FABRIANO ARTISTICO

Having done my first ever drawings with colored pencils, it seemed like a good idea to check out youtube for some helpful tips.  The instructional videos I sat through pretty much all said the same thing - everything I’m doing is outright sinful.

Not only am I using the wrong paper and the wrong pencils, my whole approach violates every aspect of what is considered proper technique.  Frankly, I wasn’t paying that much attention to it and evidently my natural instincts have betrayed me. I do not hold the pencil correctly which is compounded by the fact that I apply an inappropriate amount of pressure.  In addition to failing to keep my pencils sharpened (zacapunta es necessario), I use too few layers, my strokes are all wrong and I am in too much of a hurry.

In an instructional video narrated by Cassandra Hanley, she indicates that one should expect to spend one-to-two weeks on a drawing depending on the size.  Up to now, my approach has been two or three drawings a night.


I have come to discover that my most blatant fault is that I allow the paper to show. Sometimes in a sizable area but mostly little flecks strewn about within an area where I have applied a color Although I took to liking this effect, evidently it can cause the unsuspecting onlooker a worse fate than a peanut allergy.

There are also equipment issues.  Curious looking sticks called blenders and burnishers and odorless mineral oil.  I get the blenders but despite having watched several demonstrations the burnishers remain a mystery.  I understand what to do with the mineral oil but I am very hung up on why it has to be odorless. Not one video offered an explanation for this.  Is it common knowledge that run-of-the-mill mineral oil is offensive? Is Thomas Edison or Tesla credited with devising the process for extracting the noxious properties from mineral oil, making it suitable for the civilized world?


There was an obvious consensus among the videos as to the recommended paper.  Unlike olive oil…...yes that is not a typo, I have intentionally written “olive” not “mineral.”  I looked it up and sure enough, odorless olive oil is available.


As I was saying, unlike olive oil, you want to look for papers produced via a hot press rather than a cold press.  The most desired brands are Stonehenge or (are you ready for this?) Fabriano Artistico Xtra White Hot Press Watercolor Paper.  I took the “Xtra White” to be the color of the paper as opposed to the press being “Xtra-White-Hot.”  I could be wrong about this as well.


I would never ask aloud in public for something called “Fabriano Artistico” in mixed company, so I priced the Stonehedge brand. Landsakes! It’s lucky I checked - it’s on sale! If I act fast I can get 100 sheets for $617.00. Either I order the paper (which by the way is not permitted to show through the drawing) or I purchase round trip airfare to Norway - I’ll have to mull that over.


Since the paper ain’t happening, I went shopping for one of the blender sticks I saw demonstrated in the videos.  A pleasant young lady took me to where the blenders were displayed, and having noticed the puzzled expression on my face asked,  “Did you want the Tortillones or the Difuminadores?”