Hello All,
Here's another update on the Ostrich. I'm probably going to have to stop working on this piece for a while to create my Silent Auction donation to CPSA for the Convention. I will do a work in progress on the silent auction piece as well, so keep checking back. I had to order the support I plan on using for the silent auction piece so I will continue on this until I get that order.
As for the Ostrich.... I'm continuing to create this piece using predominantly Prismacolor pencils along with some Derwent Colorsoft Pencils. I am also continuing to use my Icarus heated board to lay down the pencils. I am actually drawing while on the heated section on the board and then blending the pencil using a stomp. I'm really enjoying using this process, it gives you a feeling of painting rather than drawing.
The image I posted is only the upper half of the piece. The piece is actually 16" x 16" square and I haven't started working on the lower half yet.
If you have any questions or comments let me know, in the mean time..... Keep Scribbling!
Gemma
Hi All,
I'm moving along fairly slowly on this. I have had a lot of distractions. We were at a dog show for 4 days and when I got back I had lots of CPSA work I need to get done. I do believe I will be able to get back in my studio tomorrow so hopefully I will have some more progress soon.
This Ostrich is really fun to do, he is quite the challenge though. I used my Icarus board on the background and on the beak so far. I also went back and drew in the white/light fuzzy hairs that go into the background using the Icarus board. I just love that heated board because it allows me to add the white/light hairs into the background and they actually appear opaque. It definitely gives you a feeling of painting at times.
I'm hoping I'm able to portray the inquisitiveness that this guy had. He was so interested in my camera lens and was just about to peck at it. He was totally in my face. In fact... I think that is what I am going to title this piece.... "In Your Face".
Along with the Icarus board I'm using predominately Prismacolor pencils and a few of my favorite colors of the Derwent Colorsoft pencils. They react quite nicely on the Icarus board.
I can't think of much more to say for now. If you should have any questions or comments feel free to speak up.
Don't forget to Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma
Hi Everyone,
Here's my first update on this piece, this is just a portion of the drawing. The finish drawing will be 16" x 16". So far I'm using Prismacolor Pencils and Derwent Colorsoft Pencils on UArt. This piece will be done with 100% colored pencils.
I'm also using my Icarus board to help blend the Colored Pencils. For those of you who are not familiar with the Icarus board... it's a heated board that has a cool area and a heated area. You can lay down your the color on the cool side and then move the piece over to the heated side to blend the layers using a stump. Using the Icarus board gives you a feeling of painting rather than drawing. You can also keep the painting in the heated area even while laying down the colored pencil. I really like the way the colorsoft pencils react using the Icarus board. If any of you are interested in learning more about the Icarus board here is the link: http://icarusart.net/. If you have any questions at all let me know.
Keep Scribbling,
Gemma
Hi All,
Here's the reference photo I'm using to create my next piece. This photo what taken while we were in Arizona at a place called "Out of Africa". When I took this picture this guy was just about to peck my lens, he got very close.
This piece will be done with 100% Colored Pencils on UArt Sanded Surface, the 600 grit. The finished piece will be 16" x 16" and I plan on using this exact composition so it will be one really big face, LOL.
Keep checking back and don't for get to keep scribbling!! Gemma
Hello All,
After studying this piece on the computer I found a few things I didn't like about it so I tweaked it a bit.
So........... Here's my final piece. If you are wondering what was bothering..... I found that the front, back leg seemed to be coming forward a bit. So I worked that a bit to push it back.
Keep Scribbling! Gemma
Hi All,
Well..... I finally finished this guy. I'm pretty happy with the way he came out. As I mentioned before he was done on Suede mat board, using predominantly Prismacolor pencils, some Derwent Colorsoft and some pastels (not to much pastel though). The size is 16" x 20".
I'm still not sure what I'm going to title this piece so I'm still thinking on that. I haven't heard of any suggestions from anyone so if you can think of something, please let me know.
If any of you should have any questions or comments please speak up. And..... I really really do need some help with a title.
Thanks for watching this Work In Progress.... and don't forget..... Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma
Hi All,
I know this seems to be going kind of slow..... again.... LOL. But, I have been very busy with the dog show stuff, my CPSA volunteer job and life in general.
Here's another update. I'm continuing on with the same pallet. A little bit of pastel, here and there but predominantly Colored Pencil. I am using Prismacolor pencils and some Derwent Colorsoft Pencils.
I'm fairly pleased with the way this little guy is coming out. I hope to have him done so I can enter him in either the Artists for Conservation Exhibition or the Society of Animal Artists Exhibition.
This week I do have lots of other things going on so I may not have an update for a week or so but hopefully I can get some time in the evenings on this guy.
If any of you have a suggestion for a title of this piece I would really appreciate your input. I was thinking of calling it "Hanging in There" but I'm not real sure of that title.
Let me know what you think and if you have a suggestion for a title.
Keep Scribbling,
Gemma
Hello Everyone,
Here's another update on this little guy. I'm fairly pleased with the way he is coming out so far.
This really isn't a good stage to share because the difference in hair color really doesn't make sense. If you refer to the reference photo I posted earlier it will make better sense.
The lighter redish color on his fur is due to the sunlight.
I don't really have much more to say or share with you so if you should have questions let me know.
Keep Scribbling!!!!
Gemma
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
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
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
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
