I like to play around with various techniques to see if I can make materials do things they maybe weren't meant to do. This sad little skull was done using a technique I read about 20 years ago. It's a fun, easy and quick way to make an image. It basically involves taking a solvent to a colored pencil drawing. Solvents that work best are odorless Turpenoid (toxic but great) and rubbing alcohol (cheap but not as effective). This little painting took a little over an hour–that's it! In a nutshell, draw simply and really cake on the colored pencils (I use Prismacolors). Wearing gloves, put some solvent on a paper towel. Squeeze out the excess. Use the paper towel to smear and melt the colored pencils. It will start to take on the appearance of pastel but it won't ever smear.
I worked on top a bit - the scratchy look was achieved with an old, stiff 2" bristle brushed and gesso. I added a some touches with acrylic, and in about an hour the piece was done. I'll be using this technique again soon - I'll soon post a step by step demo. Stay tuned!
