This week I'm reviewing the A5 Rhodia Landscape Webnotebook with a different example each day using different media. Exaclair, Inc. is also letting me give away five of these notebooks, and you can find out how to enter at the Day 1 review post.
*Bleedthrumanade-Copic Marker bleed-thru, Coloursoft Colored Pencils, and J. Herbin Creapin brush pen
*Bleedthrumanade-Got lemons? Make lemonade. Got marker bleed-thru? Make bleedthrumanade. In other words, I color with alcohol markers (sharpies, Copics, Spectrum Noirs, etc.) on one side of the paper. Then I do line work on that side. Afterwards, I turn the page over, and using whatever color has bled through, I create a totally different drawing.
You would hardly believe the picture with the cat is the back of the same page would you? I decided to go an entirely different route, using the marker bleed-through as ghostly shapes.
After lightly drawing in my cat, I used three different colored pencils in purples and blues, to even out the background colors, being careful to not to color inside the cat. I chose a brush pen for my line work because it would work over the waxy pencil without clogging and potentially ruining the pen.
In one way, I made a mistake. I had already done the mixed media with sealing wax that I shared on Day 2 of this review. When I created this page, I was working over the lumps and bumps of the wax, and those shapes were unavoidably picked up by the pencil..
Colored pencil is not my favorite medium to use, so I may be biased. I don't believe it is the best medium for this paper. In the past, I've found it to be okay, especially if you want light, gentle color. It allows for some layering, but not enough to build up deeps tones and depths. While my first layers were a little streaky, I could lessen it by using light pressure, and then blend most of the streaks out by squirkling (scribbling in circles) my last layers.
I was not able to build up my pigment as much, this time, and the streaking is very visible. I used four layers of color, realized nothing was changing, and left it at that.
I blame the issue with sealing wax for some of this. The un-evenness meant that some of my strokes ended up with more pressure than I intended. But the underlying un-evenness isn't totally responsible.
Without further testing, I don't know for sure whether paper, pencil or both are at fault. My Coloursoft pencils are a fairly recent acquisition, so I may not have used them on this paper before. Or there could be a manufacturing change to the paper that makes a difference (none of my other media tests leads me to believe that, though).
Don't get me wrong. I'm not unhappy with the streaking that occurred, and I like the transparency of the colored pencil. I think it adds a nice sense of texture. But now I know to try out the brand of pencil I want to use, first, so I can choose whether I want streaks or not.
I hope you've enjoyed my reviews and examples, and I want to thank Exaclair, Inc. once again for the chance to share one of their products with my readers. The giveaway runs until midnight on Sunday, the 8th. Please pass the word!
Exaclair, Inc. is also letting me give away five of these notebooks, and you can find out how to enter at the Day 1 review post.
*Bleedthrumanade-Got lemons? Make lemonade. Got marker bleed-thru? Make bleedthrumanade. In other words, I color with alcohol markers (sharpies, Copics, Spectrum Noirs, etc.) on one side of the paper. Then I do line work on that side. Afterwards, I turn the page over, and using whatever color has bled through, I create a totally different drawing.
 Yesterday I shared the front of my bleedthrumanade piece, along with the back, showing the marker bleed-through before I did anything else.
 | ||
| Back of the Page before adding colored pencil and brush pen |
You would hardly believe the picture with the cat is the back of the same page would you? I decided to go an entirely different route, using the marker bleed-through as ghostly shapes.
After lightly drawing in my cat, I used three different colored pencils in purples and blues, to even out the background colors, being careful to not to color inside the cat. I chose a brush pen for my line work because it would work over the waxy pencil without clogging and potentially ruining the pen.
In one way, I made a mistake. I had already done the mixed media with sealing wax that I shared on Day 2 of this review. When I created this page, I was working over the lumps and bumps of the wax, and those shapes were unavoidably picked up by the pencil..
Colored pencil is not my favorite medium to use, so I may be biased. I don't believe it is the best medium for this paper. In the past, I've found it to be okay, especially if you want light, gentle color. It allows for some layering, but not enough to build up deeps tones and depths. While my first layers were a little streaky, I could lessen it by using light pressure, and then blend most of the streaks out by squirkling (scribbling in circles) my last layers.
I was not able to build up my pigment as much, this time, and the streaking is very visible. I used four layers of color, realized nothing was changing, and left it at that.
I blame the issue with sealing wax for some of this. The un-evenness meant that some of my strokes ended up with more pressure than I intended. But the underlying un-evenness isn't totally responsible.
Without further testing, I don't know for sure whether paper, pencil or both are at fault. My Coloursoft pencils are a fairly recent acquisition, so I may not have used them on this paper before. Or there could be a manufacturing change to the paper that makes a difference (none of my other media tests leads me to believe that, though).
Don't get me wrong. I'm not unhappy with the streaking that occurred, and I like the transparency of the colored pencil. I think it adds a nice sense of texture. But now I know to try out the brand of pencil I want to use, first, so I can choose whether I want streaks or not.
I hope you've enjoyed my reviews and examples, and I want to thank Exaclair, Inc. once again for the chance to share one of their products with my readers. The giveaway runs until midnight on Sunday, the 8th. Please pass the word!
Exaclair, Inc. is also letting me give away five of these notebooks, and you can find out how to enter at the Day 1 review post.
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