The Pencil Box - Featured Artists - June 2018
June 2018 Featured Artists. 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 links at the bottom of this post for our Facebook group partners - join in the fun and your artwork could be featured, too!
Mother by Betty Ford
11 x 14 inches
Faber-Castell, Pablos, Luminance, pan pastels on black sanded Canson paper
I love photos and art work that invoke a mood or feeling when looked at. This photo invokes such a deep tender feeling. I'm also a mother of 5 and have nursed my children. So, this is a photo that is close to my heart. The lighting also gives the artwork a more intimate deeper mood. I also like to challenge myself. The various skin textures and different skin tones and colors used made this a challenge. Not only did I need to do a skin tone but also fur. Overall, with the lighting and subjects, this photo was just something that caught my eye and I couldn't resist drawing it.
About Betty:
Betty Ford is an artist from a small town in Wyoming county West Virginia. She is 30 years old and a mother to 5 children. She has been drawing on and off for 12 years but only been using colored pencil for 6 months.
Semi Precious by Kristy Allen
6 x 6 inches
Colored Pencil on Pastelmat
I have always found the natural beauty of gemstones and minerals very inspiring. Each stone is unique with its own patterns and variety of colors. I wanted to show just how vibrant you can get a colored pencil drawing with the right combination of pencils, paper, and highlighting methods. Using white Pastelmat as my paper choice, and Zest It Solvent as my blending method, I started with a few base layers of color using Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils. I like to start with the oil based pencils to get the foundation of the drawing down. Next, I proceeded with Prismacolor pencils. These layers are where I start defining the patterns and color values. The Caran d'Ache Luminance wax based pencils are what I used for the remaining layers. These final layers pack the punch of pigmented color for the brightest parts of the stones. Lastly, I used Brush and Pencil Titanium White mixed with the Touch Up Texture to create the Highlights.
About Kristy:
Kristy Allen from Cape Cod Massachusetts, has always had the dream of being an artist. She studied Fine Art in College, working mostly in Acrylic, but in the last 6 years found her love for Pastel and Colored Pencil. She strives for realism and creating artwork with a story.
See more at: www.kristynicolefineart.com
The Stoic Liberator by Kara Overbee
9 x 12 inches
Prismacolor and Faber-Castell on Canson Watercolor Paper
This is a picture of my husband. I wanted to do something in honor of him and all he does for our family. The thought behind the piece is a military man and behind him is a storm with the sun and sky breaking through. The Stoic Liberator is symbolic, when our military arrives the clouds part and there is hope. I'm so proud to be his wife. I've done so many portraits and finally felt like I was ready to do something for him. I feel like this is not only honoring him, but all those that have served our country past, present and future.
About Kara:
Kara Overbee is best known for her color pencil portraits and floral designs. She is self taught and has been working with color pencils for three and half years. She has three published books that she has illustrated and wrote with her daughter.
See more at: www.society6.com/koverbee
Susan by Francesca Comparin
30 x 40 cm
Colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico paper 640 gsm. Reference photo: Pexels
“Susan” was the very first portrait I did in coloured pencil. I saw the picture of this beautiful young girl, and I was immediately caught by her wistful expression and her deep blue eyes. It has been a bit challenging to do it, especially because I had never used this kind of paper. In early November I decided to enter “Susan” in the UKCPS 2017 “Inside The Lines Online Exhibition” with another of my drawings. Both of them were accepted, but I was very surprised to learn that “Susan” had been awarded “Highly Commended”. It was the first time that I took part in a competition. After that, I decided to continue drawing portraits. I appreciate how this extremely versatile medium permits to achieve fine particulars, and the part that I enjoy to draw the most is the eyes. My goal is to create a collection of unique and amazing portraits to perfect my skills in this fabulous technique.
About Francesca:
Francesca is a self-taught artist living in London. She painted sea landscapes for a long time, with oil on canvas. Some years ago, she met a new box of colour pencils and felt in love with this medium. Her subjects range over still-life, landscapes but she particularly enjoys drawing portraits.
See more at: https://www.facebook.com/FineArtByFrancesca/
These artworks were published in the June 2018 issue of COLOR Magazine.
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