Red Sneakers

My drawing is a study for a much larger piece that I'm working on, but this one is 6x8" on 2" cradled Ampersand Gessobord in which I have applied a layer of Art Spectrum Colourfix Primer in a blue that I don't think they make anymore because I don't see it on their page. However, there are many other wonderful colors and I like the texture for my colored pencil. I bought a pair of bright red Converse sneakers at an outlet store and haven't worn them yet because I want to keep them pristine for my drawings. In the study and in my larger piece, I am loving working on the laces; the subtle grays tinged with color and the way they move and fall off the page. I am applying the colored pencil and then softening it with odorless mineral spirits to make it move around like paint and entirely cover the surface.

Providence Art Club Colored Pencil Class

My class at the Providence Art Club has been working in colored pencil and watercolor pencil. The third photo of the Bird of Paradise images was the previous class project. We used the reference photo and the students worked in watercolor pencil on white Ampersand Pastelbord. The other three photos are the current class project working with the yellow tulip reference photo. The surface is Ampersand Gessobord covered with a layer of blue Art Spectrum Colourfix primer. The students are putting down a layer of colored pencil and then adding solvent with a brush to melt the waxy pencil and move it around. Subsequent layers of pencil are added after the solvent and blended in. I suggested to my students that they start on one area of the drawing and get the feel for applying the solvent with the pencil before they move onto the whole piece.

Koi in Colored Pencil

The current piece I'm working on is a second long vertical drawing of koi. Bristol Art Gallery sold the first rather quickly and requested another. I'm putting together the composition from koi photos I took during a trip to Napa Valley, CA a few years ago. The koi at one particular winery were so colorful and plentiful, I took about 50 photos to work from. The surface I'm working on is Ampersand 2" cradled Gessobord with Raw Siena colored Art Spectrum Colourfix Pastel Primer (surface color shows around the koi). I've worked the koi fish almost to completion and next I'm going to add the water surrounding them and then I'll re-evaluate the composition and maybe add more colors or dimension to the fish and work them into their surroundings.

Brightly Colored Orchids

I put the golfers aside and started a new colored pencil drawing. This one is on 12x12" Ampersand cradled gessobord. The surface of the gessobord is coated with Burgundy Colourfix liquid primer mixed with red Art Spectrum Liquid Spectrum ink to brighten the burgundy colored base. I chose this color for the background because I feel it will compliment the bright purples of the orchid blossoms nicely and still work well with the greens of the leaves. My reference photo is at the top of the photo.

So I began by drawing in the white areas of the flowers and little yellow centers. Most of the white areas are drawing with white pencil although I used some Powder Blue, Cream and Peach for the flowers behind others. The nice part about this textured surface is that it will take many layers and I can adjust any color or value issues that I need to.

Next I moved onto the leaves and began choosing and laying in some greens. I am using gray greens; Sage, Kelly, Celadon and Limepeel rather than the bright greens. I want the blossoms to pop forward and the green leaves to settle in the background. I'm going to have fun with this piece, especially the beautiful purples and bright pinks of the orchids themselves.