The Pencil Box - Featured Artists - November 2017
November 2017 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!
31 x 44.5 cm
In May I spent a week in the Lake District in the UK. The weather was glorious, and the area is very beautiful. It is a lovely area for walking as well as photography. This was one of my favorite locations. It is known as Surprise View! When looking through my photographs I decided that this particular one would be the best to work from as I loved the composition.
Judith Heilbronn-Crown is a Signature Member of the UK Coloured Pencil Society, and has exhibited in at least ten of their Open Exhibitions. She has been drawing and painting from childhood, now mostly drawing landscapes in colored pencil, though she enjoys challenging herself with other subjects outside her comfort range!
See more at:
https://www.facebook.com/Judith-Heilbronn-Crown-artist-659166094200467/
Locked Wishes by Ria Axeli
12" x 18"
Colored pencils on Pastelmat.
I took this photo when I visited Amsterdam. People were placing locks on a railing so that their wishes would come true. The lock on the top is mine and has my daughter's name engraved. The raindrops on the locks were a big challenge for me. I love realism so I tried to create my artwork in a realistic way. Faber-Castell Polychromos was the best possible way for me in order to create Locked Wishes.
About Ria
Ria Axeli lives in Athens and has been drawing since childhood. She is married and has a lovely daughter. A year ago she found the magic world of colored pencils and has created lots of artwork since.
Partners by Victoria Parsons
45 x 35 cm
Colored pencils on Bockingford 200lb weight paper.
Animals and nature have always played a very important in my life, but the wolf has always been my favorite. So when I was offered the opportunity of volunteering my help in look after a small pack for a wolf conservation group each week I jumped at the chance. One day a week changed very quickly to three days during summer months when the public visited the site. Once everyone had left I was able to sit and study and draw from life these amazing animals. I would sit out in all weathers summer and winter drawing and recording their body postures and behavior. I would work on small color studies as their fur changed from season to season. I also worked a few night shifts, staying on my own and drawing until the light got so dark that I had to stop.
During my time with the wolves I held colored pencil Wolf Workshops to help raise funds for wolf conservation. This piece of work is very dear to me and shows two wolves from that pack. I chose to use Bockingford 200lb weight paper for the support as I find that it helps with the texture of the undercoat. Using Derwent water-soluble pencils I applied the color dry, as I find that these pencils give a soft and delicate effect when applies in their dry form. Then I built up layers of color depicting the guard hairs gradually changing to Derwent Coloursoft for more definition and strength for the eyes and noses. Working with these animals has been one of the most truly inspiring and memorable times of my life. I hope through my work that the public might realize the true beauty of this misunderstood animal.
About Victoria
Not only is Victoria a working artist she also holds her own weekly drawing and painting classes for adults. Victoria also gives regular demonstrations and workshops for art groups and societies. She has held solo exhibitions and been featured in shows around the UK with wildlife art associations.
See more at:
www.victoriaparsons.co.uk
10" x 10.5"
Faber Castell Polychromes, Derwent Coloursoft, and Derwent Graphitint on
Fluid Aquarelle paper 140 lbs.
With my deep interest in furniture design and place identity, I have always photographed images of various built environment settings for use on course modules in design research, spatial planning, and environmental psychology among many others. In exploring colored pencils as a medium since July 2015, I thought of continuing the visualization of spatial narratives for a theme. Parallel to research, my works seek to express the illustrative intersections of art, design, and architecture. I find pleasure in portraying the muted discourse of architectural techniques, graphic design, and interpretive impressionism with pencil strokes revealing derivatives of the designer-oriented approach. The visual curiosity is further expressed by exploring composition, context, and color to vibrantly convey renditions of material culture and everyday life.
The reference for this artwork was a photo taken from one of many public art installations at Indianapolis International Airport a few years ago. The main piece was a single assemblage of six vintage leather suitcases neatly attached to one another.
With the intent of giving a story line, I added four different travel bags around it to generate a complete ensemble. The stuff toy, bouquet of flowers, and the red Havana hat were additional elements to create a blissful mood, and integrate pleasant cues in spatial memory. The floor and wall backgrounds have also been altered from the original reference, revealing a patterned carpet instead of terrazzo flooring, and a view to the outdoors as opposed to an interior wall. In this context, the photograph is simply an inspiration to construct an entirely new set of artifacts in an envelope of space. Constant experimentation with color pencils allows me to value the process, and discover multiple possibilities. Reflecting deeply on my creative approach, I noticed that ideas characteristically spark from lyrical inspirations.
Thelma Lazo-Flores is an educator and visual artist trained in design science, regional development, art history, and interior architecture. Her lengthy professional practice manifests the broad spectrum of commercial spatial design projects, furniture and product design, exhibition design, visual merchandising, and illustration.
See more at:
https://www.designstudies.space/creative-work
These artworks were published in the November 2017 issue of COLOR Magazine.
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