~~Well, it's official: something Dustin and I have been talking about and planning for a while. We are BOTH signed up for the Las Vegas Marathon December 2nd-him for the full and me for the half. We've made the arrangements with the travel agent and signed up for the race online. Oh my goodness! Did I really just commit myself to 13.1 miles?!!! I've been running for 4 weeks now but my longest so far is 4 miles. I do have a good training program and a super great coach (my hubby) but I'm still a 
~~We had a playdate today at a Splash park, which was so much fun for the girls. We are finally into the hot, hot days of summer. The girls were pretty worn out when we got home so I got some good art time in while they rested.~~For the piece I'm working on, I used Caran d'Ache Neocolors II for the background. Dickblick.com describes them as "softer than colored pencils, denser than children's wax crayons, and extremely responsive to a wet brush." I ordered them at the beginning of the year with high hopes that they would help me speed up my process. I had been hearing great reviews from different artists who loved them.
~~I was so excited when they came in the mail. The colors are so beautifully rich and vibrant and they look almost like candies in their decorative tin. But when I started playing around with them, I was a bit disappointed. To be honest, I just wasn't sure what to do with them. I tried coloring directly on the paper and then using a wet brush to spread the pigment. It just made a blotchy mess. I tried using the colors dry but struggled with the blunt tips. (I'm a sharp pencil type of girl.) I ended up putting them away with my art supplies and not touching them again for a few months.
~~When I went to the Ann Kullberg workshop in April, she also mentioned Neocolors, but she gave me a better idea of how to use them. This piece that I'm currently working on needed a solid colored background so I decided to give them another try.
~~I rubbed a damp makeup sponge directly onto the tip of the crayon and then brushed it on my paper. I was so excited to see the watercolor-like effect. If I wanted it darker I just rubbed the crayon again. If I needed it lighter, I just added more water. When I came to areas that needed finer detail, I used the same technique with a paintbrush. I was able to cover a large area of paper pretty quickly. It would have taken much longer if I had used pencils. I was very pleased.
~~If you're a colored pencil artist, you'll also be glad to know that Neocolors are accepted by the CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America.) I double-checked by sending an email to the director and she said that they are completely okay and in fact many artists use them to speed up their work. Great news!
~~I don't yet have a picture of my piece, but I'm hoping to be able to post an update soon.
Have a super-great evening!
6 comments:
Kasie, good on you for the half-marathon! I used to do a fair amount of running, but I maxed out around 8 miles. Thanks for the review too, you make them sound very tempting. I'm new to CPs and find the "slowness" a little frustrating. Thanks!
Thanks Rose! 8 miles is awesome. Really. I did 4 tonight and it was so hard. I have a long ways to go.
The neocolors are fun. I'm hoping to get better at using them.
:) Smiles!
Go mom! You will be so glad you did this...and your girls will be so proud! I've done it before; and there is truly a runner's high when you are finished. What's even better, your girls will know how important health is to you. We will cheer you on! Go girl!
Thank you Marie!
Go Kasie! What an inspiration. You should consider journaling about it from now until after the marathon. I bet your girls would love reading it when they're older.
And I can't wait to see what you're working on! :)
Thanks Laura! That's a good idea about the journaling. Although right now my journal entry would read something like, "Ow! This hurts! I think I'm nuts." LOL!
:)
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