Chantell Van Erbe - Fantasized Realism in Fine Art

 
 

'Untitled'. Colored pencil on textured clay board, 36 x 24". Click image below to enlarge.

Happy New Year! Here's to 2009. May this be a happy and healthy year for all.

I realized that I never posted photos of the painting process from the subject of my last blog. You know, the one about the textured clay board from Hades? If you aren't up to speed, then by all means, click here.

Sorry for the unprofessional photos but I usually chronicle each drawing phase with the camera on my cell phone. It's easier -less disruptive than dealing with a bulky digital cam. In image #6 below, you can get a visual of what I was up against - CP dust piling all over the bottom of my drawing table and floor due to the porousness of the board.

I was extremely elated to finish this one up and am quite satisfied with the results. One of my resolutions for '09 is to NEVER EVER use textured clay board...again.

I'm currently working on a composition for a future project which will  most likely get underway on Monday.

 


Comments

Holly Bedrosian

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 07:18:44

This is beautiful, Chantell! I really like the glowing effects. It's interesting to see your work in progress (and the cat looking on is very cute!)

 

Chantell

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 23:09:54

Thank you, Holly. This piece in particular was quite a challenge. I'm so glad it's over and that I didn't give up on it.

BTW, the cat in photo #3 is Dio- he belongs to my niece. I was cat sitting while working on the drawing- so Dio was witness to many of my studio rants. I felt he deserved a place on my blog ;-)

 

Debbi Friedman

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 05:36:23

Hi Chantell, What a beautiful drawing, and the stages are particularly interesting. How long, on average, does it take you to complete a drawing of this size? It has an eerie feeling to it, and all of the wavering lines lead your eye all around the drawing. I really like it.

 

Chantell

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 22:39:16

Thanks, Debbi. I tend to work many areas of the drawing at once, trying my hardest not to focus on one particular area for too long. It helps keep the piece balanced. When the background starts overpowering the subject, etc. then I know it's time to start painting elsewhere on the canvas. Yes, all of the lines and waves are meant to keep your eye moving.

On average a painting of this size normally takes me about a month to complete. I work very slowly. If I really tried, I could finish a painting in about three weeks. But this painting was far from average! It took me quite a while. Thank heavens for solvent, blenders and watercolor pencils.

 

Kendra Ferreira

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 10:39:00

What size is this piece? What brands of pencils do you use? Sorry if you've already answered this and I missed it. Do you use solvent with the pencil? It helps me on large pieces. I'm trying to work larger although I keep selling the small ones and the $$ adds up.

Happy New Year and may it be a good one for art!

 

Chantell

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 12:24:23

Kendra,

The size of this piece is 36 x 24".

As far as pencil brands, this piece was the exception, not the rule. Due to the graininess of the surface (Ampersand Textured Claybord), several brands went into this work; Prismacolor, Derwent Coloursoft, Derwent Studio pencils, Polychromos, Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor, Caran D'Ache Pablos, Caran D'Ache Luminance (first time using the Luminance pencils) and Derwent watercolor pencils for the finishing highlights. All brands were placed down between layers of Zest-It solvent (which I do not normally use). I burnished the entire painting with Lyra Splender Colorless Blenders. I like this blender, especially on more porous textures. I find Prismacolor's blender to lay down too waxy. When I was satisfied with the final outcome, I sprayed it with Winsor & Newton Artists' Fixative Spray (my personal fav). And then a few layers of Krylon Kamar Varnish.

I discovered during this project that I like Derwent Coloursofts a lot. They are a great base pencil. Caran D'Ache Luminance pencils are similar to Prismacolors without the bloom. I'm going to order more of this brand. Polychromos are nice...very similar to pastel pencils and should be kept for the outer layers.

I'm more comfortable working on larger mediums. I hope this has helped!

And likewise...Happy New Year!

 

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