Andalusian Fair

This is a short post as the keyboard on our computer has gone wrong and we're having to 'import' a screen keyboard which is painful to use ... so slow

Here's a few picture from the Andalusian Fair which took place in Corralejo last weekend - these are taken in pretty harsh sunlight so they'll need a bit of tweaking when I get back to my 'home' computer and can access the photo-editing programmes

11/04: Niña - Grounded!

Have had another busy couple of days but at last I found time to 'ground' this young lady - I opted for a very simple dark floor with a bit of shadow to the left of her feet as the light was coming from the right side

Yet again its raining and gloomy so the photos look a bit patchy but this is the final version now (you'll be pleased to hear)

I'm going to stick with the ivory mount and 'rustic' grey wood frame I think.    This is the mount just laid loosely on top.  I have got larger mounts/frames but I think the pictures will end up too large - this is 20" x 16" frame which is a reasonable size for hanging I think.

09/04: Niña - just about finished ... I think!

We had a busy day 'running around' yesterday - we had to go to the Air Ambulance HQ to collect some bits and bobs (for our charity work) and then made some family visits so I didn't do any drawing.

I'm now bored with this one ... its a horrible feeling that I get frequently when on the last stages of a picture and I have to be careful not to ruin it by doing something silly.      I found a mount/frame at home that I think will work with the drawing and these are just laid loosely over the picture to show the effect.

Now I realise I really ought to add a little more detail to 'ground' her ... maybe just a suggestion of shadow or a few floor tiles but I've decided not to attempt a full background at this stage.

So there'll be a final progress picture soon ....

07/04: Day 3 WIP 'Niña - Spanish Girl in Coloured Pencil

I got sidetracked this morning ... so many distractions ...  I didn't make as much progress as I'd have liked on this today.

Anyway, I managed another couple of hours work this afternoon and here are the progress pics ... again the colours vary as taken in different light conditions ... I think the last one is probably most true to life

I've darkened the hair slightly.   I'm working on drafting film over a black backing sheet which makes the background look grey but in 'real life' it doesn't look as dark as this

This background colour is probably more true here although the red dress is now too orange ... oh the joys of technology.   I've added more colour to the ruffles/frills in the dress

and this is where I ground to a halt - I've started adding some shadow to the ruffles to add more realism.

I will need to work more on her skin tones, in particular her arms and hands, but as usual I'm doing lots of 'flitting' and not concentrating on any one area for long.   I still have her feet to add but hope that won't be too problematic as she's wearing simple canvas slippers.

06/04: WIP Spanish Girl (Niña) in Coloured Pencil on Drafting Film

I made a little more progress on the coloured pencil drawing today.   I really do like the way Polychromos pencils work on the drafting film.     For the moment I'm calling this Niña ... which means Girl (young girl) in Spanish

Unfortunately I'm coming to the end of my giant roll of drafting film and the piece I've cut to work on will insist on springing free of the masking tape and curling up.   In trying to straighten it I've put a few dents in the surface which show in some lights ...

I've cut the film to approx 20" x 16" but I think I'll end up cropping the work to 16" x 12" and using a mount/mat to take it to frame size 20" x 16" that way I'll probably get away without adding any sort of background .... fingers crossed.

The light has been horrible today as we've had high winds and squally showers - not good for photographing work.

This was the first WIP.    The patchy effect is because the film is curling and creating shadows .. shame really as I quite like it!   I wonder how hard it would be to produce a background like that in coloured pencil?

and here I worked on her hair and started on those skirt ruffles ... I had to stop as was getting spots before my eyes

The variance in colours is due to the poor light .... I'll worry about getting a truer likeness once she's a bit more advanced.

05/04: New CP drawing - at last!

Well, I've no excuses for the long absence.    We were on holiday for a couple of weeks but even so, I've found it difficult to get motivated and couldn't decide on a subject (despite having taken so many photos in India etc)

I have a cat to do but as there is no urgency I thought I'd start with something for myself till I'm back in the swing of things.

This young lady's parents sell traditional flamenco outfits at a Sunday market in Corralejo (Fuerteventura) and I thought she looked so pretty dressed in one of the childrens' outfits.   She was happy to pose (and I had her parents permission).

I'm working on drafting film for this one, using Polychromos pencils and a black backing sheet.    I wasn't sure whether to use a black or a white backing sheet (important to decide at the outset as pencils colours appear quite different on each).  I think the black works best, as the film is slightly opaque the black shows as grey and I might just leave it like that without adding a background.   For the moment this is just a spare sheet of black Canford paper slipped behind the film so I can see how the colours are working.

Drafting film will only allow a few layers of pencil so a slightly different technique is called for to get skin tones right - I'd normally use many more layers and do a lot of blending but here I'm using very sharp pencils and gently crosshatching to mix the colours.

I stupidly managed to drip water on the film when photographing it earlier - my hair was wet after my shower .. just hoping that won't mark the film or I might be forced to add a background anyway!