Saturday, January 29, 2011

Raccoon - Work in Progress - 4

Hi All,

Here's another update.  I finished the little guys face (I still need to add his whiskers) and started to work my way down his front leg and his back.  I also got the tree limb he is hanging on done.

The limb was fun to do.  I used the same process I have been using.  I'm laying down the mid color first and then adding the lights and darks on top of that.  I also added some moss green and other greens to represent the moss on the tree limb, it doesn't show up that well in this image but in RIL you can definitely see the moss.

If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to speak up.  Keep Scribbling!!!
Gemma

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Colored Pencil Magazine

Hi All,

I almost forgot to share some of my very exciting news with all of you!  

There is a brand new magazine out called Colored Pencil Magazine.  The very first issue has a feature article about me and my artwork is also on the cover, I was just thrilled to pieces.

If you are interested in buying that edition of the magazine you can go to the following link:   http://www.magcloud.com/browse/Issue/147542

If you would like to subscribe to the new Colored Pencil Magazine you can do that at this link:  http://coloredpencilmag.com/

I hope to have an update of the Raccoon very soon so keep checking back.  Don't forget to keep Scribbling!!

Gemma

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Raccoon - Work in Progress - 3


Hi All,

Here's another update on the Raccoon.  I didn't bother to post the whole artwork because the only change was to the raccoon's face.  

I'm am using some pastels in this piece but not much.  I used pastel in the blue of the sky (pastel over pencil) and a few pastels under the colored pencil in some of the fur areas.  I would guess that this artwork is about 80% colored pencil so far.

One of the things I have found with the pastel is.... if you are using the harder pastels you need to lay those down before the CP.  If you use a softer pastel it will cover the CP.

I used pastel pencils in the rusty colored fur.  First I did an under-painting with the pastel pencils and then went over that with Colored pencil.  Another pencil that does really well on the Suede mat board is General's Carbon Sketch pencil.  It will layer over the CP quite nicely.  I was able to go in after the fur was almost complete and punch up some of the blacks.  

Keep in mind, because of the pastels that I'm using, this piece would not be eligible for the Colored Pencil Society of America's International Exhibition.  It would however; be OK for the "Explore This!" exhibition.

So far, I'm really enjoying drawing this cute little fella.  If you should have any questions let me know, I'll be happy to help in anyway I can.

Keep Scribbling,
Gemma

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Raccoon - Work in Progress - 2


 Hi All,

Well... As I'm sure you will all understand the holiday season kept me real busy so, therefore, I just didn't get much of a chance to draw at all.  Plus I had the commission piece (the Rottweiler called Abby) I had to finish before Christmas.

I finally got a chance to get back to work on the raccoon.  I was able to get the sky behind him done and just started his face today.  I still have some more work to do on the face but I thought I would go ahead and post my progress so far.

The first image is the total piece, it's 16" x 20" and it's being done on a very light beige suede mat board.  If you want to see the reference photo I'm working from it was posted in one of the earlier posts when I first started this guy.  You should be able to just scroll down a bit to see it.  If it's not on this page just click on raccoon to the right of this page. 

I thought I would post a close up of his face too.  The process I'm using is to lay down a mid color range colored pencil and then add light CP's and dark CP's on top of that.  That is the nice thing about working on suede board, it allows you to put light colors on top of darker colors and they show up quite nicely.  

I'm kind of anxious to get this guy done because I already have a few other drawings I want to get started on.  I actually have about 5 compositions all ready to go.  I guess that's what happens... your always thinking about the next piece you're going to work on. 


I plan on working on this guy quite a bit this week so keep checking back I hope to have some progress to share with you soon.  If you should have any questions or thoughts don't hesitate to speak up.  And.... above all don't forget to keep Scribbling!!


Gemma