Speaking of Art Blog

Happy Hummer, charcoal and pastel, 8x6"

This is my latest art creation, a drawing of a female hummingbird that decided to make a perch out of some metal parts that were temporarily attached to our deck railing.  So cute!  Since the scene didn’t have very much color, I decided to render it using mainly charcoal and some minimal strokes of pastel pencil.  I used Rives BFK paper because I can tear the edges to create a beautiful organic look.

The interaction of my charcoal pencil and the paper accounts for the grainy look which can especially be seen in the background.  Does that bother me?  Absolutely not.  In fact, when I haven’t created a charcoal drawing in a while, I love to choose a subject that will showcase that graininess.  For me, charcoal is all about the texture of the medium on the surface itself.  Graininess takes center stage when my subject is in black and white and shades of gray.

Color, on the other hand, is a different animal altogether.  When I create a pastel painting, I want to cover my tracks.  I don’t want the grainy texture of my surface to take center stage.  It plays second fiddle to the color.  So, my goal is to make smoother shapes.  I’m not talking about details.  I sometimes include a ton of details in my pastel paintings, but the textured surface is downplayed.  Here is my first painting of a hummingbird that I rendered completely in pastel several years ago.  You can see the difference between this piece and my charcoal drawing, especially in my treatment of the background.  In the colored painting the background, which is the largest shape, is smoother.  Yes, it has streaks of color, but the surface texture is not emphasized as much.

On the Wing, pastel, 8x8" 

Some artists like to emphasize texture in their pastel paintings.  That’s fine for them, but that’s not how my brain works.  I don’t see grainy texture when I look at a colorful scene in real life. I see color, blocks of color, so that’s what I want to emphasize in my colored paintings.  For me, smooth is the way to go when I create in color.

What about when I combine the two media, like in Happy Hummer?  Well, I first choose whether the piece will be primarily black and white or primarily color.  If it’s black and white, I go with the grainy look and if it’s mostly color, I choose the smooth route.  I don’t like going 50/50 with the charcoal and pastel.  Bad idea.  One medium needs to dominate or my resulting artwork looks like it has a split personality.

That’s how I work, sometimes walking down the grainy road and sometimes the smooth road.  I see both roads as beautiful in their own way.  I enjoy the view as I meander down each road, and then I sometimes explore how to successfully let the charcoal and pastel play together.  They take turns being the leader.  That works out best.  Hopefully something beautiful is created in the process, like a tiny hummingbird with its head tipped charmingly to the side, or a pair of sneakers waiting for the next stroll down the creative road.

Resting, charcoal and pastel, 7x11"