Can I rework a background? I’ve tried erasing at least a little bit without much success…Thank you so much. Have a beautiful holiday season. Mirian Bertaska
Mirian asks a great question. I’ve wrestled with this very thing many times, so let’s take a look at a few possible answers to Mirian’s question.
Mirian very kindly included her drawing and gave me permission to share it with you, so you could “see” what we’re talking about.
Mirian has good color saturation in her drawing. Her color choices make the bird stand out from the background.
But she is right about the background. It doesn’t convey enough distance. It looks like the bird and the background are all at the same distance.
Kudos to Mirian for seeing that. Knowing what’s not working in your art is key to improving.
Suggestions about How to Rework a Background
Whether or not you can rework a background depends on how much color you already have on the paper, what type of paper you’re using, and whether or not you’ve burnished or blended with solvent.
Mirian’s drawing is on Bristol. Bristol is excellent for colored pencils, but it is limited on the number of layers you can put down. However, it’s also very good for lifting color if the color has been applied in layers with light pressure.
Try lifting color to push the background into the distance.
Scotch tape is probably the best way to lift a little color. Lightly press a small piece of tape to the drawing, then carefully pull it up again.
Mounting putty is another good way to lift color, especially if you want a blurry look.
For small areas or detailing, an eraser may also help lift color. The ideal place for eraser work is around the bird.
Read Two Neat Tricks for Erasing or “Lifting” Color from Colored Pencil Drawings at EmptyEasel.com.
Add lighter colors to lighten the background.
Softening the colors with a light blue or cool gray is a good way to push the background further into the distance. Color can either be added over the existing background, or after the background has been lightened by lifting color, as described above.
Use sharp pencils and light pressure to layer lighter colors. Choose colors that are not only lighter, but cooler (tending toward blues and greens, rather than reds and yellows.) Try combining a couple of colors, too, so the background doesn’t become too uniform in value or color.
Add color one layer at a time, then review the drawing. Keep adding layers until the drawing looks the way you want it to look.
Try a soft blend to dissolve wax binder and “sink” color into the tooth of the paper.
If you’re willing to experiment a little, try a soft blend with odorless mineral spirits. Use a soft brush and blot the brush after you dip it in odorless mineral spirits. You don’t need a lot of solvent for this type of blend.
If you don’t want to try odorless mineral spirits, or don’t have any, but you want to try blending, try rubbing alcohol. Dampen a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol, then rub it on a corner of the piece. That should give you a nice, soft blend that pushes the background further into the background.
Even if that doesn’t work, the rubbing alcohol could break down the binder in the pencils enough to allow you to add a little bit more color.
Don’t get your paper too wet or it could buckle.
TIP: Layer color onto a scrap piece of Bristol until you have a similar look, then try blending that first. If it works, great! You can blend your drawing. If it doesn’t work, you haven’t damaged the drawing.
How that Worked for Mirian
I asked Mirian if she would let me know how her experiments turned out. Here’s what she had to say.
Hi Carrie,
The painting wasn’t accepting more color, so I … layered violet blue on a little piece of each, and the alcohol one looks better in my opinion.
Mirian layered Violet Blue on the left side of the illustration below. The rubbing alcohol blend is on the right side.
The portion above the line is the original drawing.
Neither solution is ideal, but Mirian was satisfied with the rubbing alcohol blend.
Leave the background alone and work on the bird to bring it forward.
The final possible solution is to leave the background as it is, and increase the values on the bird. Make the highlights brighter and darken the darks.
One of the things that gives a picture “depth” is the value range. The greater the contrast between the lightest lights and the darkest darks, the closer the object looks.
Here’s Mirian’s drawing in black-and-white.
As you can see, the value range is fairly close. When the background and the subject have pretty much the same values, the result is a background that’s not in the background.
I used GIMP (free photo editing software) to select the bird, then increased the contrast. The bird now “leaps” forward in the drawing.
This tip doesn’t apply to reworking a background, but sometimes the solution involves the subject, not the background!
Thank you to Mirian, who was willing to share not only her question, but her artwork.
Thanks, Mirian!
