Of Pencils & Pastels
One of the key aspects of the spring issue was in introducing readers to materials that currently are not commonly combined with polymer. In our “Color Diversity” section, we were lucky enough to get primers on using two other art materials that artists Margit Bohmer and Penni Jo Couch have been playing with—that being pastels and colored pencils, respectively. They both had so much information to share that we didn’t have room for a gallery of other examples by other artists. We do encourage all our readers who find themselves intrigued by the colors and possibilities of these mediums to investigate them further. I know we did, and there is some beautiful work being done with both materials.
What is even less common than each of these materials being used with polymer is using the two additional colorants together to punch up the color and texture of a polymer piece. In fact, I only found one such piece by an artist local to me, Maria Clark of Sweet Willow Designs in Lakewood, Colorado. This leaf was crafted in polymer and wire, and then colored with pan pastels (see the article for more on this artist-quality type of pastel.) Then it was cured and further enhanced with Prismacolor colored pencils. The colors are so juicy and intense; the subtle changes in texture just add to this richness. This is not a look or gradation in color you could get with colored clay alone.
Maria explains her process briefly in a post on her blog. She has other work to show on her Flickr pages and tutorials on her YouTube channel. Although, there does not seem to be any colored pencil or pastel work there … yet. But, if you want even more ideas about the broad possibilities of both colored pencil on polymer and/or pastel on polymer, I first highly suggest you read the very informative articles with technique steps that Margit and Penni generously wrote for us in the Spring 2015 issue of The Polymer Arts, and then hit up Pinterest, Flickr and Google for additional work using polymer + pastels +/or colored pencil for keywords. Then, be ready to get lost in the images you’ll find.
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It’s interesting that this is being presented as a new technique– I’ve been combining pastels and pencil AND crayon for several years. I usually put down the pastel first and then use the pencil to enhance areas where I want the color to be more intense. This has to be combined with sanding down to the base or else you get mud. But it is good for people to see that you can get color in ways besides blending the clay colors together.
Hi Christine! *waves* I don’t think I said ‘new’ about this technique, just that its not common. I was looking at presenting your work but try to spread the love and have never posted Maria’s work. 🙂
Waves back to you, Sage! I love to see that more artists are using surface coloration now and I hope that it’s a trend in the future. I’m happy to see Maria’s work in your publication. Thanks for promoting alternative treatments.