Colored Pencil Drawings - Iris Flower Drawings on 600 Grit Sandpaper

Interesting surfaces are just about everywhere, it seems, with which to create colored pencil drawings. Whenever I go out running errands, I often take a few pencils with me since I never know where one will pop up. Home building supply stores have lots of stuff to test like wallpapers and sandpapers.

My discovery of 600 grit sandpaper, however, came from an artist's magazine where I read an article by a pastel artist who was using crocus cloth sandpaper as her surface of choice.  While visiting a building supply store one day, I decided to try a piece of 600 grit sandpaper for my colored pencil drawings, so I bought several pieces and dashed home to play.

As I tested this surface, I couldn't believe my eyes. It really took to the wax pencils (Prismacolor). I also discovered that you could temper the surface with pastel or spray paint before applying the pencils, i.e.; add an indigo blue pastel background, then draw your artwork, and color it in to create dynamite colored pencil drawings. And, this is how the technique for my floral art print "Chiffon Iris" was born. Isn't discovery fun?  It's almost as much fun as drawing. 

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