2012
While filling in the background sky I faced the difficulty of blending colors in large spaces. Layering with colored pencil requires constant monitoring of the paper’s saturation. Once the rough pores on the paper are completely filled, it becomes almost impossible to add other colors. So, if you want to blend three colors, be sure to leave enough tooth on the paper so that it will accept the last color, otherwise, you’ll begin to squeegee pigment away in what will almost surely result in a mess. I learned a great deal about color composition and the importance of creating a palette and sticking to it. Below is a snapshot of some smaller sketches I made while in the brainstorming and planning phase.
Martian Mother
3/8/12
Foreground Here are two practice sketches of the girl. On the color version, I changed the hair style to give a more dramatic look.
A Star is Born I made the bottle fluid in several colors before choosing a violet lavender mix.
Martian Architecture Here is the main city in pencil and color pencil. It was a blast to design a city, especially one on Mars! Basically, I took note of buildings on Earth and characterized the more unusual features. Then, I amped up the colors to give a futuristic feel. Below is a tiny sample of the hundreds of sketches I made on the way to finishing.
Martian Architecture Continued Below is the city as I originally conceived it. That’s a Martian flyer in the foreground. Although changing the point-of-view set me back time-wise, I learned a lot about point-of-view and perspective.
Moving Mountains At top is a mountain that to me, appears more craggy and rigid. I wanted a more wind-smoothed look such as the one at bottom. Stories of howling winds on Mars lead me to this conclusion.
Color Blending Blending colors has to be one of the most difficult aspects of working with color pencil. Prismacolor offers a colorless blender. I have had mixed success with it. So far, my technique is to mix using white, or simply mix by using more of the same colors I intend to blend. These swatches guided me while choosing a sky color motif. Lisa Frank is one of my favorite artists. I tried to inject a bit of her style into the sky elements.