Stray

Nothing more appealing (to some) than a sad, stray kitten, abandoned by all. However, this really is not the point of the study!

I tried the Luminance colored pencils, rather than my usual Prismacolor Premier. It is a totally different experience using them, but not better or worse. I decided to just play with the pencils, not aiming for anything other than just experience. I used a grey-brown Mi Teintes paper and a picture from Pixabay. I laid in a number of layers, ending with a brush and Gamsol (odorless mineral spirits), followed by a few quick lines for whiskers.

Poor kitty, but I didn’t stop there, either. After scanning the image, I really didn’t like the roughness of the cat’s fur. In post, I dropped the black a bit and blurred them together. This made the kitten more opaque. I also pushed colors a bit – don’t remember what I did – and ended up with a picture I prefer to the original. The poor kitty also has lopsided eyes – how pathetic is that?

Anyway, original is below. What do you think? Each has its merits, IMHO.

Orange

I am retaking the beginner’s colored pencil class again as well as a more advanced class offered by the teacher later this month. It’s not a bad thing – it gets me out, I meet up with people I enjoy, practice continues. The teacher and group are both excellent, so why not?

Here, an orange, done with about 5 colors. Pencils are Prismacolor Premier drawn upon Stonehenge Legion 140# watercolor paper.

The First Narcissus

I have been a real slug of late when it comes to posting pictures here on The Glass Aerie. Part of it has been just interests in areas outside of looking at a computer, coldish weather, and whatever other excuse I can offer!

One place I do go with fair regularity is the local botanical garden, which like all such gardens, is designed to display plants and flowers throughout the season. Here, the first narcissus of earlier in the year – something I make special trips for as their presence is so fleeting.

I am finding the X100V to be an extremely pleasant carry-around camera, and the results aren’t have bad, either.