Pencil Pusher

Tools of the trade.  All 36 of them!

Because I don't have enough on my plate recovering from my surgery (still doing those exercises), working, moving kids etc., I decided to take another class online.  Oh, and I start an in-person class at our local museum on Tuesday night.  Oops.

This class is all about pencil work. Watercolor pencils that is.  The amazingly talented Dion Dior (link here) is the instructor and the class is chock full of wonderful little nuggets of information.  So many videos to watch and so many projects to do.

One of the things that she suggested would be helpful in the process of the class was to create a grid of all of the colored pencils (one brand, anyway) and how they mix with other colors. Cool, said I. This will be awesome!  I can sit and watch TV and color away.  Then I can paint them all in and I will be done in a couple of days.

Thank goodness for this thing.

Uh huh.  I have been working on the darn thing for a month.  Possibly this is because I bought a tin of 36 watercolor pencils.  WHY DID I DO THAT?  I mean really, how stupid can one person be?

It took about 6 sheets of watercolor paper to construct my grid and all I can say is thank goodness I live close to the Dick Blick outlet store.  I just happened to have a pad of good paper that I got cheap.

Quite frankly, the easiest part of the whole project has been to draw the squares.  I used a template.

I am well underway.  And my hubby will
soon eat at the table.  Notice the cardboard backing.

So, the ginormous grid sits unfinished on my kitchen table and I attack it with vigor every once in a while.  My husband is getting tired of eating at his desk, so I guess I will have to finish it soon.

Despite the work involved, creating the grid is a very therapeutic process.  I will for sure know how to use my pencils properly and hopefully I will learn just as much when it is time to put the brush to all those yummy squares.

I may frame this thing.  Not for it's beauty, but rather as a trophy so to speak.  I will call it 'Colorus Gridus' and I will hang it on the wall in the Bat Cave.  It will inspire me to greatness.  Mainly because I finished it.

As I am writing this, my husband is measuring the doggone thing so he can cut a piece of cardboard to put it on.  I think he wants to eat at the table.  Soon.

PS - If you click Dion's link above, go to the Classes section and look at the Watercolor Pencils class. I have also taken Mastering Twinks!  Wonderful, wonderful classes.  I highly encourage you to take them.

As an added picture bonus, I thought I would share my first attempt at using these pencils. with water and a brush.  Fun!