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Saturday, 25 April 2015

Product Overview - Wax-bars Part 2

In the previous blog of this two part series I did a product comparison of Derwent’s Artbar and Reeves’ Watersoluble Wax Pastels. I concluded that both were rather great products that could be used with great success. The question remains if one would be able to use the two in conjunction. This is exactly what I intend to find out in this blog. I decided to copy a fun oil painting of two clowns by C Henning.


I cannot be more enthusiastic about Fabriano’s Elle Erre paper. In the comparison I have been working on a sky blue A4 paper in the range. Even though the paper is designed with pastels etc in mind, it has withstood the tests so well that I can simply turn it over and do this test on the back of the same page. That means that I am now no longer working on a smooth surface, but a slightly rough one. I start with a quick pencil drawing of the painting.


I am right handed which means I should really be starting the project in the top left corner working my over to the bottom right so as to not have to move my hand and arm over my work. I deliberately start on the right. This way you will be able to find out along with me how smudge-proof the products are, or are not. I start with a combination of Reeves colours in the hat. After applying the colour in a colouring-in fashion, I paint it with water using the Pentel Aquash brush. I am satisfied that careful brushwork allows me to mic the colours in some places while retaining the integrity of the colours elsewhere.



I use Derwent Artbar on the warm spots on the face. I colour it with the dry bars and then paint it with water to blend it.


I do the cool colours on the face with a mixture of Derwent and Reeves bars and cautiously paint it with water. No problems whatsoever!



I again use a mix of the two products to create warm colours surrounding the face and paint it when done.


I move down and systematically add colour to the rest of the detail. In each case you can clearly see what was used by the distinctive shapes of the products. I made sure to include the products in the shots. I started with the banjo and flower.


I painted the banjo with water and moved to the clothes which I coloured and then painted with water.


I moved back up to the face to work on the hair. I had loads of fun here. I decided to leave the hair dry (not painted with water).


I followed more or less the same steps in the same sequence on the other figure, but decided against taking step by step photos again as it would become a little tedious.


I painted the second figure with water and applied random colour to the background. Having worked on a sky blue background, I was able to leave large portions uncovered without it being distracting. Can you see the texture from the paper showing in the background? This works marvelously for some projects, such as this one which is slightly crazy. If I wanted to draw fine skin tones, I would rather work on the reverse side of the paper, which is smooth. I cannot help but rave about versatility in products.


I painted the background with water and then decided that I wanted to paint only a few strands of hair with water as well. That way I would have a combination of softer and coarser hair in the painting. This is end result. Doesn’t this make you feel that you also need to get your hands on some waxbars soon?


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