Art Basics: Colored Markers

Now it's time to experiment with different colored markers.  For this demo I'm using some Crayola markers I found at the dollar store. Practice all off the drawing techniques using both one color then mixing colors like you did with colored pencils. Markers will optically mix just like paintings from the artists who invented Pointillism.

Pointillism - A technique developed by Georges Seurat and Paul Signac around 1886.  This was a late Impressionist style of applying dots of  colors instead of broad strokes. When you place 2 different colors next to each other and view them from a little distance they will appear to blend, creating a new color and/or darker value.  This is called optical mixing

George Seurat                  1859-1891
"Afternoon at La Grande Jette"

 Let's create a drawing using Pointillism

1. Give your everyday object the spotlight again. ("Miss Pear" is getting riper!)
2.  Lightly draw the shape using a pencil
3. Cover the object with dots of light color.  
4. Next add dots of your objects main color - I used light green. Put very few dots in the areas of lightest value.

 5.  Begin to add dots of  analogous colors like blue and dark green.
6.  In your areas of darkest value add dots of the  complementary color.

 7.  In the shadow cast by the object use cool colors like blue and purple.  Add some complementary color (orange for blue) to further darken the area.
8.  Continue adding dots of the main color after adding others.  This will help you maintain the overall color.  
9.  I used hatched lines of blue and purple to my background to help "Miss Pear" stand out.

I used orange, brown and blue for the stem.