Pan Pastels - Timber Trials

[RMcManus]

The photo shows my first tests using Pan Pastels for weathered timbers. The examples use a base coast of "Raw Umber Tint" with a little "Neutral Gray" to add some streaking. Diluted Silverwood stain was then streaked on in several layers along with diluted Silverwood and brown Higgins Ink. Dark splotches were then added using "Raw Umber Shade" applied with a small brush and tamped in with a finger. The knots and grain are artist acrylic painted on with a fine liner brush. The upper sample has a reddish color added to simulate the faded creosote on the real bridge. This uses Pan Pastel "Burnt Sienna" and artist acrylic.



Photo of the real Dinkey Creek Bridge for comparison



Bob McManus

[RMcManus]

OK, looks like photo links are not working...

Try as attachment

[darrylhuffman]

Great looking boards.

Getting the color with red right is hard to you but you have done it.

Thanks for sharing.

[Malachi Constant]

Wow ...  ... that's one helluva nice job detailing individual boards!  How big (or small?) are the pieces? -- Dallas

[RMcManus]

Dallas,

These are the main cross beams for a 1/4-inch scale bridge, so they are pretty good size - about 6-inches long by 5/8 wide.

[finescalerr]

Bob, I would expect nothing less than virtual perfection from you and you have come through. Most satisfactory. -- Russ

[Chuck Doan]

Those look great!  Considering what you have done with scenery, this should be well worth watching.

[RMcManus]

Thank you everyone for the comments. I'm starting to worry now that the colors on the real bridge are too faded - it's been out of service for thirty years and probably looked darker when in use. It's easy to darken things up using the Pan Pastels. I do like the wonderful variety of colors on the real bridge. Will try to post some progress pictures.

[marc_reusser]

Rob,

That wood looks great, thanks for posting.  Would be really interested in how you did the acrylic grain.

BTW, your granite landscape piece is one of my all time favorite scenery pieces....still floors me.

Cheers,

Marc

[Malachi Constant]

Yeah, I'd be interested in more details too!  Still trying to wrap my head around how you could do such delicate brushwork ... and getting nowhere!  -- Dallas

[compressor man]

Rob,

That wood looks great, thanks for posting.  Would be really interested in how you did the acrylic grain.

BTW, your granite landscape piece is one of my all time favorite scenery pieces....still floors me.

Cheers,

Marc

I too would like to know more about how you created the very fine dark grain. Would also like to see some more of your work, in particular the "granite landscape" that was just mentioned.

[RMcManus]

Hope to have more pics soon. My high school lacrosse team is in the California Section championships that could last until the end of May. After that my modelling season kicks into gear.

The fine line work is made with a 5-0 liner brush. I'm using Higgins Ink now, brown and black straight from the bottle and that goes on easier than the acrylic.

Bob

[Lawton Maner]

Just how did you apply the pastels to the wood?

Wouldn't it be easier to apply the ink with the proper size drafting pen then with a brush?

[David Emery]

I don't have any pictures (yet, and I'm traveling so I can't go snap any...), but I've been getting some interesting results with a combination of pan pastels and oil washes/stains.  The oil paints/medium provide a bit of color blending over the pastels (which can get very mono-chromatic if you're not careful.)  This is just a thought after a couple hours of playing, but I wanted to mention it since it does seem to be an interesting combination of techniques.

dave

[Chuck Doan]

I look forward to seeing more examples of these products.