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Art For Sale - Saint Michael Miniature Pen and Ink Drawings
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Our Lady of Guadalupe, stippled ink on genuine sheep skin, a (finished) Work In Progress |
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Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, Inc.
The Society of Tempera Painters
Marians Of The Immaculate Conception
Stippling On Sheepskin
A work in progress
Image size: 7 inches x 10 inches (skin size)
Finished - January 28, 2006
(Please be patient while images load)
| Genuine Sheepskin (purchased from Talas Professional Archival Supplies) |
| Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph pens, stainless steel nibs |
| Rotring Artist Color Acrylic and FW Acrylic inks |
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Nib size |
Color |
Sample |
| KohINoor #3065 Technical Pen unless noted, nib sizes below | ||
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2 x 0 |
FW Process Yellow |
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4 x 0 |
laeom Ink Mix "Guadalupe Green" |
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6 x 0, 3 x 0 |
Rotring Artist Color Raw Yellow Ochre diluted by half with distilled water |
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3 x 0 |
Koh I Noor Sepia diluted by 1/3 with distilled water |
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4 x 0 |
laeom Ink Mix "Dark Flesh Tint" ** See warning note at bottom of page |
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3 x 0 |
Rotring Artist Color Brown diluted by 1/2 with distilled water |
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| 4 x 0 | FW Flesh tint ** See warning note at bottom of page |  |
| 6 x 0 | laeom Ink Mix "Blue Green" |  |
| 3 x 0 | FW Flame Red |  |
| KohINoor#3060 Fountain Pen
6 x 0 |
FW Flame Red with a few drops of Rotring Artist Color Brown |  |
*Rotring Artist Color is no longer made - click here for more information on them. FW inks are an excellent replacement ink line.
Our Lady of Guadalupe has always been a favorite subject of mine to draw or paint. In between the range of a black and white ink drawing and an egg tempera icon (vastly different techniques), stippling in color on genuine sheepskin combines the permanence of ink with the ancient art of painting religious subjects or texts on genuine sheep, goat or calf skin.
I chose sheep skin for this drawing. Sheep skin, as far as "quality" goes, is in the middle between goat and calf. Goat skin can be slightly more grainy in appearance (skin pores are more obvious) and it is just a bit more stiff. Cal skin can be like velvet, with much less effect from pores, and is generally a slightly softer surface. In the "old days" calf skin was reserved for very important manuscripts, while sheep skin was considered "parchment". I don't remember where that left the goat :), except perhaps goat skin was used for everyday writing or practice. I have used all three, and personally would probably prefer to use calf skin all the time. However, it is the most expensive of the three types, so I find myself using sheep skin most often.
When drawing on an animal skin, each of the two sides is usable, yet each has a slightly different texture. The inside of the skin is generally softer, which makes sense, and the tanning process does not alleviate the slight differences between the two sides of a skin. I find it is mostly a personal preference as to which side is used for text, drawing or painting. I am using the softer, inner side of this piece of sheep skin for Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Below is the model I used for this drawing. It is from www.Sancta.org and is a photo of the actual image on the tilma.
Given that any ink drawing that I do is not going to look exactly like the actual image of the tilma, below is my stippled drawing at 14 hours.( Another site, Our Lady of Guadalupe.org states that to date, the image on the tilma has never been reproduced exactly, either by artist or by camera). To get to this point, I printed a photo of the original model, above, after I re-sized it to fit the sheep skin, and then carefully traced the image onto tracing paper. I then transferred the image to the sheep skin and began stippling. At the point the drawing is now, the "basics" are stippled. However, there is still much to do, and most of that will be subtle shading and deeping of the colors.
Below is a detail of the drawing at 14 hours. I have to say that sheep skin is the most wonderful surface to stipple on. It feels as if I am "tatooing" the image into the skin. There is very little bleeding of ink dots, the surface is extremely receptive, with just a slight "bounce" with each pen mark- truly a wonderful surface to work on. When doing text or manuscript work on skin, I usually go over the surface with pumice. Pumice allows the skin to accept flowing text letters, flowing ink or paint, much more readily and smoothly. However, I did not use pumice before stippling because even the finest particles of pumice will get into my pen tips. The skin, as received from Talas (link above) is sufficiently finished for stippling.
Below is a detail of the drawing at 16 hours. I have started putting in more of the diluted raw yellow ochre around Mary. I also added some to her face. I'm not quite sure yet what other colors I will add to her face to give her skin more depth.
Most of the more common depictions of Our Lady of Guadalupe look like her eyes are almost closed, some as if they are closed. When researching the tilma, I found that one of the amazing events that happened was the vision of people reflected in Mary's eyes. I believe after this event that a reflection of specific people are seen in the eyes of Mary on the tilma. For this page's purposes, what that means is that Mary's eyes are open. My piece shows them slightly more open than perhaps they could have been, but it is symbolic for me personally because it will remind me of the people reflected in Mary's eyes. This is a small piece and if, at first glance, it appeared her eyes were almost closed, it wouldn't seem right to me because I know about the reflection of the people, and her eyes have to be open for that. The size of the piece will also affect what colors, if any, I add to her face. It will probably be framed and hanging on a wall, so what will be "viewable" from a slight distance will have to be a little more graphic and less subtle than if this were a larger piece.
Below is a scan of the piece after working on it for 19 hours. I have used a 3 x 0 pen with diluted Raw Yellow Ochre to fill in the pointed shapes surrounding Mary, and a slight darkening with this nib on the edge of the white area surrounding her.
Below, also at 19 hours, are a couple of things that are visually bothering me and that I will blend in as I work further. On the right, near her left shoulder, is one ray that is a tad too heavy, or actually, just too noticeable because of the curve in it and the thickness at the base. The rays will have some light stippling all around them, and it will not be as noticeable as it is now, but it is something I need to be aware of as I work. Another area is her fingers, which will be shaped a little better as I add more subtle shadows. Her lips look grey right now- that is a base color I used in an early layer. Once a red is added over that, and because the red is transparent, it will actually keep the red from looking garish.
Below is a scan of the bottom of the drawing as I have started to add the red to the feathers. All of my 6 x 0 nibs are filled with other colors right now so I have used a 3 x 0 nib with FW Flame Red ink. I had thought the dots might look too large, but they look okay. They will be further refined because I will add additional red, but also will add the diluted raw yellow ochre with a 6 x 0 nib. Adding the raw yellow ochre with a smaller nib will "tighten" the overall look of the dots as well as add a depth of hue to the red of the feathers.
Below is a scan of the same area at 21 hours. I have decided to use one of my Koh I Noor Fountain pens with a nib size of 6 x 0 to enhance the red in the feathers.
Instead of straight FW Flame Red ink, I have used the Flame Red with a minimal amount of Rotring Artist Color Brown. This gives more shape to the bottom edges of the feathers, although more shaping will happen as I continue to work. On the left side of the scan (his right-side wing) I have also gone back over the entire red in the feather with the Flame Red in the 3x0 nib. Another layer will be the diluted Raw Yellow Ochre. The bright yellow was added with a 00 nib, and the Guadalupe Green in the top of the feathers with a 6x0 nib. The bright yellow will be greatly toned down once the next layers are added. The entire feather area will be gone over with a 6x0 nib and the diluted Raw Yellow Ochre, which will tone the colors as well as leaving the top layers of ink with a 6x0 nib size dot (s). I also used the Flame Red with Brown to add some shadow to the shirt and sleeves of the angel, and these too will be blended and toned with the straight Flame Red and Raw Yellow Ochre as I fill in the shirt. I want to do the shirt after the wings are complete in order to have the shirt be a slightly different tonal value than the wings. I think next time I might make the angel's face more realistic and less symbolic in style, but it will depend on the size of the next drawing. In the scale of this drawing he is very small (6/16ths of an inch across the face) and the more graphic look will allow him to be more easily seen. If this drawing were even slightly larger, there would be more room to have his face less graphic in style.
Below is the drawing at 25 hours. The angel and wings are almost complete, and I have started to tone the areas around Mary.
In continuing the work on the angel, I did the following- all colors of the wings received a layer of Raw Yellow Ochre with a 6 x 0 nib. I also used the same color in a 3 x 0 nib in the red of the wings. The green of the wings was done in my own color mix of blue-green with a 6 x 0 nib. I may do more shadowing in the wings, but I will wait a day so that the ink has really dried as I don't want to over-saturate the skin. Allowing the colors to completely dry will mean I am placing new dots on top of ink instead of having the colors blend because the skin is damp with ink. This would also apply if I were using paper instead of skin. Process Yellow (2 x 0 nib) used over dry ink is really a great way to reintroduce some lights - I did this in some areas of the neck and side areas of the shirt and in the angel's hair. I then went over the Process Yellow with the Raw Yellow Ochre in the 6 x 0 nib. The shirt is not complete - my first step was to use a 3 x 0 nib and the Flame Red to place widely spaced dots over the whole shirt except for the lightest areas. Those areas received some Process Yellow and then the 6 x 0 nib and Raw Yellow Ochre. The red areas of the shirt have also received a tight layer of the Flame Red with Brown in a 6 x 0 nib. This gave me a slightly different tonal quality between the wings and the shirt. Now I have to decide which color to use to further enhance and define the shirt.
In the meantime, I also started to tone the areas around Mary. I am using the Raw Yellow Ochre in a 6x0 nib and am placing random dots in the white area around her. I will make the entire white oval area about the same tonal value before I go back and do more defining.
Many depictions of Mary in this picture show gold around her and as accents, and I probably would have used gold if working in another medium. However, due to the natural element of doing this on skin, and the fact that I am stippling with pens and not painting, the areas that might have been gold are yellows. The same actually goes for other blending or highlights in this drawing. If I were painting, I would be blending the feathers or detailing the angels face in a different way. I would then also probably be using white in the paint to show lights. I could also have left many bright areas plain white. However, my personal wish for this drawing has been to evoke warmth - not only warmth in the colors, but the warmth I feel when I think about Our Lady of Guadalupe. In order to "voice" that warmth, I am using yellows as lights and no bright whites. I may use a beige tint for some highlights, but not white. I want this drawing to feel like an old friend, something permanent and reassuring.
Below is a scan of the angel after another hour. I have shaded the shirt more with Rotring Artist Color Brown (3x0 nib) and the FW Flame Red with Brown (6x0 nib),and used FW Flesh Tint as a highlight on the shirt. I'm going to leave him now for awhile and work on other areas of the drawing. Toward the time when I am finished with the drawing, I will be reassessing to make sure all elements seem balanced, and I may do more to the angel at that time.
Below is a scan of the drawing at 29 and a half hours. I have completed the toning around Mary. I was working more or less ray by ray, and at some point I will also work a narrow band vertically at the base of the rays (closest to Mary). This does a couple of things - it ties the toning together just a bit more, but in the case that there might have been some inadvertent horizontal patterns from my working horizontally, visually the vertical work will alleviate it. I have also gone over the stars on Mary's cloak with the Process Yellow (2 x 0 nib). These will now get a layer of Raw Yellow Ochre with a 6 x 0 nib, and the underlying yellow will leave the stars a little brighter than they were with just the Raw Yellow Ochre that was there. This will also be done on the band at the edges of Mary's cloak.
The toning around Mary gives some cohesion to the drawing and also puts all areas except Mary on a more similar tonal value. Mary will be the brightest element of the drawing, although her gown will be quite toned.
Below is a scan of the detail I have added to Mary's dress. Basically, other than some overall toning, it is her dress that remains to be done. In the photo of the actual tilma, a pattern in her dress can be seen. At this time, I can't get the resolution good enough to attempt to copy the pattern exactly. I did some research on other similar images and most are artist's interpretation. I had thought there were roses but Our Lady Of Guadalupe.org says it is actually a four-petaled flower in one area - so, until I feel I have found the definitive pattern, I have instead put a general pattern in. I also have seen some images where the stars on her cloak are six-pointed stars, but again, I'm not sure if those are other artist's interpretations. Most of the dress on her right side (viewer's left) will be toned quite a bit, but I don't want the pattern to disappear. The scan below shows the pattern I put in with the Raw Yellow Ochre and a 6 x 0 nib.
And now below, a scan after I have started to deepen the pattern before toning. On her right side (viewer's left) I am using Raw Yellow Ochre in a 3 x 0 nib and am going over all the defining lines and the pattern, using dots of course. Next I will begin toning by using the 6 x 0 nib and the same color. I don't want to use a larger nib because I want to really control the fine-ness of the toning.
Below is a scan at 38 and a half hours. I have started to tone Mary's dress, working for the most part in the darker areas first. The area on the viewer's right that is quite dark is the area that will be the darkest on that side.
I have also removed a line, which was easier to do on sheepskin that perhaps on paper.
The line used to go straight down over her knee, but that I think that's an error on the photo of the tilma image. I used a white vinyl eraser first, and removed quite a bit of the ink. I had to do this very softly because skin will tear. I then went over the area carefully with 1500 grit silicon sandpaper which is really very soft. This left the area perfectly reusable as a surface. There is still a faint line of sorts, but more from the dots I have added on one side of the knee than from my correction. This will be hidden as I continue to tone the dress. Again, I did have to work carefully and it's usually best to test corrections like this on a scrap piece of the same surface first. I will also have to use care in re-dotting because once the surface is disturbed, there is a greater chance for each dot to bleed. This of course, would leave an area too dark for the highlight of the knee.
I believe it is finished. Below is a scan of the drawing at 43 and a half hours, after finishing the toning of Mary's dress. For 99% of her dress I used a 6 x 0 nib and the Raw Yellow Ochre. I did go over some very small areas with the same color in a 3 x 0 nib - only in the darkest areas. I may go over it one more time for small areas I might want to correct, but that will be after it totally dries for a week or so, and after I look at it from time to time to see if anything stands out.
Thank you for viewing this drawing!
A Note on Sheep Skin versus Paper - below are scans of two drawings - both use the same ink for the initial layer. One is stippled on Stonehenge vellum surface paper (similar to 140 lb. hot press watercolor paper) and the other is on genuine Calf Skin. The paper is more absorbent that the skin, giving a more uneven effect in the first layer.
Saint Michael stippled on Stonehenge vellum paper- first layer
Saint Michael stippled on genuine calf skin - first layer
Great depth of color can be achieved by using different colors in layers. Below are two examples (both on sheep skin)- one of Saint Michael whose wings have about 7 layers of different oranges and yellows, and then a detail scan of a drawing I am currently working on - the green area has three layers of only one color - olive green. If I stipple with yellow over the green, it gives not only a more solid effect, but a depth in the color. As can be seen in the purple areas of that detail, one layer can be very effective for showing light.
** Warning note regarding FW Flesh Tint ink - I used this ink in 4 x 0 nibs, using a brand new bottle to mix my shades. I usually fill all the pens I will need for a project and at the end of the project (or before, if needed) clean all the pens out and start anew. This particular time, I'm moving to a new drawing that has similar colors, so am not cleaning and refilling all pens, just a few. For the first time ever, the flesh tint inks had solidified in the pens - not just got thick, but solidified into chunks, both in the ink feed and the reservoir. Yikes! This must be because of the amount of white the manufacturer adds to the Flesh Tint. Luckily I caught it in time to save the pens. From now on, when using this ink, I will have to either do all the flesh tones and then clean the pen (meaning I have to re-fill if I want to make minor adjustments to the flesh tones), I will dilute the inks more, or I will simply use them with a Hunt Crowquill dip pen (Hunt nib # 102).