Mixed media--the layered approach--Crayons, Watercolor, and Markers

Over the weekend I was experimenting with different media's--Lyra Triple one crayons, Daniel Smith Watercolors,  Faber-Castell Pitt Markers, and Schmincke gouache.

 

I discovered a few things using all three medians.  To start the drawing I used the Lyra triple one crayons to sketch in the sun flowers.  Next I used a damp wc brush to blend in the color of the sunflower.  While the sunflower part was drying, I worked on the green leaves and stems.  Once the Lyra crayons on the sunflower was dry, I noticed that yellows and oranges disappeared into each other and looked kind of flat.  So I used burnt umber gouache for the center of the sunflower and sepia for the seeds of the sunflower and that seemed to pop the center of the sunflower. With the flower part of the sunflower, I got out my Faber-castell markers using a light yellow and orange marker--that's when I discovered that while the FC marker was wet I could use a damp watercolor brush to blend in the color.  In the past, I have attempted to do that, but never seemed to work.  I think maybe laying the watercolor first before adding and blending the marker was the secret.

 

Moving onto the background I used the Lyra triple one crayons to lay in the background color.  I then went back in with a damp brush to blend the crayon color.  I then used my sepia, light blue, ultramarine blue, orange, and magenta markers. I kept on enhancing each color with more watercolor, followed by markers.

 

To finish, any part of the watercolor painting I though might need to bump up the color I used my Schmincke gouache.