The Pencil Box - Featured Artists - April 2021
Corresponding with the art gallery that is featured each month in Ann Kullberg's COLOR Magazine, The Pencil Box blog series will give artists a bit more space to share insight and inspiration about their colored pencil art. Make sure to check out FB group links at the bottom of this post. Call for entry is posted every month in participating Facebook groups - join in the fun and your artwork could be featured, too!
Playing the Piano by Angela Matuschka
8" x 8", Cartridge paper
Drawing abstract art is a challenge, especially with colored pencils. But it is a rewarding process. The pictorial elements themselves — such as composition, colors, values, rhythm, repetition - are then the only way to express what previously existed only in the mind, heart and soul. Thus, something mysterious and otherwise invisible comes into the world.
Music is an essential part of my life. One of my brothers played the piano excellently. His playing has accompanied me through childhood, youth and beyond.
I think music and abstract art have some things in common. Kandinsky, the famous pioneer of abstract art, wrote in his book, On the Spiritual in Art, “...the kind of creative artist who wants to, and has to, express his own inner world sees with envy how naturally and easily such goals can be attained in music...” He gave musical titles to his paintings, like 'Improvisations', 'Compositions' and 'Fugue'. Roger Fry wrote: “They are pure visual music.”
To successfully create abstract art, I think, it's necessary to have a solid fundament in realistic drawing and then to learn a lot about the pictorial elements themselves, so that they can be arranged in a good, artful way. The tricky part is to combine the artistic knowledge of these elements and the intuitive, playful part.
About Angela Matuschka:
Angela Matuschka is a very versatile artist. Her work includes realistic drawings, mandalas created from imagination and abstract art. Her artwork has won several awards and has been published in art books and magazines..
See more at: https://angela-matuschka.jimdofree.com/english/
Pardon Me by Anthony Correa
11 x 14 inches, Strathmore Bristol Vellum
I'm intrigued by the hidden world of our pets and the things they do when we're not around, and the places where reality and fantasy crossover. Also love anything Tolkienesque! So here's my long-lost cat asking a visitor from Middle-Earth in my back yard just what, exactly, is he doing here? The piece is a fairly large one, I was challenging myself to tackle something a bit larger and more involved than the round about 5x7 or 8x10 formats that I was accustomed to, having only just picked up the medium again after a long hiatus. Also gave me an opportunity to use up some of the older Prismacolor pencils I had floating around in my pencil boxes!
About Anthony Correa:
Anthony received formal art education at the Brooklyn Museum Art School and The School of Visual Arts in NYC. After a long career as a graphic artist/illustrator in the pharmaceutical advertising industry, and a hobbyist airbrush artist, he has returned to his first love, colored and pastel pencil illustration.
See more at: http://www.segrafix.com/
The Lady of the Pond by Dominé Jacques
24 x 26 inches, on Strathmore 500 paper
This work is special for me because it is my first landscape made with colored pencils. It was a challenge for me to find out if I was capable. It was a very long, painstaking job that took 165 hours, but I really enjoyed watching the landscape gradually appear on my sheet. Finally, I used 33 different colors.
Compared to the original photo, I changed the colors to give even more brightness, more sparkle to the whole. Then I added the lady to add a little air of romance, of mystery. What is she doing ? Does she walk around? is she expecting someone? Does she relive a memory? Everyone will imagine a scenario. I was surprised to see the end result, I didn’t expect such an outcome.
About Dominé Jacques:
Jacques Dominé is self-taught and has been making graphite works for more than 20 years, and mainly portraits. He has participated in several exhibitions in France and obtained numerous awards. It is only recently that he has been painting in colored pencils.
See more at: https://www.artabus.com/domine/
Bel by Sharon Moseley
9.5” x 12" Clairefontaine Pastelmat (pad)
Bel is a family members dog and is only the fifth dog I have ever drawn. As soon as I saw a photograph of her, I knew that I wanted to draw her straight away. The fur and eyes were so clear, and I was drawn to the textures and colours in her fur. I knew that oranges and blacks would be a challenge to blend, so I set my goal to try to get this right. I am so proud of Bel and Bels owners are extremely pleased with her and that makes me happy. I am at the start of my journey with colour pencils and look forward to learning so much more.
About Sharon Moseley:
With no formal training in art, Sharon stumbled across drawing and picked up her first colour pencil in August 2020. Her motivation to learn to draw was ignited after seeing a magnificent realistic double horse portrait. She yearned to draw like that. Sharon works full time and draws in between.
See more at: https://www.facebook.com/SharonMoseleyArt/
These artworks are published in the APRIL 2021 issue of COLOR Magazine.
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Comments (1)
I love Ann Kullberg’s colored pencil drawings, and these artists’ work too.
Jan Dell - Feb 19, 2021