Curly hair contradictions.
One thing that has continually surprised me while on this creative journey is how often my style has changed. Most interesting when looking at pencil pieces, as I had a very particular pencil style for quite some time. One that went surprisingly well with my ink style. These days both the pencil and ink styles have evolved into something a lot more… fluid? I’m not sure how best to explain it. They’re developing in a very natural way. Yet, at the same time, developing completely differently than expected.
Some of this comes down to the paper I’m using.
As I’ve explored a range of cartridge papers recently, which have changed the presentation when using pencil and ink as they’re interacting with a very different kind of paper. One that produces much softer results. One that is better suited to blending pencils together. Likewise, I’ve even tried using bristol board with pencil which produced results all its own.
It’s still quite likely I’ll be leaning heavily on ink in the future. Mostly because it affords me the flexibility, the intricate detailing, and the level of quality I want. That said, I don’t want to entirely ignore pencil and so I’m trying something different with the sketches in this post. Something that will hopefully encourage me to create different kinds of pencil pieces in the future. I’ve not yet finished a piece in this style, though. So it’s difficult to say if it’s even possible to do so. For me at least. But I think it’s an interesting blend of a more realistic style paired with my usual graphic style. As always, further tweaking is necessary as I continue to work on future pieces and the like.
While these are all regular pencil sketches, I am particularly interested in how Polychromos will interact with the range of cartridge papers and whether it’s more appealing than usual. I love the vibrancy and fluidity of the colours with bristol board- but it never hurts to try something new. Unless it costs you more money in the long run. Which it may do. Even if bristol board is among the most expensive of the materials I use. But that’s for another time when I have some evidence related to that train of thought.
I’m happy to spend the time on it, though.
When I first tried watercolours I was under the impression that I wasn’t a painter and that they would see little use. After trying a few things, painting a few paintings, and exploring the capabilities of the material I began to feel differently. So maybe I’ll begin a very similar yet entirely different journey with this pencil style.
I’d also like to finish a piece in this particular style at some point. Hopefully soon. However, I do have a couple of things in mind and they’re not really corresponding with pencils in any way. Maybe even a digital piece. Or, rather, a digital revival of a piece we’ve seen previously. As I do feel slightly annoyed by the fact that I felt it necessary to cut back on digital painting content. As odd as that may sound. I was also aiming for more traditional art content as a result of cutting back on digital art content, so you could see this as the beginning of that. Hopefully a beginning that won’t fizzle out in a few weeks and disappear until early next year.
Have a nice week, all!
Moggie
Art, design, and the like found herein (unless otherwise specified) is drawn and owned by David Wilkshire (also credited as Moggie) from 2006 to present date.
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