Why Only Animals & Why Colored Pencils

by Gemma Gylling

When I was young, we lived on a small ranch. We had a variety of animals, including horses, dogs, cats, ducks, chickens, cattle, and goats. I was constantly playing with my animals. I would train them to perform several tricks and different behaviors; I also loved to photograph them and draw pictures from those photographs when I had the time.

This artwork was created from a photo I took while attending a photography workshop at a sanctuary in Montana. Title: “A Sudden Encounter” Medium: Colored Pencil, Size: 26” x 18”, Mountain Lion
 
As I grew older and decided to become more serious about my art, I struggled to determine the type of art I wanted to create. I tried several types of media and subject matter, but I was not happy with them.

I was surprised by the possibilities of colored pencils after reading an article about them. I then bought several how-to colored pencil books and took several workshops to learn how to create art using colored pencils. After all, I have always loved to draw.

How do you decide on what to draw?

I grew to enjoy working with colored pencils because they were not messy, no fuss, and the technical aspect of them was just the right thing for me. Before I retired (from my job), I was an ECAD Engineer, designing printed circuit boards; therefore, I have always enjoyed technical things.

Then there was the question of what to draw. One day, I was talking to a professional artist and asked, “How do you decide on what to draw?”. That conversation was a real game-changer for me. She suggested that I should always stick with what I love. Not only should I draw what I love, but I should stick with just that choice. That way, I would become known for that subject matter. As I mentioned earlier, I always loved to draw my animals. From that time forward, I would only draw animals (wild and domestic).

This artwork was created from a photo I took while attending a photography workshop in Botswana, Africa. Title: “Reflecting on Family – Save Them”, Medium: Colored Pencil, Size: 22” x 18”, Family of Elephants

The next thing I started to think about was how to get images (that I could use for reference) of the animals I wanted to draw. I have always enjoyed playing with photography, so I started on my new mission to photograph all the animals I could. Whenever we went on vacation, we would try to choose locations where I could take lots of photos of wildlife. Plus, I would take wildlife photography workshops, this way I learned how to take the photos properly and had the chance to photograph lots of animals.

I came to realize that by taking my own photos, I was truly the creator of my art from start to finish. It was my composition, my design, and my drawing. I learned this lesson the hard way. About 19 years ago, I purchased an image from a professional wildlife photographer who sells his photos to artists to use as reference for their artwork. The contract stated that I could use his image in whole or in part for the creation of my artwork, titled “Baby Face” (an image of a mother hippo and her baby). 

Here is the artwork created from the professional photographer’s photo. Titled: “Baby Face”, Medium: Colored Pencil, Size: 13” x 16”, Mother Hippo and her baby

You can imagine my surprise when a friend of mine told me that the cover of a wildlife magazine looked almost exactly the same as my colored pencil drawing. As it turned out, the photographer had taken several photos of the hippos during that photo shoot and sold a different frame to the wildlife magazine. The magazine photo looked just like the one I bought, but was a tighter shot with a vertical orientation. 

Of course, the photographer was within his rights to sell his other frames from that photo shoot. What bothered me was that it looked as if I had plagiarized from the magazine, although my drawing was completed well before its publication. Even though you think you have done everything correctly and legally, using photos taken by someone else can come back to bite you.

GEMMA GYLLING:

Gemma is a self-taught artist whose colored pencil artwork is enjoyed by many animal art collectors all over the world. Her artwork is published in numerous books and she’s the Author of “CP Cats; A Complete Guide to Wild & Domestic Cats in Colored Pencil”.
When asked what inspires her, she says, The Animals speak to me in a unique way, I try to help them speak to you through my art. I strive to portray the velvet touch of their fur or the plight they are living to simply exist.

Website: Glassgems Studio