Portrait of a Cheetah

Today I finished a small piece of artwork, it's a portrait of a Cheetah. It was fun to create this little piece while practicing social distancing. 

I took the photo I used to create this, while I was in Botswana. The size is only 8" x  8", it's done with colored pencils on white pastelmat card and the title is "Don't Fence Me In".

If you have any questions or comments please don't hesitate.

Keep Scribbling,
Gemma

Workshop Books on Amazon

Hello Everyone,

Good news... 4 of my workshop books are now available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. For those of you who don't have a kindle you can still view it with a Kindle App on your devices. You can just search for Gemma Gylling, on Amazon and you will see the books that are now available. I also have them available, as softcover book, on my website, the projects that require suede mat board will have a piece of suede mat board included, go to My Website.

Don't forget to Keep Scribbling!
Gemma

My Artwork Published in "Art Journey Animials"

Art Journey Animals

Hi All,

I am very pleased and humbled to announce that two of my pieces of artwork are published in North Light Books new book titled, "Art Journey Animals".

I feel so thankful and proud to see my artwork along with this wonderful collection of beautiful art, all about animals!!!!

Don't forget to keep Scribbling!!!!
Gemma

Newfoundland Work in Progress 04

Newfoundland Final Drawing

Hi All,

I'm calling this one done!

I continued to use the same palette.  It's 100% Colored Pencil on Tan Suede Mat Board and it's 12" X 12".

I hope my customer likes it!!

Comments and questions are welcome and don't forget to "Keep Scribbling".

Gemma

Newfoundland Work in Progress 03

Newfoundland Commission WIP 03

Hello Everyone,

Well... things have finally settled down, the CPSA (Colored Pencil Society of America) convention is done and was a great success.  As Convention Director I was kept quite busy with preparing for and working at the convention.  It's always a relief when it's done because it can take up quite a bit of my time.

This piece is coming along quite nicely.  I finally got a chance to work on it and have been able to get quite a bit more done on it.  I do plan on working on this portrait over the next couple of days and hope to complete it during it that time, if not, it maybe about a week after that before I can get back to it.  I love how the dog starts appearing on the surface, I really enjoy watching it evolve.  It almost looks like she is poking her face out and right thru the paper, LOL.

I'm still using the same palette of colors mentioned in the last post with the addition of the following colors:  Chestnut, Indigo Blue, Sky Blue Light, some of the French Greys and Blue Slate.

If you should have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to do so. 

Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

Newfoundland - Work in Progress 02

Newfoundland Commission WIP 02

Hi All,

Here's the first update of my Newfoundland commission.  It's done on tan Suede Mat Board, it's 12" X 12" and 100% Colored Pencil.  This is image is only part of the total piece, I'm only showing the part I have created so far.  The piece is larger than what is shown here.

So far I have used, all of the Prismacolor Cool and Warm greys, Powder Blue, Cloud Blue, Beige Sienna, Black, White, Putty Beige, Deco Blue, Sienna Brown, Terri Cotta, Dark Umber, Mineral Orange, Peach, True Blue, Slate Gray and Derwent Burnt Carmine.

If you should have any questions or comments don't hesitate to ask and don't forget to "Keep Scribbling".
Gemma

Animal Defenders International Lion Donation, Finished!

Hello Everyone!!

Well.... after a long recovery I think I am almost back to normal.  I am so glad I had the back surgery because things seem to be so much better.  I am told it may take about 4 months for the nerve pain to go completely away but I am far better then before the surgery.

I FINALLY got Simba done!!!!!!!!  It seemed like it took forever but I guess it's understandable with the back issues and surgery.  It's really nice to be back drawing!  

As I mentioned before Simba was done with 100% colored pencils on Suede Mat Board, it's 18" X 14".  Next I plan on having it photographed and then I will have it matted and send it to Animal Defenders International.  I attached an image of the finished piece along with a close up of part of his mane.

I'm happy with the finished piece and I hope that ADI will not only like it but will hopefully be able to use it in some way to help raise money for all of the great work the are doing world wide.  I do plan on selling limited edition prints of him along with some note cards.  I'm pledging 10% of any of the sales I earn from the prints and note cards to ADI.

If any of you should have any questions or comments please don't hesitate to speak up.

 Next I plan on working on a Lion cub.  I will be creating workshop book of the Cub and will be teaching that class in April (date to be determined) in Copperopolis, CA at the Town Hall Arts/Galerie Copper.  I will then be able to offer both the cub and the wolf for future workshops.

 Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

Animal Defenders International Lion Donation, WIP05

Hello Everyone!!

Well... after a month or two I am finally able to draw.  My back is doing better but it isn't completely well yet.  My doctor prescribed some medication that is helping considerably.  

I finally got a chance to do some work on Simba.  I've gotten most of the fun stuff done and I'm now working on his mane.  He is such a pretty boy, I'm really enjoying doing his portrait.

I was hoping I would have him done by now but this setback with my back injury took care of that.  I have less than 2 weeks before I will be teaching the workshop on the Ann Kullberg Colored Pencil Cruise so I'm thinking I probably won't be able to finish him before I leave but we'll see.... I'm going to give it a try.  If you should have any questions at all please don't hesitate to speak up.

Thanks for checking in and don't forget to keep scribbling!
Gemma

Animal Defenders International Lion Donation, WIP04

Hi All,

Here's another update on Simba!  As you can see I am moving right along.  I'm starting to get the background in on the right side as I go along.

So far I have used 100% colored pencils and it's done on Suede Mat board.  When I work in colored pencils I use several different brands.  Most of this is done in Prismacolor however; it does also have Derwent Studios, Derwent Colorsoft, Faber Castell Polychromos, Derwent Artist and I think that's about it.  If you're wondering why I use so many different brands.... it's because of color choice and also because the different pencils behave a bit differently and are better for some things.  As an example I really like Derwent Studios for fine fur, they are a harder pencil which makes it great for fine hair.  I have found I don't have any problem at all with mixing different brands of pencils.  They all seem to work fine with one another.

If you should have any questions don't hesitate to speak up and comments are also welcomed.  
Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

Mountain Lion / Reflections Series WIP 04 Completed

Hello All,

Well.... I finally finished this piece. I'm going to title it "Wild Reflections".

I continued to use the same technique and color pallet as mentioned before. 80% of this piece is done in colored pencil and the rest of it is done with pastel. I don't normally use pastel but thought it would be fun to give it try. Most of the pastel is used in the water area. The mountain lion is 100% colored pencil. After I sprayed it with workable fixative I went back with colored pencil and redefined some of the reflections in the water. I really enjoyed working on this piece. I plan on entering it in the CPSA "Explore This!" Exhibition, lets hope it gets accepted.

I am now working on another piece of an adorable Raccoon. Keep checking back, I should be posting the work in progress on the raccoon soon.

If you have any questions or comments let me know. Don't forget to keep scribbling!
Gemma

Mountain Lion / Reflections Series WIP 03

Hi All,

It's been a while since I have been able to work on this piece. Between the Colored Pencil Society of America Convention and vacation I just didn't have the time to work on it.

The Mountain Lion has been done with colored pencil with just a little bit of pastels for the highlights. The water was done by laying down 3 layers of colored pencil using Prismacolors, Moss Green, Dark Umber and Black and then blending it with a brush dipped in Gamsol and then slightly dried on a paper towel. I then created the details using Prismacolors Nupastels and the new PanPastels. I really like the effect this gave the water. If I get this piece done in time it will be my entry for the "CPSA Explore This!" show. I'm now starting to work on the Mountain Lions reflection, I plan to do that predominately in CP. Although, I will probably use pastels for the highlights.

If you should have any questions don't hesitate to ask and don't forget..... Keep Scribbling!
Gemma

Mountain Lion / Reflections Series WIP 02

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't posted an update before this. As Conventions Director of the Colored Pencil Society I have been really busy lately. We are finishing up all the final details of the Convention and I haven't had a lot of time for art. Hopefully after the end of the month I'll be able to spend more time on this piece. Even though we have been busy I always love seeing everyone at the convention and really really look forward to it. I hope to see many of you there this month.

I am almost done working on the mountain lion and will start the water and reflection of the mountain lion very soon. I'm enjoying working on this piece and hope it comes out as I imagine it should be. We as artists always seem to have a vision but often times the piece just doesn't come together as we envisioned. I have decided on a title for this piece.... I think I will call it "Wild Reflections". I want to thank all of you for your title recommendations I really like some of them. I think I will definitely use them in the series pieces to come after this one.

The image above is the full artwork so you can see I haven't gotten a lot done at this point. The one below is a close up of the mountain lion. If you should have any questions at all let me know. Don't forget...... Keep Scribbling!!!
Gemma

Mountain Lion / Reflections Series WIP 01

Hi All,

I decided to do a series of this Mountain Lion with Reflections. I'm not sure how many I will do but I do have a bunch of pictures of this Mountain Lion playing in and about the water. I figure I could at least do 3 to 5 pieces. I would also like to have the title of all of pieces in the series to include the words reflections, reflection, reflected or reflecting in the title. The first piece of the series was titled "Reflections". If any of you can help me with a title for this one I would really appreciate it. This first picture is the reference photo.
This piece will be done on the Suede board again. The color of the Suede board is called moccasin. I plan on doing this piece using Colored Pencils and pastel. If it turns out the way I hope and if I get it done in time, I plan on entering it in the Colored Pencil Society of America's, Explore This 7 exhibition.

So far it has predominantly colored pencil with very little pastel. I plan on using the pastel more in the background than on the cat. However; I did use pastel on some of the white highlight areas.

This is my beginning, I haven't got a lot done yet but hope to be able to work on it quite a bit next week.
Here is a close up of what I have done so far. As I mentioned before the pastel is only in the white areas. The rest of it has been done with Prismacolor colored pencils and Derwent Colorsoft colored pencils. I just love the way the Colorsoft pencils work with the Suede board.

If you have any questions or suggestions for the title please let me know.

Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP Finished!

Hi All,

Well.... I'm calling this one done.

I titled it "Solitude", it's 100% Prismacolor colored pencils on an 8" X 8" piece of gray Suede Mat Board.

If you have any questions let me know.

And.... Keep Scribbling!
Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP 4

Hi All,

Actually I'm really pleased with the outcome of this piece so far.

I'm very close to being done so I hope to have it finished by the end of this weekend. I have dog training tomorrow so probably won't be able to finish it then but, for sure by Sunday.

I'm continuing to use the same layering technique on creating this. I can't express enough how the Suede mat board allows me to create fur very easily. I just love this support and if you haven't tried it yet.... you gotta give it a try.

I have several photo references of this wolf and others from the same photo shoot so I am sure I will be creating more artwork from this subject. He is a very beautiful animal and photographed very nicely. If you are wondering how I get some of these great shots you should visit the following site: http://www.tripledgamefarm.com. They have trained animals where they take you and the animal out to a natural site and you can take a bunch of pictures. I love going to this place, it has been a while since I have been so hopefully there will be another trip in the near future.

If you have any questions let me know and I'll be happy to answer them.
Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP 3

Hi All,

Well this guy is coming along, it looks like I am going to be able to meet the deadline, phew.

I'm continuing to use the same process as I have explained in the prior posts.

I'm really enjoying doing this piece, I love the wolf's fur and his colors. He really is a gorgeous creature!

If you have any questions let me know. Keep Scribbling!!

Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP 2

Hi All,

I'm sorry I haven't posted before this, I was on vacation and when we got back I came down with a really bad cold. We had a wonderful time while we were in Costa Rica but it was a real bummer coming down with a cold afterwords. LOL.

I am continuing to follow the same layering process as I described in the previous post. Again... as I mentioned so many times before, I love creating animal fur on the Suede Board, it allows me to add light, dark and medium colors as if I am painting with opaque paint rather than transparent colored pencil.

If you have any questions regarding the process I use, don't hesitate to ask in the comments area of this blog.

Enjoy and Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP 1

Hello All,

Here is my first update on the wolf. I probably won't get much done this week on this piece because I have a lot of stuff going on.

I plan on doing this piece with all Prismacolor colored pencils. It's done on gray Suede board. As you can see I haven't gotten to much done yet but I thought I would go a head and post the progress because it will be a week or so before I can work on it again.

When doing animal fur I lay down a medium color first then I add several light and dark colors on top of that. I keep playing with it until I get it where I want it. I always draw the fur in the direction it grows on the animal. This is very important to do to get that realistic look.

If you have any comments or questions just let me know.
Keep Scribbling!!! Gemma

CPSA Silent Auction Donation WIP

Hello All,

I was invited to donate an artwork to the Colored Pencil Society of America Silent Auction at the convention this year.

I decided to draw this wolf for the silent auction. I photographed him while I was in Montana a few years ago. What a beautiful animal they are!

I plan on doing the wolf on gray Suede Mat board and of course using colored pencils.

I have several shots of this wolf so I'm sure I will do more artwork from my reference photos in the future.

Be sure to check back because I will be posting updates of the progress on this piece. Don't forget.... Keep Scribbling!! Gemma

A Golden Retriever Named Reba - WIP Final!!

Hi All,

Ok... well here she is.... all signed and approved and ready to deliver.

Thanks everyone for your kind comments and thanks for following this Work In Progress.

My next drawing will be a wolf, which will also be on suede board and will be my silent auction donation for the Colored Pencil Society of America Convention.

Keep Scribbling!
Gemma