Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Sonoita and Oracle Studies


Here's a quote that I think of often. It probably is the way most artists feel: "I worked in between carpools and buying food and cooking and whatever else I had to do. I lived an outside life, but really I was living an inside life." --Anne Truitt from The Artist's Mentor.
 
Caran d'Ache water soluble crayons are quite the challenge. I think I'll go back to working in oil for awhile. I've got two more studies today. I started by thinking that I'd try to work with the crayons like a watercolor, but that didn't work. Maybe it was the watercolor paper. Maybe, if I'd wanted a watercolor, I should have gone ahead and used watercolor! 

Included in this set, is a study of the Oracle area view of Mt. Lemmon that I did a month ago. Comparing it to the Sonoita Hill study I made today, there really is a different approach. Caran d'Ache is very tricky indeed. Approximately 5" x 6." © Melinda S. Esparza

4 comments:

daviddrawsandpaints said...

They might be very tricky Melinda but you seem to have got the hang of them alright! The Mt.Lemmon painting in particular hits the spot with its bold design and colouring. Love the yellow and orange against the purple mountain!
Although they are marketed as water-soluable I seldom use them that way, only on occassions smudging to get an effect. Generally they are too "muddy" and I much too much prefer to use pure watercolour. In fact I think they work better if you use them as calligraphic marks on top of water.

Melinda said...

Thanks so much, David! I hadn't thought of using them as calligraphic marks on watercolor, but will definitely try it sometime. Yes, that's what I am seeing too--the muddiness. They are so different from oils, yet, in a journal, just before sleep, they feel like painting without the muss. BTW, your profile image is spectacular and very intriguing.

daviddrawsandpaints said...

That's me, Melinda - International Man of Mystery, or just a bloke in a bunnet and a coat! :o)

loriann signori said...

Beautiful little studies Melinda!