Kicking up the dust by Terri Koszler

Today I am sharing a new project that's different from what you will have seen from me previously, I am trying to expand my skills and step out of my comfort zone.

I love nature and all it has to offer and in particular I love Elephants. Even though they are so big and grey in colour there is something so majestic about them, so I thought I'd try to paint one using brusho.

As I'm very new to painting I decided to take some advice from a very talented lady and started with tracing out an image to give me a base to work with.

I sketched out the image on to some watercolour card using some tracedown and then used a water soluble pen to go over the outline, as this bleeds adding shade when wet.  I then added some masking fluid to the tusk and eye areas to protect them.  I also added some wax resist along he trunk and outer ears.

I started working on the trunk first using a wet in wet technique, I used grey and sandstone and used the bamboo pen to add some black to give definition in places.  I used the same method for the body and ears. 

For the foreground I flooded the area with water and then bled in some sandstone, while this was still wet I sprinkled in some Yellow Ochre and Moss green, I allowed this to dry before adding a very weak wash of Sandstone to the tusks.

Once everything was dry I used a 3B pencil to gently rub over the body of the Elephant, the lead really highlights the tooth of the paper and adds texture to the skin.

I learnt a few lessons whilst making this project and hit a few bumps in the road but what I've come away with is something I really like.

I'd love to know what you think of my Elephant as all feedback is appreciated.

Terri.

Golden haired nylon brusesh	Bamboo pen	Wax resist sticks	Brusho 24 Colour Boxed Set	Air tight colour mixing water pots in tray
Graphite Pencils