Month: September 2021

White on Black: White Cosmos flower drawing

Published on by kmgunnart2 Comments

This was my second effort for the recent black and white challenge, a single white cosmos drawing in white colored pencil on black paper. Simple and elegant, but simple is not always synonymous with easy! The foreshortening on the nearest petal was tricky at first, when I had tried this image before in regular graphite pencil in my sketchbook, but reversing the paper and pencil colors actually helped for this version, along with highlighting the white of the cosmos’ petals.

cosmos flower drawn in white pencil on black paper
White Cosmos, 12 by 9 inches, white pencil on black paper, original SOLD but prints available

If I were to redo this in color, I would only be adding the shades of warm yellow for the center, and some green for the stem, as the petals rendered beautifully in just white on black. When I first finished this drawing, I wasn’t certain I had the look, but now over a week later I can say I accomplished it, and am pleased with it. It has an ethereal quality to it.

Purchase links

The original is now sold locally, with the buyer stating she will gift it to her father, who has just started painting, as inspiration. If you want an art print of this white cosmos drawing, either smaller or larger than the original’s 12 x 9 inch size, those can be ordered through my Pixels subdomain. For apparel and accessories with this image on them, check me out on RedBubble.

While I experimented with the bald eagle head for the third day of the challenge, I returned to the theme of white flowers for the remainder of the challenge where I actually drew something. More on that in the next post.

Bald Eagle head study in white on black

Published on by kmgunnart3 Comments

A head study of a noble bald eagle, worked in white colored pencil on black paper. This is actually the third in my white-on-black series, and the only bird in the series, and is itself a continuation of a page from my sketchbook (if you want a print of the sketchbook page, grid still on it, I have that uploaded to my Pixels store here). As a shortcut, I transferred the outline over to my black paper, and while I am extremely pleased with how the eye turned out, I am not so sure about the rest of the drawing. I just cannot pin down what seems off to me, though I do know exactly what I did that made the eye suddenly look so lifelike, so on that point this drawing is a success.

head study drawing of a bald eagle, 12 x 9 inch
Bald Eagle, white on black 9 by 12 inches, $80 USD (available)

Thoughts on this drawing

Not every image is suited to being rendered in white on black. Some look better as black on white, and others just don’t look right either way. After doing this in white on black, I decided I would rather have done it in charcoal, preferably on a warm white or sand-beige toned paper, with white pastel pencil to do the highlights. This being a strict black and white challenge meant I’ll have to get around to that idea later. This drawing did convince me that my white-on-black is best suited for white flowers with strong shadows, so that is what the others (save the last) are. I still really like how the eagle’s eye turned out, a week later. I suppose an all-white bird might work with this style, so that is something to revisit later perhaps.

The original of this is available, if interested you can purchase through Daily Paintworks. Prints are at my Pixels store, while apparel and accessories are up at RedBubble.

Magnolia bloom in white on black

Published on by kmgunnart1 Comment

After the blue-feathered bird series, I shifted gears as the next art challenge was black and white, or greyscale in photo editing terms. No other hues, not even hints of actual color other than black, white, and the neutral greys in between. I did not start out with a particular theme-within-a-theme, but I did end up staying in one major category and did all seven challenge pieces with white colored pencil on black paper.

First drawing: magnolia bloom in mostly shadow

I started out with a lovely reference photo of a white magnolia bloom in mostly shadow, with just the furthest forward petals hit by sunlight. While I’ve wanted to draw this image for a while, I knew I didn’t want to do it in the traditional black on white paper. Since I had been experimenting with colored pencil on black paper, and laying down a white layer first (see A Single Candle and Christmas Candle) I knew as soon as the theme was announced that this would be my first work.

white magnolia flower drawing in mostly shadow, with sunlight hitting the edges of the petals
White Magnolia, 12 by 9 inches white colored pencil on black paper, original available, $80 USD

I actually had to use two different brands of colored pencil to get this effect, but I had just bought five new white pencils that work great for laying in most of it with a more translucent white. (The two brands are Dick Blick and Prismacolor.) The really fun part of these pieces was that instead of working to darken in shading, I worked to bring the lights lighter as needed.

I haven’t actually sealed this yet – I had been toying with the idea of putting a color layer on some of these – but that can be accomplished in a day, so if anyone wants the original, you can purchase through Daily Paintworks. If you want this image but smaller or larger, you can order a print at my Pixels store, while apparel and accessories are at RedBubble.