even the side of the lead) when I can do it in a few strokes with a paintbrush and enjoy the effect more. But after last week's Let's Face It assignment using pan pastels, I was persuaded by instructor Mika Denny's comment that likened using them with an applicator as closely akin to painting, and ordered some implements and a few colors to try.

The assignment called for a base of tinted paper, and I know I have some tan and maybe some gray Canson Mi-Teintes lying around somewhere, but it's at the bottom of an archaeological layer of art supplies, printer boxes, and books, and there is a slim chance of finding it without more work than I wanted to put in, so instead I started by coating a piece of watercolor paper with a thin transparent wash of Payne's Gray to serve as my base, and messed about on social media while letting it dry. Unfortunately, it dried so light that the white pan pastel didn't even show up against it, so I tried again using ultramarine. It kind of defeats the purpose of the black-white-gray dynamic that was intended, but I did feel like the blue went with my model's expression, so there's that.

The whites and lights showed up much better on the blue background, while still giving a subdued effect to this moody abstracted gaze that Christa Forrest was wearing while waiting for her taped demo to begin. Christa has been one of our instructors for multiple Let's Face It years, and I have actually painted her once before, but that was a bright, cheery watercolor using intense Daler Rowney inks, and I really wanted to try conveying a different mood this time with the pan pastels.

My finished product is not near as sophisticated, detailed, or precise as the one demonstrated by Mika. Although I ordered the pastels, the applicators, and the tips, I didn't get a blending stump, and the black and white charcoal pencils I used (because I already had them) are pretty soft and messy, so I couldn't get the fine details around the eyes that she achieved in her demo. There's also a weird thing going on with that shadow on the side of her face—I think I messed with it too much when I brought color into the face. But...now I can say that I gave the pan pastels a shot, and although it's probably not a medium I will use much, I can see the appeal, particularly the softness of blending you are able to achieve when using the applicators and sponge tips rather than just pencils.

Here's the finished product: Christa in pan pastels on a watercolor background, 12x9 inches on coldpress watercolor paper.

Expressions

I save photos that people post when they have interesting, difficult expressions on their faces, and eventually get around to drawing/painting them. This is one of our teachers for Let's Face It, Sabra Awlad Issa, who usually has a solemn, sort of deadpan expression, so when she posted this goofy face I knew I had to use it!

This is sort of a Deb Weiers production—I did the drawing first, in Uniball pen, and then washed it with two colors of Daler Rowney Acrylic inks, followed by a paint job with white gesso and watercolors, finishing up with white and gold pens for highlights and details on the glasses. I had fun.

"Sabra," 9x12 on 140-lb. coldpress.

Buddies

I did a little drawing and watercolor this morning, once again of my teacher and friend Emma Petitt, this time with Buddy, a dog she has fostered, going out of her way to find him the perfect home. The first placement didn't take, so Emma had him back to stay with her and her gang of dogs until the right adopter turned up, months later, never losing faith that Buddy would eventually land where he belongs. I wanted to capture the memory of her relationship with Buddy, because it was so sweet and loyal on both sides.

I loved the photo I used as a reference, although my drawing/painting doesn't quite capture the full wide side-eye gaze of Emma in the photo, so it's not quite as amusing. But I had fun and kept my hand in, and isn't that, if not the point, at least one of them?

Uniball pen and watercolors on 140-lb. coldpress, 9x12 (with a border).