The Fish

We're going to post some pictures over the next while with narration on color choices, and techniques using colored pencils. Here is the first one.

The Fish 

(from "Whimsical Snowflakes" by Marie Scott & Dawn Andrus)

 

TYPE OF PENCIL

I did this picture using a twelve-color set of Prang pencils. Though there are all grades of pencils, this is a less expensive school grade of pencil with harder lead. These pencils don't get very dark, so they're good to use when you just want a soft effect. They're best used when sharp and when using a circular motion. 

COLOR CHOICES

Since I knew I wanted the flower to be pink, I chose dark pink and yellow to be repeated in the fish. The orange of the fish was repeated in the sand of the sea floor, and in some of the plants. Since the artist gave me a lovely circular pattern in the water, I chose to find ways to use different colors of water in those circular spaces instead of just shading with one color. I also repeated the colors of the water in the dragonfly perched on top.

TECHNIQUE

I simply used a soft circular technique throughout the picture, and pressed down as much as possible for the cute little frog--I love the frog! After I'd based the fish, I decided to give it some soft stripes to add a little interest. Then I used a white pencil to go over top of everything to smooth and burnish it. After the burnishing, I put some darker color in the flower and other shaded areas. I scanned the picture into a photo shop program and flood-filled the dark blue border which picks up the blues of the water.