New Work - Layering Mylar

"Sun Ripened"

Colored pencil on Dura-lar Mylar layered over watercolor paper

8 x 10"

This piece was done on two layers: The top layer is a colored pencil drawing on Dura-lar Mylar; the second layer is a watercolor pencil painting on hot press watercolor paper.

On the watercolor paper layer, I started layering colors which would be complimentary to the colors which would be used for the front layer of the final image. After some experimenting, I used a magenta for the shadow and various blues and greens for the tomato. After wetting the initial layer, I realized that the magenta color wouldn't give me the dark value I needed so I added an indigo blue. (I used Faber-Castel wc pencils.)

As you can see in the first image, I began layering color on both sides of the surface, where I keep layering color on the reverse side to compliment and deepen the final color on the front. For example, with the tomato, the reds and oranges were kept to the front; the greens, blues and yellows on the reverse.

It's rather hard to see from this image, but when you combine the finished layers, a greater sense of depth is achieved and thus I was able to capture the illusion of translucent layers of flesh of the tomato.

While I am pleased with the color and the effect of the layering process, I am not sure about the composition. It seems that the shadow has become an overwhelming element in the piece and therefore, I am thinking strongly of cropping this baby. However, after all the work I have in it, I'll let it rest for a few days before I take it to the chopping block. And, too, the beauty of being an artist today is you can see your work cropped with a photo program before you ever send it to surgery. I'll keep you posted.