Wednesday, April 16, 2014

House portrait, and animal cookies

I'm back to my old drawing self, after a couple of detours.

First up is a newly completed house portrait, of a residence in San Francisco.
I did this one with Polychromo colored pencils on Fabriano Artistico hot press paper. WOW WOW WOW I LOVE THIS PAPER!!!!!!! 


There are so many papers to choose from to work on, and I've heard about this one before, but for whatever reason never ordered any to try. I have a draw full of other papers - lots and lots of pads of Stonehenge (which I still love), other watercolor papers, hot press and cold press, watercolor blocks, different sizes, colors, you name it, as well as a ton of illustration board. 

Well this one wins. Its 'crisper' than Stonehenge, and takes a million layers with no complaining. Its just gorgeous stuff, and I couldn't be happier with it.


Before I did the house above, I did a couple of little circus animal cookies, just for fun. These were Polychromos and Pablos on Stonehenge.

The first one is a camel, and I'm pretty sure the second one is a lion. These cookies fascinate me - they are just the weirdest little things. The cookies themselves are nice, and then they cover them is this sickeningly sweet frosting and the little doohickies (there's a name for those that's escaping me at the moment). These come in white and pink frosting, and they taste the same, but the pink ones make a better picture. 




I actually laid out every cookie in the bag, and organized them by 'animal'. I considered doing a huge drawing of every cookie in the bag, including all the broken bits and stray round thingies. I thought documenting them like that would be a cool 'art piece'. And it would. Then I decided I didn't want to make that my life's work, and just drew these two instead. 



4 comments:

Unknown said...

Love the house portrait! And the cookies are incredible! The way you bring out the charm and character of each little goodie is so uniquely you, Paula. It's wonderful! (Oh, and I love Fabriano for the very same reasons)

Unknown said...

I just purchased a 10 pack of Fabriano Artistico Hot Press for watercolors/colored pencil work. Extra white. Are your pieces done on 300lb? I have always used Lanaquarelle and I love it but wanted to try something new. I always love your pieces, they make me smile!

Paula Pertile said...

Kelly, I ordered the 140lb, but the package says something is 300 (in Italian). However - it must be 140 because I can see through it on a light box. I've used 300 before and its much heavier and thicker.

Beth Macre said...

Hi Paula! I love your cookies and "thing a ma jigs"! The house is cute too. You know I have a thing for houses too!
I think I will try some of that paper out. I've been looking for a better all around paper. One for colored pencils, ink, and watercolor. So that may just fit the bill! Thanks!