July 2021 Showcase - Colored Pencil Artwork
Below, the three artists featured in the July 2021 issue of COLOR Magazine Showcase share the inspiration behind their artwork for our blog. Below, each artist shares the story behind their beautiful arfwork.
Elegant Peppers by Lorri Dixon
15 x 15 inches
Prismacolors, Polychromos, and Stabilo-All Black on white Legion Stonehenge paper
(Artist's own photo.)
I started this piece looking for a challenge, and planned to gift the finished artwork to my mom since she'd given me the glass bowl. I was thinking of my dad though, as I worked on the peppers, because he had loved peppers so much.
While I was working on all the glass bits, my mom was foremost in my mind. This project ended up becoming a diversion during a time that my mom was hospitalized after a heart attack, as her health subsequently declined. She was alone in the ICU for almost a month since COVID-19 prevented us from visiting. So, I spent my sleepiness nights and anxious days trying to be distracted by all the little details in the art piece. I worked on it during my phone conversations with my mom (when she was able to speak) and then with family members to provide support after she was intubated. Sadly, my mom passed away during her hospitalization and will never see the final artwork.
The glass bowl that the peppers are in was always one of my mom's favorite bowls. So, in a way, it's a little bit of a symbolic tribute to my parents - with the melding of my dad's earthy farming background and my mom's city-girl elegance.
About Lorri Dixon:
Lorri lives in the suburbs of Seattle. She decided to learn how to create art with colored pencils after her youngest went to college, around 2018. Beginning with her earliest pieces, she's not only won awards, but has been juried into numerous prestigious national and international exhibits. She's also had her work published in various periodicals.
See more at: https://www.facebook.com/artbylorri
Crew by Michiyo Fullerton
8 x 8 inches
Colored pencil on Grafix drafting film
(Photo by Pam Burkett. Used with permission.)
Crew is the grandson of my husband's cousin. She posted this photo online and the minute I saw it I knew I wanted to draw it in colored pencils. I loved the charming background and the color of the bicycle Crew is sitting on. I thought it was interesting that he was sitting on the bicycle backward and I thought the boots provided a good contrast to the other colors. I thought the photo captured his boyhood in a single moment and I wanted to show the same in my artwork.
I enjoy drawing portraits because it captures a moment in a person’s life. As soon as I draw the subject’s eyes they come to life for me. While I drew this portrait, I imagined Crew’s life now and what life has in store for him in the future.
About Michiyo Fullerton:
Michiyo has always loved art and exploring different ways to express herself. In 2010, after seeing some of Andria Burchett’s artwork in Geneva, Michiyo began studying colored pencils with Andria and is now a Beech Tree Studio instructor at her home in Montgomery, Illinois.
See more at: https://www.beechtreestudio.com/michiyo
Plentiful by Pearl de Chalain
16 x 22 inches
Prismacolor and Derwent Procolour colored pencils on Clairfontaine PastelMat.
(Photo by Christan Mushenko - Adobestock)
"Plentiful" inspired me as it was full of color (always a first for me), mystery and intrigue with the dark background, as well as being good enough to eat!
I felt the need to draw fresh fruit or vegetables, but the range to choose from was vast. What should I choose? Not being a good photographer I trawled the internet and quite by accident this amazing photograph by Christan Mushenko popped up as I later searched for composition photographs of more than one item in an image. This was it!
I knew immediately it had to be large, but I had never worked on anything larger than 12” x 12” before so it was rather scary. Even so, I just could not wait to start. I made an expensive purchase of several sheets of Clairefontaine Pastelmat in varying colors as I could not decide what color to work on. I finally went for the Dark Charcoal.
Stuck in a new house in a new country with my husband on the other side of the world not being able to join me because of the COVID pandemic, I made a start. It was great company. Something to keep my mind off the situation I was in.
What made the project go quickly was the fact that each fruit or vegetable was a project on its own.
I did follow one rule, and that was to complete every item only about 90%. Usually if a picture has a background I would complete that first and then add in the main body of the subject. This is to prevent unnecessary adding of more color to the main body as the newly laid background could make it look washed out. I soon found that the charcoal of the background was not dark enough and filled in the background with black before completing each item.
The project took me three months, not working every day, probably four days a week. I enjoyed every minute of it and was quite sad when it came to an end. I could quite easily do the whole thing over again, it was that much fun!
About Pearl de Chalain:
Pearl is a professional colored pencil artist, calligrapher, and book-binder living and working in North Carolina. Born in South Africa, Pearl loves the challenge of photo-realism and the need to capture the essence of a subject whether it is a plate of food, a carnival tent, or a well-loved pet, all of which she will tackle with gusto.
See more at: https://www.instagram.com/coloured_pencil_by_pearl
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