The Pencil Box - Featured Artists - September 2024

January Embers by Antoniette Preston
19x23 inches, colored pencil on Fabriano Artistico Hot Press watercolour paper

January Embers was created as an experiment, a portrait depicting a woman with fiery red hair. My nieces, blessed with this radiant colour, often express a desire to change it. Determined to unveil its true beauty, I illustrated the image and shared it on social media. The response was overwhelming! Comments flooded in, praising the fiery red hair as a work of art itself. I hope this artwork helps my nieces realise the beauty in their natural hair colour—a feature that sets them apart in the most exquisite way. Perhaps my drawing has sparked a new level of self-appreciation, a newfound understanding that their red hair is not a flaw to be hidden but beauty to be celebrated. And as the likes and comments continued to pour in, I knew that January Embers had ignited a flame of self-love, blazing brightly for all to see.

ANTONIETTE PRESTON:

Antoniette Preston is an Australian Artist. Self-taught Antoniette prides herself on her ability to capture a likeness of her subject with close attention to detail. Beyond her own artistic pursuits, Antoniette is dedicated to nurturing young talent, by offering tailored art classes to children.

Facebook: Antoniette Preston - Fine Art




Despair by Chris Rodgers
33 x 45 cm, colored pencil on drafting film

The reference photographer captioned this shot ‘Wondering what to make for dinner tonight’ and I laughed and thought ‘Yep, that’s me’. I was drawn to the pose of this primate, who appeared so deep in thought. When I put pencils to paper and started drawing, it made me think about the plight of the Sumatran Orangutans and how their loss of habitat means these beautiful animals are facing extinction. So maybe the photographer really did caption it correctly and this Orangutan is in fact despairing as to what food may be left to eat. The eyes say it all.

CHRIS RODGERS:

Chris Rodgers is a colour pencil artist living in Cromwell, New Zealand. She has been drawing since 2021 and loves the detail she can achieve with colour pencil. She loves to draw a range of subjects including birds, mammals and still life.

Facebook: Christie Robyn Art




Woman in studio by Marie Gustafsson
30x25 cm, colored pencil on Pastelmat

When I got this challenge from my teacher, I wasn't going to attempt to try. But when it wasn't so much time left on the deadline, I decided to give it a go. This is my first attempt on my own with color pencils. The woman really spoke to me from the photo and she resembles my daughter a lot. I felt her contemplating her coming piece, looking inside herself, and everything goes still and quiet. This is the feeling that I wanted to come out of my drawing. It was such a joy to draw her clothes with all the folds and texture.

MARIE GUSTAFSSON:

Marie lives with her family in Uppsala, Sweden. She has always been drawing with pencils and preferably animals but a few portraits of children have sneaked in there. In 2022, she found Bonny Snowdon's academy and joined, and what a thrilling experience it has been for her.




Contemplation by Susan Eckles
9"x12", colored pencil on Grafix drafting film

Bear cubs are frequent and favorite visitors to our mountain home. These two, surrounded by the flowers and forest of our backyard, are contemplating the mysteries of life while they rest from hard play. This was a challenge from beginning to end. In the reference, the bear cubs were grizzlies, but we have black bears, so they had to change. When I decided that they needed to be sitting in our yard, I needed to bring in, without detracting from the cubs, our magnificent hydrangeas, the path through the woods that my husband created, and the various bushes and trees of our forest. I also wanted to create the glorious texture of the bear fur, a challenge with drafting film, so I placed a heavily textured paper under the film while working on the fur. It took a month to create and was one of my most challenging pieces to date, but I smile every time I look at it. I hope you do, too.

SUSAN ECKLES:

Susan Eckles was a “late bloomer”, beginning her adventure in art at 70 with a request from her husband to draw his dream. It took more than five years to complete "The Lion Tree", but, in the meantime, she found her passion in creating intensely detailed colored pencil animal and human portraits.

Facebook: Susan Eckles Art