Snow Play

8"x12", colored pencil on polypropylene paper
~5 hours of work
Model: Amur Tiger [link] from ~Sooper-Deviant

I loved the unusual honest and playful spontaneity of the photo ~Sooper-Deviant took. Couple that with the fact that the edges of the tiger blend into the white snow, and I couldn't resist asking permission to draw it.

This drawing is an experiment in a couple of ways. I really love the effects I have been able to achieve in black paper, where the subject dissolves into the background. I want to get to where I can do the same thing on white paper. This isn't quite there, but it's honestly much harder with a light environment. We're accustomed to the idea that in darkness the entire figure may not be visible. In light, we expect to see everything.

The other experiment is a result of a new paper I found. It's 100% polypropylene, and therefor 100% archival. It's also the most perfectly, beautifully smooth paper surface I have yet encountered, and the lack of tooth is something I depend upon in order to achieve tiny, intricate details. However, this paper is TOO smooth for colored pencils. I could not get the depth of color on the oranges that I wanted (the scan honestly looks closer to what I had wanted than the original, which is a tiny bit more washed out on the colors). It would be impossible to layer the colors like I normally am want to do.

I expect that this paper will work much better for my inkwork. It was, after all, labeled for use with watercolors, not pencils. I also intend to experiment with the use of graphite on it, as my sketch marks showed up amazingly clear and were still very easy to erase completely.