Sketching Implements

Every step I take in this project is new territory for me simply because I have worked so little with acrylics. My next step was to sketch a portion of my design on the form which has 2 coats of iridescent acrylic on it.

I thought the plastic base of acrylics would make graphite sit right on top of it, so much so, that it would wipe right off with the heal of my hand. I thought it would be so temporary that I couldn't sketch any more than I was actually able to paint in the same day. Again, I'm wrong. I drew a 2 inch line with a 2B woodless pencil and wiped. Still there. Then I erased. It was mostly gone but I could still see it! The base coat is not glass smooth but finely textured. The grooves are holding on to the graphite. Well, this isn't going to work.

Next I tried the "dreamy" Stabilo All purpose Aquarellable pencils I bought at Mona Lisa. Pretty much the same problem. They rubbed off really well from a plastic storage container but the surface finish of SAM was too coarse.

This made me realize something new. This base coat of iridescent white is suppose to show through the "holes" of my design. So whatever I use to sketch with has to come off completely or be covered with the design. If not, it'll ruin my crisp, white base and touch ups won't be pretty or fun to do.

O.k. Something softer. Something softer. I found an old Swan Carb-Othello light grey pastel pencil. It did exactly what I had expected the graphite pencil to do: it sketched lightly on the surface and rubbed off with the heal of my hand. If I applied too much pressure, it would leave pastel in the grooves but this was very easy to control. After I started painting, I'm glad that I hadn't found and tried my black pastel pencil first. This would have surely been picked up by the paint and affected the color.