Thursday 25 April 2013

Check and Log : Exploring Coloured Media

Which of the media you have experimented with did you find the most expressive?

I found the water-soluble markers the most expressive as the quality of the marks they make could be varied so much by adding varying quantities of water and using a blending pen. This was followed in a close second place by the oil pastels. 

I think that coloured inks - especially if used with dip pens could also be expressive but I would need to improve my handling of them as I do find them quite difficult to use so far.

Make notes in your learning log on the pros and cons of each medium:

Coloured Pencils:

Pros:

-can be used for fine detail
-can be blended effectively by hatching different colours over each other
-can be used to build up deep vivid colour gradually
-can achieve subtle and smooth tonal gradations by slowly building up tone layer upon layer
-watercolour pencils can be used as above or can be used in washes or blended with water

Cons:
-require a lot of patience
-slow to work with therefore working on a large scale is time consuming
-slow work while meditative can also result in rather tight drawings lacking in spontaneity
-if using water with water-colour pencil need a stretched page or watercolour paper



Soft Pastels:

Pros:
-can be blended in various ways for gradation in colour and tone
-good for large and more expressive handling
-can be used on a variety of supports for different effects
-can cover a large area quickly therefore less patience required than with coloured pencils

Cons:
-too soft to allow fine detail and small scale work
-tend to crumble
-expensive given their tendency to be rapidly used and to crumble
-Easily smudged

Oil Pastels:

Pros:
- very versatile
-gan be used with other media in a resist technique
-can be built up gradually with hatching one colour over another
-textured grounds can be allowed to show through or can be applied thickly for blocks of bold colour
-can be blended with solvents and used like paint
-can be melted and applied thickly or in drips
-can be scraped back off the paper and incised into (sgraffito)

Cons:
-thick and sticky so not good for fine detail
-colours tend to be very bold and vibrant - not very subtle (although wider ranges are available)

Coloured Inks:

Pros:
-can be handled with a brush or a dip pen for variety of marks
-interesting marks made when dropped onto wet paper
-can be used for blended washes of colour
-can be used with wax or oil crayons for resist techniques
-can be worked together wet into wet or wet into dry
-bright luminous colours

Cons:
-Although I can make interesting marks with them I find the colours difficult to blend and use in representative work
-If using wet need thick watercolour paper or stretched paper to avoid buckling

Water Soluble Markers:

Pros:
-Very versatile
-Excellent range of colours available
-can be used without water for bold graphic work
-Can be used with water for blended effects - more like watercolour painting
-colours can be blended by hatching
-good for stippling

Cons:
-if multiple laters built up tends to take the surface off cartridge paper
- when used wet will buckle paper so need to know your intention before you start (watercolour or stretched paper for wet work)

Wax Crayons and Water-soluble (Neocolour) Crayons:

Pros:
-great bright colours
-really easy to handle for quick and loose sketching 
-Wax crayons can be used for resist techniques and sgraffito
-Neocolour crayons are watersoluble so can be blended on the paper or dipend into water for an even bolder line.

Cons: 
-careful not to confuse the two - Neocolour is no good for resist as will dissolve
-Not so good for subtle hatching and poor for stippling
- not good for fine detail.

Which medium do you think lends itself to very detailed work?

Coloured pencil appears to be the coloured medium of choice for detailed work - If working in monochrome than graphite pencils or fineliners would be suitable.





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