Yupo :-)

Yupo "paper" takes some getting used to mostly because it isn't made of natural materials; it's made entirely of polypropylene. Here are experimental paintings based on earlier graphite drawings.

Watercolor and graphite. Scratches made with sandpaper:

Parrot

Only watercolor and graphite:

Tortoise

Yupo is a dream to draw on. And I love the smudgy effects I can achieve with a simple "B" lead. Watercolor can be wiped away with a wet rag even after the paint is dry...whoa :-)

Lots more to learn about and explore with this "paper".

Take away

One of the drawing techniques I learned in Carla Sonheim's "Draw!" online class and then used again in the currently running "2014: Year of The Fairy Tale" is eraser drawing. It is great because it really shows the importance of paying attention to value (black and white tones).

I think of the technique as "take away" because your eraser is the "drawing" tool.

In the "Draw!" class I made my first attempt:

The eraser didn't feel like my friend at this point...

 So this time, I worked larger and because the technique had been altered slightly I was able to infuse the drawing with more intensity. So this is the eraser tortoise*:

I use all sorts of erasers; some leave behind a LOT of "crumbs".

It's a messy, smudgy technique but I enjoy it.


* Aldabra giant tortoise photo reference by Peter Chadwick