Monday, April 8, 2013

A multicolored mango


Mangoes are beautiful. I'm intrigued by the huge range of color that is found on their skins. So this piece was an exercise in color: the outline took a minute to draw, but the rest took hours. I didn't quite achieve the control over the gradating color that I'd hoped for, though. Many colored pencil artists are masters at layering. As for me, I can never quite decide whether I should  layer dark-to-light or light-to-dark. And I get impatient and want to see one area finished, instead of working the whole piece at once. I've included some work-in-progress scans, so that you can see my indecision and impatience firsthand. But first, here's a shot of my set-up...those colors really are that bright on the actual fruit!



I used a LOT of pencils on this one mango!




Starting to burnish...





Frankly, I think I need a break from these painstaking pieces; I feel the need to sketch fast and loose this week. I keep looking at this little sketch I did a while back. It took hardly any time at all, but for some reason, it's one of my favorite little drawings. 


So, check back later this week; hopefully I'll have some sketching successes to share!  

12 comments:

  1. Oh my God! Seriously, you are a wonder! I am blown away.

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  2. It's a beauty, Sarah! Love the whistle, too :)

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  3. It's quite stunning. Now, if I were to make an etegami of it, I would probably try to draw it with a bite taken out of it, to detract from the mango's perfect beauty.

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  4. Beautiful! I want to eat this mango:)

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  5. Lovely! Personally, I go light to dark, but whatever floats your boat since your results are always so beautiful. Love the whistle too :)

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  6. I actually thought the drawing was the fruit at first! Wow!
    I, too, like the whistle. I had to chuckle, though, as your "fast and loose" is my "slow and tight." :-) I wish I had your artistic patience!

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  7. Amazing drawing - sure looks like I could pick it up right off the page. Fun seeing your in progress images and the collection of pencils that you used. Amazing!!!

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  8. It's been awhile since I've seen your posts on Illustration Friday so I dropped by for a look. Great mango! "An exercise in color" for sure! It's an amazing transition from bright red to brilliant green over a relatively small surface.
    Anyway, I hope all is well with you and your family. You have always been good about checking in on me when I miss posting to the IF site and now its my turn to return the favor.

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  9. The mango is so beautiful! I can imagine that it took hours. I know what you mean about wanting to be looser sometimes, there's a great freedom and energy in that. The whistle is fantastic too!

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  10. I love the bright juicy colours, it's perfect!

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  11. Wow! Really beautiful drawing of fruit.
    Color pencils have the power :)

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