Beach Dunes in Colored Pencil

I am working on a series of beach dunes and beach grasses in colored pencil and on cradled wood panels. The grain of the wood is showing through in some areas of the drawings adding texture. I've also left some of the wood showing in the areas of sand, the wood grain and wood surface make a nice addition to these organic types of drawings. Pictured are three, I am working on two additional all in different sizes so I can hang them together as a grouping. I'm also trying out adding lots of colors that aren't in my reference photos such as red and pink skies

I am varnishing the wood with several coats of Golden UVLS Polymer Varnish brushed on. I let each coat dry approximately 30 minutes before adding another layer of varnish.

I have work in a colored pencil exhibit titled "the Magic of Colored Pencil" on display through the month of June at Spring Bull Gallery, Bellevue Avenue, Newport, RI. Our New England Chapter of CPSA is sponsoring this exhibit which has many beautiful pieces of colored pencil artwork. I am pictured with my piece "Woman in the Window" (difficult to see because of the glare) which I am honored to say, won Best in Show in the exhibit.

Nine Bugs

On Monday nights I have been taking a sketchbook drawing class at RI School of Design which I am really enjoying. Our instructor, Johnny Adimando has been encouraging us to incorporate different art mediums into our works along with drawing. We've been experimenting with image transfer, relief printing and graphite rubbings. I've found the class projects a great way to kick up my creativity a notch! I took it one step further and decided to create some works beyond my sketchbook. This is a series of bugs on 4x4" wood panels, I began each with Xerox image transfers for each insect then added colored pencil on top. I'm going to present this series of nine pieces as sculpture, on a table top rather than hung on a wall.

Beach Dunes

After finishing the candy apples, I was inspired to draw a simple scene of beach dunes and grasses. I worked on a Utrecht brand 10x10" cradled wood panel with colored pencil. I didn't prepare the surface, just worked directly onto the wood, leaving a 1/2 border of the wood showing around the drawing. The natural organic surface of the wood makes a nice background to frame this nature drawing.

I had to turn the word verification setting back on when leaving comments as I was receiving spam comments in emails as soon as I turned the setting off. Thankfully the comments weren't showing up on my blog. Hope commenters don't mind having to type those pesky characters.

Finished Class Drawings and a Dog Portrait

Here are 6 of my students' colored pencil drawings on wood; 4 are from the morning class and 2 are from the evening class. It's always fun to look at how each person's variation of the same subject. Most used a variation in color and even the orientation of the finished piece. They all look wonderful and I'm proud of all of them!!

The morning class went out to lunch yesterday, we are saying goodbye to our two Australian friends who are both moving back home within the next two months. We're going to miss them, we've been learning about their culture, customs and most importantly their desserts while we work on colored pencil drawings. It's really been fun!

I'm working on a portrait of my dog, Bandit. I'm working on UArt 800 grit sanded paper. I still have quite a bit more to go, I'm starting by laying on color roughly and then will go back and refine. I've started with just Prismacolor pencils for now.

Blue Bottle & Cherries

Here is the finished 11x14" piece, Derwent Inktense and Prismacolor colored pencil on wood. After I finished the drawing, I sprayed it with Lascaux twice and then varnished with Golden Polymer Varnish with UVLS - gloss which I diluted 3 parts to one part water and brushed on with a large, soft, flat, bristle brush. I learned using the UVLS from Ester Roi's blog entry glassless framing and also by talking with her. The result is a beautiful glossy finish which intensified the colors of the pencils.

Colored Pencil on Wood and Trip to NYC

This is the second piece in which I'm working with colored pencil on wood. The photo just above shows my beginning. I decided to try starting the darker areas with a watercolor underpainting so I drew in areas with Inktense watercolor pencils. Afterward I gently added water to the pencils and worked them with a brush like watercolors. I found that I had to add very little water otherwise the water would puddle and seep into the wood grain taking the colors in areas I didn't want it to go! The very top photo shows where I have begun working with colored pencils. The colors are much more intense with the watercolor wash underneath, as I mentioned in the last post of the pears on wood, the wood is relatively smooth and will only take so many layers of colored pencil which is why the watercolor wash will help me achieve the color I want.

Debbi Friedman and I spent the weekend in NYC. Our main purpose was to attend the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club's annual awards dinner. While neither of us were receiving an award, we both had a piece in the exhibit and had enjoyed attending the dinner so much last year that we decided to go again. On Friday afternoon, we were able to get tickets and view the new World Trade Center memorial. The two footprints of the towers have been constructed into beautiful reflecting pools and waterfalls surrounded by all the names of the people who died on 9/11 and the 1993 bombing which killed six people.

On Saturday we braved the snow and rain and walked to the Chelsea area of art galleries. On the way, we passed the Fashion Institute of Technology and noticed there were two fashion exhibits on display so we wandered in to see them. One was the history of sportswear from early 1900s to present and the other was a collection of unique clothing and shoes belonging to the famous heiress, socialite and fashion stylist Daphne Guinness known for her flamboyant personal style. The shopper that I am really enjoyed this exhibit, videos and slide show shown along with it. If you want to read more on Daphne and her collection, here is a link.

The two photos above are of work by Luisa Caldwell in the Bertrand Delacroix Gallery on 25th Street. The top piece is called "Smile" and is constructed of thousands of colored candy wrappers hung on threads in the colors of a rainbow. If you look at the flowers very carefully in the bottom picture, you will notice they are made up of various little stickers that are on fruit when you purchase it from the grocery store. Ever wonder what to do with all those empty candy wrappers or stickers when you peel them off fruit?

Colored Pencil on Wood

I was walking through our local Michael's craft store when I spotted the Artist's Loft (brand) Unprimed Wooden 1" Cradled boards. While at the CPSA exhibition and convention in Dallas this past summer, one or more manufacturers gave similar cradled boards as door prizes. I've seen some colored pencil work done on wood, so when I passed the display at Michael's, I decided to take a 9x12" board home with me to try. I need a slight break from my Angel's Trumpet piece and all those flowers and leaves so I was excited about trying a simple composition on the wood. I looked up "colored pencil on wood" on the internet and found a few ideas. One person said to lay down a very thin coat of gesso on the wood before using pencil and another person said the wood won't take many layers of pencil because it is so smooth. I decided to work directly on the wood with my colored pencils. I began with light layers of pencil knowing the pigment could build up too fast and then I wouldn't be able to apply more layers. I crosshatched in different several directions because the wood grain would show through the pencil, by crosshatching I could cover the grain pattern. I used Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils which both applied nicely. My finished piece was nice but subtle and I couldn't get the pears to stand out from the background with just colored pencil. I remembered that someone had written about using Derwent Inktense pencils and water as an underpainting when working with colored pencil on wood so I decided to apply the Inktense pencils on top with water. I wet a small area with a brush, applied some of the Inktense pencil, then moved the pigment around with the brush. As a result, I achieved richer colors in my pears. I'm wondering about other brands of the wood and if they differ. I will have to try it again. This is a quick and fun way of drawing!