Monday, May 28, 2012

Illustration Friday: Faded

Prismacolor colored pencils on Strathmore charcoal paper, 4.5" x 5.75"

"Beware of all enterprises that require new clothes."
—Henry David Thoreau, Walden

We all have our favorite pair of faded blue jeans. As summer begins, I'm ecstatic to be trading in my school-year work clothes (which, for me, only means casual pants and "nice" jeans) for my really casual gear.

As I mentioned in a recent post, I'm going to work on photographing my work this summer, rather than scanning everything. I haven't jumped into the process yet, so this one was just taken with my iPhone, and you can see some problems with the uneven color of the lighting. But I think I prefer its texture to the image I got when I scanned it. (Maybe my scanning abilities need some tweaking this summer, too!)

I thought you might like to see my ultra-sophisticated set-up for this drawing: I tossed my jeans onto the floor by my drawing table, isolated a composition that I liked with a mat, and started drawing. 

I tried to keep the colors I used to a minimum: Indigo Blue (one of my faves) and White, along with a couple of warm tones for the stitching as well as Tuscan Red over the Indigo Blue (one of my favorite layering combinations) for the dark corner.

I hope to connect with many of you this week; I'm planning on making lots of overdue blog visits...hooray for summer!

17 comments:

  1. You absolutely nailed the texture & color, & it was fun seeing your set-up!

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  2. Very good your idea, your point of view, about the word given by IF, congratulations

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  3. Sarah...great minds think alike! Lovely work.

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  4. What an amazing image of the familiar blue jeans! The texture looks so realistic. It was fun to read about your process and even see your jeans thrown on the floor. What fun!

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  5. Incredibly eralistic and so familiar! Brilliant.

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  6. ...seeing a post from you is just like putting on a comfortable pair of blue jeans...it just feels so right!

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  7. I love seeing the set- up for the drawing. It's like behind-the-scenes on a movie set. Finished product: Sarah magic.

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  8. Great illustration Sarah, i like to frame things like this too, gives you new ideas for compositions.

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  9. Wonderful illustration, and great composition! I enjoyed reading about your set-up and color choices. (I love layering Indigo and Tuscan red, too!)

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  10. Wonderful! Indigo is a favourite of mine too!

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  11. Sarah, your artwork is Superior! I looked back through your blog, and am awed by your talent. Hooray for you, Sarah!

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  12. It's such a beautiful drawing! Have a great summer!

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  13. Talk about photo realism! Your drawing is fantastic, Sarah. You totally nailed the faded look.

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  14. Beautiful! I love how you use colored paper like you did here.

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  15. This is great! I love seeing your photo shoot set up. Makes me feel better about my own. :~)

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  16. You really did capture the worn faded fabric. It is a great drawing, I love your realistic style.
    I wear jeans and have a favourite pair kept for years, too small but lots of memories attached to those faded jeans. Enjoy the school holidays and lots more drawings. Milly

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