Hi All,
Well... I guess you might be wondering what happened to me. As I am sure you can imagine, as the Conventions Director of CPSA, I was extremely busy with the convention planning. I have to say, CPSA pulled off another great convention but I am glad to get back to my art.
I just got some extremely good news. I got an email notifying me that one of my pieces of artwork was accepted in the "Strokes of Genius 4, Best of Drawing" contest. The really great thing about this news is that the winning contestants will have their artwork published in one of the Northlight books called "Stokes of Genius, Best of Drawing". They had 1650 entries and only accepted 112 artists. I have no idea which drawing they accepted but I'm supposed hear the details by August 6th.
The two artworks I entered are posted here to the left. They are "Rest Stop" and "Gulliver".
As of right now, there are 2 Stokes of Genius books publish and one on pre-order. Stokes of Genius 3 will be published and available in November so I'm thinking the Stokes of Genius 4 (which is the one my artwork will be in) won't be available for at least a year or so. None the less... this is a very exciting milestone for me as a colored pencil artist. I am definitely doing the happy dance!
Here is the link for the accepted artists: http://www.artistsnetwork.com/medium/drawing/strokes-of-genius-4-winners-announced. I want to congratulate the rest of the Colored Pencil artists who made the cut. I see several names I recognize and am very proud to be included with those colored pencil artists I admire.
I am back to work on the Ostrich and should have an update very soon. I am also starting the planning of a Lion I am doing for a commission. As soon as I finish the Ostrich I will start the Lion and will post that work in progress.
Don't forget..... Keep Scribbling!!!
Cheers,
Gemma
Hi All,
I'm calling this one done. It's done on Ampersand's Pastelbord and it's 100% Colored Pencil. The nice thing about the pastelbord is you can vanish it when you are finished and does not have to be framed under glass.
This piece is all vanished and ready to go and is 6" X 12". I've decided to title it "A Lion Sleeps Tonight". Laurene Puls came up with the title.... Thanks Laurene!
If you should have any questions or comments let me know.
Keep Scribbling!
Gemma
Hi All,
Here's an update of the piece I'm doing for the Colored Pencil Society of America silent auction.
There's not a whole lot to say about the piece. It's done in 100% colored pencil on Ampersand's Pastelbord.
I'm close to being done so it looks like I will be finished with this piece in time.... Phew, LOL. So far I'm happy with the piece.... of course I just love the subject matter, this little guy is so darn cute sleeping with one eye half open. As usual I'm having a problem with coming up with a title, if any of you have a suggest it would be greatly appreciated.
If you should have any comments or questions just let me know and above all..... Keep Scribbling.
Cheers,
Gemma
Hi All,
I thought I would post the piece I am creating for the Colored Pencil Society of America Silent Auction.
This piece is done on white Pastelboard and is 6" x 12" and done with 100% colored pencils.
Here is the first update of the little lion. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to speak up.
So far I'm using some new pencils by Jerry's Artarama called SOHO and prismacolor.
If you are wondering at what stage the Ostrich is at.... I had to put that one on the back burner in order to get this piece done in time for the Silent Auction. This piece has to be done within a month, I will be posting more updates as I progress.
Keep Scribbling, Gemma
Hi All,
Here's another update on the Ostrich. I'm now working on the feathers under his chin and along his left side so, they still need some work.
As I mentioned before I may have to take a break on this guy soon because as soon as I get the support I ordered for my CPSA Silent Auction piece I will start working on it.
I will post my progress on the Silent Auction piece and continue to post any progress on this piece as well.
I'm having fun creating this guy... he just cracks me up every time I see him. I sure hope I can express the feeling I am trying to get with him.
He's 16" x 16", on UArt and 100% Colored Pencil. As mentioned before.... I'm using the Icarus heated board to blend the colored pencil. What a great tool that board can be.... I just love!!
If you have any questions or comments let me know. Don't forget... Keep Scribbling!!
Gemma
I am very excited to hear that my Mountain Lion artwork titled, "Reflections" was accepted in the Colored Pencil Society of America, 19th Annual International Exhibition. This piece was done on tan Suede Mat Board, is done with 100% colored pencil and the size is 24" x 10". The exhibition will be June 29 - July 31, in Dallas, TX.
This is a wonderful honor and I am just thrilled!!
Gemma
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
I just got some extremely good news. I got an email notifying me that one of my pieces of artwork was accepted in the "Strokes of Genius 4, Best of Drawing" contest. The really great thing about this news is that the winning contestants will have their artwork published in one of the Northlight books called "Stokes of Genius, Best of Drawing". They had 1650 entries and only accepted 112 artists. I have no idea which drawing they accepted but I'm supposed hear the details by August 6th.
