Today I had my colored pencil class draw donuts on Uart 800 grit sanded paper. It was more of a challenge for them than I thought it would be but they all did a great job and everyone's style was different. I should have taken a picture. 
These are the two halves of my wall space in the Maxwell Mays Gallery at the Providence Art Club. My colored pencil pieces on the gessoboard squares are getting quite a bit of attention because they are so different. At the opening reception, I sold the little tarts that I previously posted on the blog. Hoping to sell a few more in the next month!
After the last scan and post of the shell piece, I started working on it again and decided to brush off some pencil crumbs with my little brush. Well, I brushed off more than pencil crumbs. Half the drawing went away. Thus, I learned that I have to be really careful when working on such a coarse surface, the pencil doesn't adhere as well as it can. I found a solution, I sprayed the piece with workable fix and then added more pencil. I think I've done just about all I want to and its time to move on to the next drawing!
I've given each element color and value and covered the surface with pencil. Next I'll work on the background and then details on the shells to make them stand out. This is a fun piece to work on and I'm liking the rough sanded surface.
I started this drawing on 8x8 Gessoboard. The ground is made with Golden Acrylic Ground for Pastel and Golden Gold Irridescent Acrylic paint. I got ideas and learned how to make different grounds from a pastel workshop I took with Susan Ogilvie. The thing about colored pencil, is that it doesn't often go on as well as the pastel over some of these very coarse grounds. The pencil flakes all over my drawing table and .... boy ... do these grounds eat up the pencils quickly! On the bright side, I really like the "painterly" approach of working on the coarse ground and the fact that I can't get overly detailed with each little shell. Its helping me loosen up a bit!
This is my completed orchid series hanging in the Art League of Rhode Island Annual Member Exhibit at the Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, RI. I was finally able to take a picture and post it. My piece received lots of good feedback at the opening reception, viewers can't believe it is colored pencil.
This 6x6" piece of colorful stones is done on Gessoboard covered with a black ground that is (or was) made my Golden. I received a sample of this ground from one of the CPSA conventions but I can't remember the exact name and can't find it on the Golden website. Anyway, its just another experiment with different surface textures and colors!
Our New England chapter of CPSA is holding a theme show & silent auction at Spring Bull Gallery, Newport, RI during the month of November. Our theme is H2O ... the artists' interpretation of water. Here are two pictures from the opening; me with one of my pieces "Memories of Sanibel" and viewers looking at the works of art. The 5x7" "Candy Apples" is my silent auction piece. Call the gallery (401) 849-9166 if you would like to bid. Current bid is $100. Proceeds will go to our chapter for our membership, special projects and community outreach.
