become apparent to anyone who creatively undertakes a given task more than once. Cake-baking. Fire-building. Plant-watering. Whatever. I have never trusted the opinion of anyone who deems any undertaking to be a cinch.....that indicates to me an unawareness of nuance.
Take materials, for example. I usually follow the plan of: the larger the work, the larger the tools, the need to stand. And so it follows with smaller. For our Wednesday evening model, I decided to sit instead of stand at the easel. And so it followed that I would use a small piece of paper and a small charcoal pencil. I usually use vine charcoal for drawing which mushes easily...sometimes too much. The pencil was harder. Even though I used my blending stump, the lines are still visible. That can work to advantage, or disadvantage, of course, depending on the goals. I used the less-bumpy side of the paper so that there would be more merging of the medium.
Sometimes it takes years to understand all of the hidden nuances hidden in art materials. And to work with them to advantage. Utilizing our own strengths as well as our limitations, including our materials, can improve our work.
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