Artists often work in a series, coming up with an idea, then tinkering with different versions of the idea. This allows them to experiment freely without concern for making any one iteration "perfect" or even "pretty."
My burnishing practice led me to experiment a bit more. I wanted to reduce the heaviness of the heart outline and explore breaking the boundary of the inner heart and the outer space with squiggly lines.
I used a larger, sturdier piece of paper this time -- tan, 184 pound, mixed media paper.
Here's the progression of the project from start to finish.
After laying in a variety of pinks, magenta, crimson, scarlet and a dash of lavender within the heart, I began burnishing, pressing down hard on the colored pencil and creating a rich area of color.
Above is burnishing with a magenta pencil. Each step mixes the colors and tips the balance in the favor of the last color layered on.
I wanted to connect the interior of the heart with the outer space with these energy lines. Eventually, I added active lines to the interior of the heart, too.
White colored pencil added over the layers of magenta, crimson, scarlet and pink brightened these areas to create a highlight, and made the heart more round and plump.
Burnishing with a white pencil blends the colors below as it lightens them.
If I continue with this series, I would like to experiment with making the interior swirls and swoops more pronounced.
I hope you take time to experiment with burnishing. Just playing around can lead to more ideas for projects, and pretty soon you're on your way to creating
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