May 2025 Showcase - Colored Pencil Artwork
The three artists featured in the May 2025 issue of COLOR Magazine Showcase share the stories behind their beautiful artwork here in our blog.
Sweet and Sour by Asma Rekik
17.7 x 17.7 inches
Albrecht Dürer, Prismacolor, and Luminance on Canson Mi-Teintes. (Photo by Denise McQuillian, used with permission.)
Sweet and sour is everything about this artwork. It’s the sweet scent of daffodils and the sour taste of lemons of course, but it’s also a lot of sweet and sour emotions I dealt with during the four months of progress on this piece. I worked on it through alternating exciting and disappointing news and it helped me in meditating and balancing my emotions. It was such a healing process that I was unsure, by the end, whether I was satisfied to see it finally done or rather sorry to no longer have it on my drawing board.
One other special thing about this piece is that the kind photographer, Denise McQuillian, who gave me the permission to draw this composition, had some health issues while the artwork was halfway done. It made me feel the rush to finish it and share it with her. Fortunately, her excitement to see it exceeded my expectations. So yes, Sweet and Sour is definitely a healing piece from start to finish!
About Asma Rekik:
Asma Rekik is a self-taught colored pencil artist from Tunisia. Her love for scribbling as a kid turned into a love story as she discovered premium pencils. Mainly interested in floral and still life art, she creates artworks depicting atmospheres and emotions expressed by still objects and plants.
See more at www.facebook.com/L'Art Aux Crayons
Held Safe by Catherine Frey Murphy
14 x 10.5 inches
Pablo, Luminance, Prismacolor, Polychromos, Derwent Drawing, Derwent Lightfast on drafting film. (Own photo reference.)
As soon as I photographed my granddaughter in her grandfather’s lap, I knew the photo had to become a drawing. I loved the contrast between the baby’s tender skin and her grandfather’s aging hands, the fuzzy sweater and the nubbly afghan. The deep, rich colors in the original photo needed only a little adjustment: I changed the afghan’s real-life warm shades to cooler tones that unified the drawing and set off the baby’s rosy-gold skin.
This was my first serious portrait on drafting film, and it was challenging. Colored pencils behave differently on film. Some shades pop brilliantly, while others look all wrong. Gold tones, for instance, can seem greenish or drab. Texture is different, too. Some soft pencils are too crumbly, while harder ones can scratch underlying layers right off the film. I had to experiment to find pencils that worked.
It was hard at first to blend pencil strokes into a painterly surface, but I found that if I laid down many light, even layers, I could use a brush and, sometimes, a warm reptile heating pad to create a smooth, luminous finish. I built up highlights and contours with an eraser and scratched away bits of pigment with a small wire brush to suggest yarn fibers and fine hairs. The best part of drawing on film is the ability to work on both sides. I added layers on the reverse to enrich colors and deepen shadows, and I drew the entire background on the back, creating a sense of depth and dimension.
In this portrait, I tried to show a vulnerable baby warmed and protected by her surroundings: her grandfather’s strong, secure hands, the soft sweater, and the sunlight touching her cheek like a blessing. Love went into this drawing. Though intangible, I hope it shows.
About Catherine Frey Murphy:
Catherine worked in graphite and ink for years before discovering the magic of colored pencil. She enjoys creating portraits that catch moments and tell stories. Her drawings have won international awards. She is a member of the CPSA and the UKCPS.
See more at www.catherinefreymurphy.com/
Where Peaceful Waters Flow by Kat Galbraith
10 x 8 inches
Faber-Castell Polychromos, Derwent Lightfast, Derwent Drawing, Caran d'Ache Luminance, Caran d'Ache Pablo on Arches Aquarelle Hot Press 300gsm. (Own photo reference.)
While famous for its hot springs, Lesbos also has a cold water spring at Karini near the center of the island. Shaded by trees and so hidden away you could almost miss it if you didn’t know it was there, the spring forms a pool, leaving as a stream to bring life to the whole valley it sits within. On a summer’s day, Karini provides a welcome respite from the unforgiving heat, exuding an atmosphere of peace and solitude that is quite intoxicating to the senses.
I imagine this was what brought Theophilos Hatzimichail here, the man whose work I had come to see: the remains of a mural he painted on the wall of the cafeneon (café) at Karini some time before his death in 1934. Penniless, shunned and ridiculed in his time, he lived there for a while, within a gigantic hollow plane tree next to the spring. He was a fascinating man; his desire to create was unstoppable, and I love his paintings. I have many prints in my home.
As I was leaving the plane tree to cross the stream back to the car, I glimpsed gold in the corner of my eye; a mama duck and her babies snoozing in a single patch of sunlight within the dark depths of the stream. They looked so content: a perfect pure moment of bliss. The photo is one of my favorites. It’s a reminder of a very special day, and I adored the chiaroscuro effect produced naturally by the light and setting. I’ve always wanted to draw it.
About Kat Galbraith:
Kat picked up colored pencils for the first time since childhood at the end of 2020, learning with tutorials, books, and the support of fellow artists in The Creating with Colour Pencil community on Facebook. She works full time as a countryside ranger and lives with her partner, a loopy hound and a Greek cat in The Midlands of the UK.
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