I chose this yellow pencil as my first subject because I enjoy its color. I normally use this pencil to color sunflowers, so naturally, it reminds me of sunflowers. Whenever I use it, it makes me think of the one time when I was younger my mom took me to a sunflower field and we stayed there for a while. I remember how much taller the flowers were than me, and how the bees ignored us in favor of the massive yellow blossoms. I staged the first picture carefully. I made sure it was morning time so I'd have soft, bright light. After pulling out a large white piece of paper, I sharpened the pencil over it and spread out the shavings as necessary. For the second picture, I set the pencil against a window, hoping that the reflection would show up enough on the screen. I took the second picture first so it would still have a stubby tip. To correct any shadows, I increased brightness. Canary Yellow.
I chose this blue pencil as my second subject because it is my favorite blue pencil. I don't really have a story behind this pencil, I just really enjoy using it. For the first picture, I kept my same method, sharpening it over a white piece of paper. This shred came out sort of choppy and I thought it looked interesting. For the second picture, I set the pencil on the edge of my windowsill and raised the contrast a lot. I liked how it made the color pencil darker and richer. Copenhagen Blue.
I chose this red pencil as my third subject because I love how deep it is. I have a rather small collection of red colored pencils, and this one produces the most appealing color and has the truest red. For the first picture, I continued with my method of sharpening the pencil over paper. I particularly enjoyed taking this one because the shaving curled up so nicely. For the second picture, I made sure that no wooden shavings were in frame. I blew a little on the colored pieces so they'd spread out more. Crimson Lake.
I chose this purple pencil as my fourth subject because although it's kind of pink, it has a nice, fun color. As with my red pencils, I have very few purple pencils, this one is the brightest dark purple I have. For the first picture I made sure to put the purple shavings in a line diagonal to where the pencil is placed to create a sense of movement. For the second picture, I took the sharpened pencil and drew a line at the top of the format. I moved the shards around so they'd point in the direction of the pencil and the line it made. Mulberry.
I chose this green pencil as my fifth and final subject because it is for sure my favorite green pencil. I have a decent selection of green pencils, most of them light, but I like this one the most. For the first picture, the setup was a bit rocky. The wood shavings fell before I wanted them to, so there are more pieces than some of the other pictures. I increased the contrast a lot to give the green a nice dark feel. For the second picture, I kept the same method from the previous picture set in making a line and distributing the shavings. Olive Green.