Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Two Teas


I happened to set these two teapots next to each other in my kitchen one day, and immediately saw a still-life in the making. The shape of the quirky old flowery one was such a contrast to the modern silhouette, yet they shared that apple green color. It made me think of an old lady in her vintage dressing gown having a visit with her great-granddaughter.

What I regret now is starting this on paper, rather than ordering, and waiting for, an appropriately sized piece of pastelbord. I've heard the expression, "Your patience will be rewarded". I'd like to add to that, "... and your impatience will be punished"! This has taken me way longer than it should have, and it has some problems. The pastelbord allows me to layer lights over darks, and I guess I've become accustomed to that luxury. Here, I was stuck with some early color and value choices because the paper just doesn't have the tooth to grab the pencil once there's a layer in place.

Well, for what it's worth, here is "Two Teas". And now I will return to my pastelbord!

9"x12", colored pencil on Canson Mi-Teintes pastel paper

3 comments:

Gillian Mowbray said...

This is wonderful, Liz. You've managed to get a great 'glaze' on that china - I was surprised that it was pencil, it has such depth.

Elizabeth A Patterson said...

Well, thank you Gillian. All I can think about that is... imagine how much better it would be on Pastelbord! I am hiding the rest of this paper in a remote corner of a shelf of a seldom used closet.

Ron Morrison said...

I think its beautifully done, paper or not!