Evolution of a picture – The Boater

Here is a series to show you the start, middle and end of the process.  I work with a variety of materials, and find coloured pencil the most interesting and challenging.  The level of detail you can achieve is dependent on skill, paper retaining some “tooth” or ability to grab onto the pigment, a light touch with multiple layers and a sharp point!  Not too much to remember all at once……. The picture “The Boater” was done with a variety of oil and wax based pencils, as well as watercolour pencils.  I work from a computer screen and use a graph to assist me with the transfer of the image to paper. Once colour is on the page I burnish or use odorless solvent to “melt” and blend pigments which increases the intensity of colour on the page.

Colours have been laid out and main areas of the picture captured. Starting to work on the detail of the boat.

Foliage on the hillside begins.

More detail as I work around various areas of the picture.

Here you can see the screen that I am viewing as I develop the picture. I am working from a Samsung tablet, which unfortunately recently bit the dust. I like working from a tablet surface because I can zoom in easily to check details in the original photograph. Notice the grid overlay on the original picture.

Final image.