"Sunday Drive"

This course married watercolor with pencil and graphite powder, culminating in a a humorous drawing of anthropomorphic animals in a surrealistic situation.

The combo of watercolor and graphite is one I had never tried and wanted to learn! The effect of bright color, black and white and high contrast (chiarascuro- a word I just learned) is very dynamic and Cesar is a pro and a very knowledgable instructor. He also taught me a technique for removing the background in photoshop I had never seen previously. Fun course! Considering adding 2 more in the series that he recommends. If and when I get them done, I will add them here!

*Graphite pencils ranging from H2 to 8B and a blending stick
*Both a kneaded and a battery powered eraser
*Graphite powder made from the pencil shavings (which were in turn made from sharpening the pencils on sandpaper)
* Da Vinci and Maimeri Blu watercolors
*Trekell round Protege' brushes
*Stonehenge hotpress watercolor block (and note- the first 2 exercises were done on Arches Coldpress paper, which is NOT GOOD for pencil and I would not recommend it!)

I don't know why I decided to use Cold Press watercolor paper for an exercise that was supposed to be done completely in pencil, but I did.. and because of it, I decided to add a watercolor background. I also used table salt for texture!

More practice, this one mainly watercolor, with fantastical elements added in pencil. I used Arches cold press for this exercise also. Again, good for the watercolor, but challenging for the pencil.

This is the first sketch of the idea that I went with for the final project.

Finally, the final project. This little family is out for their weekly Sunday drive. They can all enjoy the fresh air while indulging in their favorite hobbies because they have employed two horned beetles to do all the work and navigate the route. Lucky dogs! (Still, I think Mama might rather be at home)