Rottweiler - Work In Progress - 3 - Finished!

Hi All,

Well.... I'm calling this one finished.  I'm going to be delivering this to the person who commissioned me to do, tomorrow.  I'm excited about the timing of getting this finished.  The person I did this for has been at the dog show for the last three days and in just three days she got her Novice Obedience title on her male Rottie.  Not only did she get her title in just three days her scores were really high, they were 195.5, 196.5 and 190 out of 200.  That was so awesome!  She will be at the dog show tomorrow and I think it will be fun to deliver this to her after the last 3 great days she had at the dog show, she's been anxious to have me finish it.

I pretty much used the same pallet throughout the drawing except on the tongue.  There I used most of the pinks that Prismacolor has as well as some blue violet, henna, black grape, cool grey 90%, white and clay rose.

Now  I'm going to get back to my Raccoon I started, so watch for the updates on that piece.

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

Rottweiler - Work In Progress - 2

Hi All,


Here's another update to the Abby Portrait.  I'm continuing to use the same pallet as I did in the last post.

Abby seems to be coming along nicely, I'm going to start working on the mouth next.  

As you can see I am continuing to draw in the color on the contour drawing.  I like finishing each little square inch as I go because that way I don't loose the contour drawing.  I also like working this way to keep me from being bored.  Every little square inch that is complete makes feel like I accomplished something even if I only work for a few minutes on the drawing.  Colored pencil can take quite some time to complete, some times up to 150 hours for one drawing.  If I finish one square inch at a time I have at least completed something, LOL.  As far as I'm concerned, there is really no right or wrong way to do it.  I know there are purists who think it's better to work on the drawing as a whole but..... I just don't do it that way and that doesn't mean it's the wrong way to do it.

I know I may seem like I am rambling regarding this issue but I have to say I have had more than a few people try to tell me that drawing in the fashion I do isn't the correct way to do it.  My answer to that controversy is..... as long as the end result is finished and looks correct who cares what I did to get to that finished product.  We all have our own way to "skin the cat" as they say.

If you have any questions by all means speak up......  And most of all Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma

Rottweiler - Work In Progress - 1

Hi All

As I mentioned in the last post, I had to stop working on the Raccoon to do this commission of this Rottweiler named Abby.

Abby is owned by a friend of mine named Judy. She also owns Dutch, Dutch was bred with my female, Harlow and I kept one of the pups. I also did a commission of Dutch, if you're interested in seeing it you can find the post listed under Rottweiler.

The first picture is the reference drawing I'm working from. It was taken by Jack Fields who has given me permission to use his photo.

When creating a piece like this I start by drawing my contour drawing on sketch paper and then transferring it to the mat board. I do not do a detailed drawing, I just simply do a contour drawing. To get the proportion correct I use the grid system to draw the contour drawing. I then use transfer paper to trace the contour drawing onto the mat board. This piece is done with Prismacolor pencils on suede mat board. The nice thing about the mat board is you can leave the mat board as your background. It looks really nice for portraits and also helps speed up the process.

The colored pencils I'm using so far in this piece are 10-90% warm and cool gray, slate grey, deco blue, goldenrod, mineral orange, terra cotta, cloud blue, light peach, sunburst yellow, dark umber, indigo blue, true blue, white, black, chocolate, cream, greyed lavender, pumpkin orange, sky blue light, powder blue, blue violet lake, peach and sienna brown, these are not in any particular order of use. If you have any questions or comments don't hesitate to let me know.

Keep Scribbling!
Gemma

Juried In the Artists for Conservation

Hello Everyone!

I'm excited to announce that my Mountain Lion artwork titled "Reflections" has been accepted into the Artists for Conservation annual exhibition.

I am honored to have my artwork displayed with some of my favorite wildlife artists such as Robert Bateman, Terry Isaac, Val Warner and many more. If you are interested in seeing the virtual exhibition just click on this link: http://www.artistsforconservation.org/virtual-exhibit

Also... I thought I would let you know that I had to put the Raccoon on hold for now because I have a commission I'm working on. I'll post the progress on the commission soon.

Keep Scribbling,
Gemma

Raccoon - Work in Progress - 1

Hi All,

Well, here is a small update. I decided to put the background in first because the raccoon is so furry and the fur has to overlap the background.

The one thing I don't like about doing it this way is I really prefer to work on the animal so doing the background first tends to get boring for me. LOL

So far it is 100% colored pencil. I know I said I was going to use pastels but I don't know if I will. We'll have to wait and see how it goes.

I'm using predominantly Prismacolor colored pencils but have used one or two of the Derwent Colorsoft. When I lay down the layers on Suede board I put down the medium color first and then add the darks and lights on top of that. The size of the piece is 16" x 20 and I haven't come up with a title yet. If any of you have a good idea for a title let me know, I would appreciate the help.

If you should have any questions let me know, otherwise.... keep scribbling!
Gemma

Raccoon - Work in Progress

Hello Everyone!

Here is the reference photo of the next "Work in Progress" I'll be posting here on my blog.

This photo was taken by Barbara Krans Jenkins who gave me the photo for my birthday. Thanks Barb!!! She took the picture of this guy in the tree in her backyard.

I couldn't believe how he was hanging in the tree as if he were a leopard or something, LOL. I already started the piece and should be posting the progress in the next day to two. I'm doing this piece on the Suede Mat board, the color of the mat board is an off white color called whisper. I'm using colored pencils and a little bit of pastel here and there.

Keep checking back to see the progress and don't forget..... 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

New!! 9 Night Mexican Riviera Cruise Colored Pencil Workshop!

9-night Mexican Riviera Cruise aboard the Carnival Spirit
November 4-13, 2011
Class size firmly limited to 24. Book early this class will fill!
To register or for information: 1-800-253-0116

$899 includes all three workshops! (Interior stateroom/double occupancy, price subject to availability, taxes and departure fees are additional; group rate available for guests not taking workshops)

The three Colored Pencil Instructors are:
Ann Kullberg
Gemma Gylling
Linda Lucas Hardy

To see the cruise itinerary and more info on the workshops go to to: http://www.annkullberg.com/cruise_home_mexico9.php

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