BaronEngel
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Field of Battle, Colored Pencil Final
🕑 Added 2017-06-11 18:51:57 +0000 UTC If you have been following me for a while you would've seen the digital development of this piece as it evolved from rough color thumbnail into its final composition and here is the finished colored pencil piece. This piece is a Patreon reward for Caerdwyn who saved up two years of rewards, and for all the hours of work he's done to help make my Picarto stream as successful as it is. In fact we unveiled this piece on the stream last night.
At 19" x 27" this is one of the largest colored pencil pieces I've done, and with the Strathmore 500 series vellum Bristol Board taped to a support/work board it's also at the ragged edge of what I can do on my drawing table. In fact I had to stand up to work on the piece at times just so I could have enough reach. Another measurement of how much of a effort went into this project is the fact that it generated 3 cups of pencil shavings from my electric pencil sharpener.
Due to the nature of the composition this piece was almost entirely done in colored pencil and Prismacolor Art Stiks, with just a little bit of technical pen and gouache. Another thing that was a challenge with this piece was keeping Celestia clean and free any of the background colors. Especially since I used a lot of indigo blue in this piece. Indigo is a pigment that will lift relatively easily from the working surface, even if your using tracing paper as a barrier between your hand and the picture. This is especially true if you've been blending indigo blue with OMS.
As a result I was constantly monitoring whether any little bits of indigo pigment were getting on her and gently removing them with a Tombow Mono eraser. Indigo blue is what I refer to as a Bully Pigment. If not handled with respect it will often overwhelm and smother other colors when it is blended with OMS. Since Celestia is a very pale pink. Yes that is correct, she's not white. In fact there is only one point of pure white and that is the glow at the tip of her horn. Also there is not as much black as you might think in this piece.
I plan to sell prints of this piece at Bronycon this year along with some other color pieces of mine.
Comments
Baron Engel
I used the same technique on the Spitfire piece.
Baron Engel
The OMS let's you blend the pigment into the working surface which gives you a more consistent, even finish. Also it eliminates that 'waxy' look that most colored pencil piece have, and as an added benefit if you've been careful blending you can go back and apply gouache, and even inks lines over the pencil.
UnderwoodART
Wow, amazing work, Baron! I don't know how you managed to make colour pencils look like acrylics, but that's why you're the maestro. Caerdwyn must have been overjoyed!
Seth Drake
That's a real shame, though I'm not surprised. Baron, you are truly a master of pencil work, an artist sans pareil, and I don't think anything will do this piece absolutely full credit except the original itself. It's --- it's gobsmacking. Yup, that's the only work. Gobsmacking.
Baron Engel
Unfortunately even with my wife's awesome scans it doesn't pick up all the nuances in the piece.
Seth Drake
Wow. Baron, just... *wow*. My jaw is on the table. This is incredible.
