Peacock; pyrography, colored pencil, acrylics

[Bob in SF]

Fun little commission for a bird fancier:

Steps:
Life drawing of a peacock at the SF Zoo; HB pencil on a 6x6" 1000 grit-sanded birch wood panel.
Pyrographed with a Razertip burner.
Spray fixed with Alyona Nickelsen's Textured Colored Pencil Fixative.
Dried for 2 days.
Color penciled with Prismacolors.
Spray fixed with Alyona Nickelsen's Textured Colored Pencil Fixative.
Dried for 2 days.
Background painted and bird details hand brushed with Golden High Flow acrylics.
Spray fixed with Alyona Nickelsen's Final Colored Pencil Fixative.
Dried for 2 days.
Hanging hardware applied.

My long search for colored pencil fixatives that isolate the colored pencil layer and permit overpainting with acrylics (or other media) has ended with Alyona's fine fixatives (no financial attachment on my part).

These techniques will find their way into/onto pens in the next few weeks - stay tuned.

Warm regards to all - Bob

 

[thewishman]

Beautiful!

 

[leehljp]

Bob, if you are meticulously precise in your surgeon skills as you are in art (of many kinds) I am coming to you when I need surgery! I am beginning to believe that laser precision was cloned from you!

Beautiful work!

 

[Dieseldoc]

BOB
We are waiting for the pen , great job on the bird.

 

[Charlie_W]

Superb workmanship Bob!

When I look at the peacock, I have this eerie feeling it is looking back at me!!!

 

[gtriever]

Another fantastic work, Bob. Congratulations!

 

[TattooedTurner]

Another beautiful piece Bob!

 

[ajollydds]

Fabulous work, thanks for sharing!

 

[Rounder]

Can you explain how the fixative works please? Beautiful work on your part.

 

[Bob in SF]

Humble thanks Chris, Hank, Charlie, CharlieW, Art, Jay, Ankur, Randy and others who have kindly eyed the peacock!

Hank - hope you don't need my operative skills, but yes, precision matters greatly in the OR - especially at 25-40x magnification. I was lucky to grow up in an extended family that prized the reverential handling of raw materials. This forum does the same within a shared creative quest.

Randy - The textured fixative has just enough tooth to grab the rich pigments of waxed-based colored pencil, pastels, and paint; and it also seals off and isolates each successive layer. The final fixative seals the work and keeps the colors true, non-yellowing, and UV resistant. I've tried all sorts of fixatives and this combination works very well. I apply fixatives outside in the shade, and always wear a respirator mask, safety glasses, etc.; and let layers air dry in a make shift tent to guard against particulate matter, bugs, etc.

Happy Sunday to all, and gratefully - Bob

 

[magpens]

Bob, thank you for this presentation ... it is beautiful and inspiring as usual ... and thanks for the details about your process.

Good to know about the fixative brand, etc.

There seem to be three fixative applications. The third is this statement in your listed process :

"Spray fixed with Alyona Nickelsen's Final Colored Pencil Fixative".

Is this application different from the previous two ? . It now includes the word "Final" in a manner which could imply it employs a different commercial product than the first two employ.

Or do the three "fixation" applications employ precisely the same product ?

Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Bob in SF]

Mal - Clarification:

Just 2 fixative products:

Textured fixative over the pyrography and over subsequent layers, then Final fixative over all.

My next test is PR casting after final fixative application. I'll be doing some experiments with similarly sequenced wood pens in the next couple of weeks - and will keep you posted.

Hope this helps - Bob

 

[Curly]

Bob would the fixative be the art world's equivalent to a wood sealer? Seal the surface below and provide texture for the next coat to adhere to.

 

[magpens]

Bob ... thanks a lot ... helps a great deal !!! . Sorry ... that info was already provided and I did not pick up on it the first time.

 

[Super Dave]

Beautiful ! I'm sure this will be well received. Thanks for sharing the process.

Dave

 

[Bob in SF]

Bob would the fixative be the art world's equivalent to a wood sealer? Seal the surface below and provide texture for the next coat to adhere to.

Pete - Yes - BUT - colored pencil is a different medium insofar as the colors will shift and change with wood sealer. My goal in this piece was to go pyrography, then colored pencil, then acrylics, then fix the painting for archival purposes.

Wood sealer would probably be OK over pyrography followed by acrylics without an intermediate layer of colored pencil.

I've ruined my share of colored pencil artwork with the wrong fixatives, hence the nice little eureka moments with this combo.

Colored pencil colors are surprisingly brilliant on wood that has been sprayed with the Nickelsen textured fixative - enough to move me towards some pen experiments.

I'm hoping that PR will play well with the outer layer of Final fixative. I'll also try some CA finishing over the Final fixative, but prefer the added depth and "lens-like" magnification of a PR layer (stay tuned).

- Bob

 

[Curly]

Thanks Bob. I wasn't tying to make substitutions only to see if they serve similar functions in different worlds. The art fixatives appear to be more refined and developed than the finishing arena.

 

[Bob in SF]

Got it, Pete.

Some of the best moments come from gracefully merging apparently different worlds - probably the essence of creativity.

Always glad for questions and comments.

 

[Cwalker935]

Well done!