Monday, April 12, 2021

Combining Pencil and Oil


 

Our boat brought us to a settlement of crested hadrosaurs and their human assistants, where we spent a few days drying out in the smoky attics of their houses" 

The painting is done in oil wash over pencil on illustration board, which has been sealed first with some workable fixative spray and then with a thin layer of acrylic matte medium. 

Dinotopian flight instructor Oolu holds a lightweight skybax saddle. 

This technique is fast, direct, and reproduces well. 

handeyeoriginals asks: "What do you thin the oils with to make the wash?"

Answer: Liquin (a fast-drying alkyd medium) and Gamsol (a mineral solvent). Note that both of those are toxic, so you need good ventilation and protection for the skin of your hands.

    joeybruceartWhat’s the advantage of an oil wash instead of watercolour?
    Colour? Vibrancy?

    Answer: It's workable for a longer period and it blends well with opaques.

Illustrations from Dinotopia: A Land Apart from Time.



5 comments:

Unknown said...

When I discovered that the language you speak changes the way you think I thought maybe we could use this in combination with this technique to discover which language has the most terms referring to sound, images and so on. This way I would learn the language most appropriate for my needs. If you are an artist you could learn the languages that could help you think in terms of imagery.

Nick Webb said...

Hi James,

I think it was an old painting professor of mine, but when I was in school, we were told to avoid using pencil (or graphite in general) under oil, as it would eventually "ghost" its way to the surface over time, unless heavily fixed with spray and matte acrylic medium. I personally haven't had this issue, but perhaps my paintings are not old enough yet. Any experience with this?

Thanks,
- Nick

Unknown said...

Thanks! Two questions:

1. Following up on the question above, what’s the advantage of the oil wash instead of gouache?
2. Would you use a similar technique if using an oil wash in a sketchbook?

Thanks,
Jane

Unknown said...

PS I don’t know why this never lets me give my email address, but I promise I’m not a bot Jane

jeckert55 said...

Sulawesi-inspired - this is my favorite place you invented in the book series. Reminds me of Degamma, where yoda lived.