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03 FROM MY DESKa note from the editor
04 GRAB BAGcolorize your pencil drawings
05 Q&Ayou asked, ann answered!
06 STEP BY STEPa foal unfolds, step by step of esme
09 TIPSone simple rule, old eyes?
10 PROFILEterry tallis
13 ART TECHi'm seeing dots
14 SHOWCASEcolored pencil art gallery
16 CRITIQUEdona rhodes
18
20
ART BIZselling a painting for the first time
WORKSHOPS
Cover Art “Kitten Heart”by Karen Marie Middleton
Mostly self taught, Karen has turned to colored pencils often through-out her career, and now works solely with them. In 2008 she tried graphite pencils for the first time since school and is now using graph-ite as often as colored pencils. In truth her graphite works have often proven most popular.
A hugely loyal supporter of all things pencil, Karen hopes to inspire and bring out more users through her work. “I love the detail you can achieve, and the ability to create many, many different effects with them. There are so many types of pencil available now, there’s some-thing to suit all abilities – I’d suggest you buy a few different types and just let yourself go – have fun!”
Email: [email protected]: www.karenmiddletonillustration.co.uk
Editor-In-Chief Ann KullbergDesigner Garry Dimapilis
Contributors Katie Kullberg,Nancy Carol Willis
Printer MagCloud
For Subscription, Purchase and Advertising [email protected]
© 2012 annkullberg.com
31313 31 Ave SW Federal Way, WA 98023-7855
FEBRUARY 2012T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
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Happy Valentine's Month! I love February… the crocuses start to poke through the earth, in Seattle we usually have a few sunny days and it feels like winter is past its prime. I’m going to especially love this February, though, because of our Caribbean Workshop Cruise!
A favor? Can you remember to Like us at www.facebook.com/pages/CP-Ann-Kullbergs-magazine-for-Colored-Pencil-Artists/174638509299561. I know it’s a long address, but Facebook is a great way to keep in touch between now and the next issue. Did you know that there are some Ava’s on Facebook? Subscribers who did last month’s Ava lesson sent me their lovely versions and I’ve posted them on the CP Facebook page. See you there!
Remember the fantastic “Best of Colored Pencil” books from the late 90’s? I decided it's time for a new collection to chronicle the amazing growth of the medium over the past 10 years. “CP Treasures” is a collection of gorgeous art plus generous tips, techniques and insights from each artist. Available by the end of February. Preview and Pre-order now at www.annkullberg.com I'll be signing the first 100 books sold. (Did I mention the work inside is gorgeous??)
Ann Kullbergannkulberg.com
It’s that time of year again – to start thinking about YOUR entry into our 13th Annual Member Show!
What: 13th annual Online Art Competition, open only to members of CP magazine. Free entry for all members!
Who: Don’t know if you’re a member? If you are a subscriber to our print, online or download magazines, or have signed up for Auto-Pay, you're a Member! (Yes...we're now offering Download Subscriptions! – 1 year = $27.99)
www.annkullberg.com/zine.php
When: Entry Deadline is May 20th, 2012. For entry information, go to www.annkullberg.com/entries.php
Alaskan Workshop Cruise!September 2012
Info at www.annkullberg.com
F RO M M Y D E S K
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by Susan Moyer
Ann, I'm probably not the first person to do a colored pencil portrait this way, but I've never seen it in any cp books. I thought maybe your readers might be interested in how it was done.
Here is a graphite drawing I did of my subject. (I worked from a black and white photograph that I bought on the internet from the dreamstime.com. I've done a lot of graphite pieces over the years and seem to be able to get a fairly good likeness. It’s much easier when you can erase, especially when you've got a complicated subject like this beard and hair! The original is about 12"x17" and is on Bristol plate.
I took it to a local print shop and they printed a same-size copy on their big, fancy Xerox machine onto another piece of Bristol plate that I gave them. They can copy up to 12" x 18". We did a couple of trial copies on their regular paper to get the brightness and contrast right. The final print on my good paper was just a hair lighter than the original graphite drawing. And it only cost me $1.00!
I then took my colored pencils to the printed copy. You can easily work colored pencil over the Xerox print, unlike over graphite. The copier ink is permanent and will not bleed up through the colored pencils. Trying to put cp over graphite just makes a mess, even if you spray it with a fixative first.
For my final portrait, I, of course, used Ann’s skin tone chart faithfully and all Ann colors. Here is the result. You'd be surprised how fast the cp goes since all the values are already there, and the cp covers the print beautifully, while still allowing the graphite values to ease the process. I've done a number of portraits in the past few years using this technique and have been quite satisfied with the results.
I'm quite fond of the Bristol plate paper I use for this. It can take many, many layers, even though you wouldn't think so because it has so little tooth, and it gives quite a smooth look to the finished product without leaving a lot of white spots – what I call “paper dandruff”.
Here’s how it looks after the first few layers of colors from Ann’s skin tone chart: Cream, Light Peach, Deco Pink, Jasmine, Pink Rose, Yellow Ochre and Peach. I put these colors over both the light and dark areas of the graphite, although I only went through Pink Rose on the lightest highlights of his ear, cheek and tops of the wrinkles. You need to layer all of the colors into the dark shadow areas. At this
stage, the light colors on top of the graphite look a little dirty. Don't fret…as you get more layers on, that look will disappear. This image shows his ear and side of his neck through Peach and his face through Jasmine.
This shows the next several layers of colors: Mineral Orange, Blush Pink, Rosy Beige, Goldenrod and Pink, again covering all of the shaded areas and grading the colors into the edges of the lighter areas. (Note: I do not use a colorless blender for any of this.)
I continue layering the colors from Ann’s skin tone chart and “sculpting” the face as I go by grading the colors into each other and only going as far in the value groups as needed to smoothly contour his skin. Only the wrinkles and deeply shaded areas get treated to the darker pencils. Since the values are already there from my graphite drawing, it's quite simple to know when to stay lighter and when to go darker. Where his neck is in deep shadow under his shirt color and beard and in the darkest recesses of his ear, I went all the way through the skin tone color chart to Black.
The biggest hint I can give is to not be tempted to skip any colors on the skin tone chart. It's important to have all those colors “shine through” as you get darker and darker and also to really cover the graphite. Also note that I do the tiny little spaces in his beard and hair in the same way, where the skin would show through. To finalize the beard and hair, I did all (yes, all!) of those tiny little spaces with various shades of French Grey and then did light glazes of Beige Sienna, Peach Beige and Putty Beige just here and there to create some shadowing. I did his eyebrows with several different warm grays and then went back and scratched out a just few white hairs with an Xacto knife. I had inadvertently neglected to put any white hairs there when I did the initial graphite drawing and didn't notice it until I was halfway through working on the printed copy so, of course, I had no white hairs to go around. I'll pay more attention next time!
You will find that layering all the colors will go quite fast since the graphite values are already there and also that you will use a slightly heavier pressure on the pencils than you would if you were working on just pristine white paper. Granted, the graphite drawing initially takes a bit of time, but your time in putting on the color is cut by probably 75 percent!
Thank you so much for such a thorough explanation of your unique approach, Susan!
Please visit Susan’s website at:fineartamerica.com/profiles/susan-moyer.html
G R A B BAG
Your Pencil DrawingsCOLORIZE
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Q: I am nearly finished working on a fairly large painting of part of Lake Geneva which includes a castle and an old-time sailboat. When I worked on the greenery, which fills the whole left side of the painting, it came out too bright overall. I did use dark green, indigo blue, dark olive as well as some lighter colors (yellows, ochres, orange) where the trees were brighter. What can I use to tone down the overall brightness of all of the greenery?
A: Greens are very hard to control. They often end up too bright. I always add a fair amount of brown and gray. Marine Green is duller even then Olive Green, so I use that when I need dull. I'd suggest toning down with Light Umber and/or Sepia. Sepia is duller than Dark Brown or Dark Umber. If those don't work, you can try Clay Rose – although it's a light value color so if your greens are quite dark, Clay Rose might not show up. If nothing else works, French Grey 50/70/90% (depending on the values of your greenery) should do the trick.
Q: Is there any way to download the new issues? I like to save them and read later. Sometimes I copy articles to read later. How can I do this with the new format?
A: I'm always pleased to hear that folks want to save the issues. Makes my day! With this new format, you can just right-click on the body of each page and choose Save As> and save them to your computer as a jpg. If you also want to save the enlarged images, you'll have to click on those and save them separately.
If you prefer to download a PDF, you can do thatat www.magcloud.com/user/annmkullbergThe price is $2.29 per download.
So now you're saying to yourself, “Huh? I already paid for the magazine. I have to pay again to get a PDF?!” ;-)
Well, it's true; you paid for the online version of the magazine, so it probably feels like it should be free. But even Time Magazine, with a gazillion subscribers, doesn't offer free downloads when you subscribe to their magazine. They charge $4.99 per download! With a tiny niche market like colored pencil, and with all the work involved in putting together an online version, print version and PDF version, we simply have to charge separately for each. Now, if every subscriber brought 20 new subscribers to the magazine, we could maybe re-think that! :-)
Q&A: You asked, Ann answered!Q: I want to draw Black Skin. Do I start out with Value 1*, and then pick a color out of each of the other Values. I have your book, and it shows the Black skin example. I may go by that.
A: The answer if a little involved. Black skin, like any skin, can be a very light value if it’s in direct sunlight. This photo illustrates this idea perfectly. In the bright light, the skin is white. In the shadows, the skin is black, and in between it is various shades from light tan to dark brown.
So the answer is that depending on the light, you might start with Cream and Light Peach, from Value Group 1. If the light isn’t bright, and the skin tone is fairly dark, though, you’ll probably want to start with Value Group 2, using Jasmine to start. As you work your way up through the Value Groups to darker colors, you’ll probably want to leave some of the pinks out of your palette, but other than that, you’ll use most of the colors in each group before moving onto the next darker valued group.
*Value Groups are explained in my book Colored Pencil Portraits Step by Step.
Note from the editor: In the January issue, we answered a question from a reader from the UK who said they weren’t able to get Prismacolor. I heard from several folks who said it’s not true! They are available in the UK from this website: www.1buy1pencils.co.uk
I got a question this past month about colors for tiger eyes, and having no idea, I asked wildlife artist Gemma Gylling, and as always she was happy to help!
Gemma says:Tiger eyes are kind of a yellow green color unless of course if it’s a white tiger
than the eyes are bluish color. I will list some colors I would use and you can use them in the order I am listing them but it doesn't mean a full layer of each color. Sometimes I will only use some dots or squiggles. I would suggest you study your reference photo with these colors in mind as you are looking at it:
Cream (full layer of cream on the Iris area), Marine Green (just in the darker areas), Artichoke, Green Ochre, Moss Green, Goldenrod, Sand, Black and Dark Umber (for the pupil), White and Powder Blue (for the highlights, with just a touch of True Blue here and
there). When working on an eye, I have all of these colors of pencils in my left hand and keep alternating between these colors until I get the look I like. If your reference photo doesn't show you a good view of the eyes, then Google “tigers” online to get a good understanding of how the eyes should look. When I think I am all done I then go in and create a cast shadow across the top of the iris (using one of the darker colors, Marine Green or Dark Umber or both), I do this by doing a light wash over the shadow area, this is a very important step, it's what makes the eye seem more realistic.
Image used with permission “Sumatran Tiger”by Rachel Stribbling
davidstribbling.com/rachsite
Q & A
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I live in Saratoga, New York, and I love to draw horses. This area is famous for its thoroughbred racing, and there are farms everywhere with beautiful horses and their foals. When I tried colored pencil years ago, I began with florals rather than equine subjects. These seemed easy, and no one could really tell where I made mistakes. Then Ann came out with her first colored pencil portraits book, and I was hooked on doing portraits! This lasted awhile, but I continued to feel the pull to return to drawing and painting horses; so I connected with some friends and went on a few photo shoots.
The photos turned out alright, and I went to work. After using my own reference photos, I discovered Bob Langrish and his photography. You have probably seen his work on horse calendars and in lavish coffee table books. These were a real treat to me, so I contacted him and requested permission to use a few of his photos to draw from. He was very kind and agreed to this with a fee of $60 per image. (“Freedom” artwork in this article is from his photo.) Since that time, I have worked from both his pictures and my own and have built up a limited portfolio. This has received a favorable response from owners who desire portraits of their horses. My goal over the next year or so is to continue commission work and see where it takes me. Meanwhile, Walter Foster Publishing and I have partnered on two art instructional books for colored pencil. What a treat! The first book is Drawing Made Easy: Flowers in Colored Pencil, and the second one is Colored Pencil Basics (coming soon). I was able to include a horse project in the second book, which was truly enjoyable to work on.
Over the years I have read from the experts that it is important to find your artistic niche and really develop it. We are advised to create an identity with a particular style or subject. Recall some of the outstanding colored pencil artists who have been featured in Ann’s magazine and images will come to mind representing their style of work. That advice is wisdom. I can’t be sure if I will settle down and concentrate on florals or portraits of people or equine art, but I’m going to give equine art a go for a little while. So if you hear my name someday, maybe you’ll think of a beautifully painted foal or a muscular stallion. Or maybe not… There is definitely joy in the journey, though!
Touching Moment
Refuge Freedom
S T E P B Y S T E P
A Foal Unfolds Step by Step Lesson by Cynthia Knox
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1 I sketch out the basic form of Esme with Cool Grey 50%, a neutral color.
3 Starting at the rear I layer Sienna Brown, then Terra Cotta, and a topcoat of Tuscan Red. I use Dark Umber to create the dark markings of fur and muscle. For the back left leg I begin with a light application of French Grey 70% and add a light layer of Black Raspberry to that. I use White to burnish, and I create the dark markings with Dark Umber. White is heavily applied to the very light areas. Black Grape is used to darken the purplish areas, and Sienna Brown and Terra Cotta are used for the reddish brown areas. I use White frequently to blend and smooth and then reapply colors as needed. Black and Black Grape are used for the hoof.
For the right back leg I layer Sienna Brown down most of the leg and add Black Grape in the darkest areas. A burnish of White blends everything, and I build up the reddish brown areas with another coat of reddish Sienna Brown, then Terra Cotta and then Tuscan Red. I use Dark Umber and Black for the darkest areas and leg markings. On the lower half of the leg I lightly layer French Grey 90% and then Black Raspberry followed by a burnish of White. Black Grape is added with more White to blend. Black and White complete the dark area of the hoof.
For the tail I begin with Black Grape and make curved strokes in the direction of the tail. I cover this with Tuscan Red, then Black, and pull a few White streaks through with a sharp point.
2 I lay down a foundation of color with Sienna Brown using light strokes followed by a layer of Light Umber covering Esme’s body and the brown areas of her legs. I use short strokes and move in the direction of her fur.
This photo is of a sweet little filly named Esme. She is owned by Amy Ellis of Ellis Family Farms in Michigan. Amy is a breeder who does a great job photographing her new babies as they mature. She took this picture when Esme was only 17 days old.
4 Moving from the hip area into the torso, I layer with Sienna Brown and Terra Cotta. The dark markings are drawn with Dark Umber and Tuscan Red. I blend with White and reapply the first two colors until there is a nice blend. I add more Dark Umber to the markings and skin folds. The triangular area above the leg is layered with Sienna Brown, a burnish of White, and blended into the lower stomach with Sienna Brown, Terra Cotta and Dark Umber.
For the torso I add layers of Sienna Brown, Terra Cotta, Tuscan Red, and Dark Umber. I then blend the colors with White using a sharp point and small strokes. I reapply those same colors to build up a smooth reddish brown coat. Then I use Black to lightly layer the dark fur on her back and also on her lower right side and belly. Black is also used to define and partially fill the triangular area behind her right front leg. Dark Umber and Sienna Brown complete this small area.
S T E P B Y S T E P
Step by Step of Esme
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6 I move to the front legs in this step. To get that pink undertone of the left front leg, I lightly lay down French Grey 70% and Black Raspberry using whisper strokes. I then burnish with White and use Sienna Brown on the upper leg. Dark Umber and Black Grape are layered over the lower leg. A burnish of White is followed by applications of Dark Umber and Black for the dark markings. I continue the process of burnishing and reapplying color until a smooth look is achieved.
For the right front leg I layer Sienna Brown over the top half followed by light coats of Terra Cotta, Dark Brown and Tuscan Red. I burnish with White and add the dark markings with Black, Dark Umber and Tuscan Red. The lower half of the leg is layered with French Grey 70%, Black Raspberry and a heavy burnish of White. I add Dark Umber and Terra Cotta at the knee and blend down with White. Black and French Grey 70% are used for the hoof with a burnish of White.
5 I apply Tuscan Red and Black Raspberry over the remaining torso and neck and burnish with White to blend. Over the extensive dark areas I lightly layer Black and build this up to resemble the photo. This section is the most challenging for me. A lot of blending goes into smoothing the black areas into the reddish brown fur. My process is to use Terra Cotta and Tuscan Red as the base, lightly layer Black in the darkest areas and build the blacks, browns, and reds up. I repeat this many times and use White to lighten up my mistakes and start over if necessary. The interesting shape by the halter is colored with Sienna Brown, Dark Umber, Terra Cotta, and a White burnish.
7 I color Esme’s face in sections. For the large triangle in front, I layer with Sienna Brown, Terra Cotta and Dark Umber. I burnish with White and build up these colors again with a light touch of Black to finish. This is the same process I use with the ears. The eye is redrawn with Black and the catch lights left light. For the remainder of the face I use Sienna Brown and Terra Cotta as a base. I burnish with White and build up the dark areas with Dark Umber, Tuscan Red, and Black. Black Grape is used for the purplish areas. The lips are outlined with Black, filled in with Dark Umber and burnished with White. A final layer of Black is added. The halter is layered with light coats of Dark Umber and Black Grape. I burnish with White, reapply the first two colors and use Black for the darks. Tuscan Red is applied for a reddish-purple hue. The brass is done with Sand, Dark Umber and White. Esme’s mane is drawn in curved sections with Black Grape and then gone over with Black. I lightly repeat the process and add some random streaks of White and Tuscan Red to blend.
S T E P B Y S T E P
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Still mourning Panasonic’s
disappearance?
Xacto School Pro – I received another thumbs up for the Xacto School Pro pencil sharpener from subscriber Dan Stancliff, for those looking out for a half-way decent replacement for our dearly beloved Panasonic sharpeners. That’s the third or fourth time I’ve heard good things about this one, so maybe it’s worth a try? We are always looking for sharpener recommendations, so email us if you find something fabulous!
ONE SIMPLE RULECJ Worlein won the coveted Cippy award at the last CPSA International Exhibition. In a recent email to me, she mentioned Greg Albert’s book The Simple Secret to Better Painting. Since I hadn’t heard of it, I asked for more info.
CJ writes: I thought it was so terrific; I actually put together a composition mini-workshop based on it for a chapter meeting a couple of years ago. Here’s how I would describe it: Greg Albert’s book, The Simple Secret to Better Painting is neither about technique nor any particular art medium. Even if you don’t call your colored pencil work “paintings,” and no matter whether you are a newbie or an old pro—if you want to be a better artist, you will benefit from reading it. As the introduction says, “This book will not only give you a tool to identify what is wrong with a painting that isn’t quite right and what to do to make it better, but it will give you a simple tool to make better paintings from the start.” And it does just that, with lots of illustrations and straightforward, easy-to-understand information that is bound to give you more than one “aha” moment. The cover price is $24.99, but it’s available on www.amazon.com for $16.49.
Intrigued, I downloaded the sample chapter for my Kindle, and within 5 minutes knew that I had to have this book! I need to tell you that I am not an art book person at all. I own 5, tops. But in just the first few pages I could see that this book was a must read and must own. Don’t want to take my word for it? There is also a very thorough review of Simple Secret to Better Paintings at:
makingamark.blogspot.com/2008/01/greg-albert-simple-secret-to-better.html
Thanks for sharing, CJ!
Super Easy Super-Soft Edges!Subscriber Linda Cantwell shares this dynamite tip with us:
This is a colored pencil portrait I just finished. I used Derwent Graphitint water-soluble graphite pencils for the background and the shadows on her shirt and then blended it with a tiny bit of water to blend it into the hair. It was a fun and fast way to get a nice soft dark background.
Great tip! I love the idea of this incredibly easy way to make sure the edges are soft. Thank you, Linda!
Old Eyes? Recently learned this and had to share it! If you’re on a webpage and the text is a little too small to read comfortably, hold the Ctrl key down and use the scroll button on your mouse (provided you have one) and “scroll” up. The contents of the webpage you’re on will instantly become slightly larger, including the text. My mom loved this tip!
T I P S
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This month’s profile is of artist
Terry TallisWhat happens if you dip actor Harrison Ford into a vat of blue dye?
Sometimes Terry Tallis wonders how he got to here too. Believe me, he isn’t complaining!
Okay! This guy retired from a 30-year managerial career at Hewlett-Packard in 1999; before that, eight years in the aerospace industry. Yep? A rocket scientist! While at HP, he spent his last decade as the strategic business-planning manager for the largest business unit in the company. It was an incredible opportunity calling for lots of creative and innovative work; right up Terry’s alley.
Blessed with being born and raised in the tiny company owned lumber town of Hilt on the California border, Terry developed a love for the out-of-doors and was lucky to have a teacher in their three room school house who introduced him to art. While in high school, he dabbled with oil paints, then went to college at Southern Oregon (College) University getting a math degree where he met his wife, Jan. You all know the story, get married, get a job, have kids (three - two are twins) and put the art on hold for the duration as households, jobs and other outside activities take precedence. During that left-brained period, Terry took up marquetry and his work was ultimately featured on the back cover of a Fine Woodworking Magazine.
Not willing just to be a participant, while working, Terry seemed to be president of
every organization he was part of, including the United Way of Oregon. During his run with the United Way, he was awarded the United Way of America’s highest volunteer award by President Gerald Ford at a ceremony at the Kennedy Center.
In 1976, Terry and family moved with Hewlett-Packard from the Bay Area to Corvallis, Oregon where they currently live on an acre of land up against a State Forest. Heaven!
The month after retirement, he picked up some colored pencils and joined a workshop offered every Thursday morning at a local community college. Here he regularly joins some 15 to 20 artists each working on their own things and at their own pace. Other than a workshop here from Judy Morris, Cecile Baird, Linda Lucas Hardy, and several great
ones from Ann Kullberg, Terry has had no formal art training.
His creative juices bubbled over into new streams of endeavor. Terry is an exhibiting member of the Corvallis Art Guild, a member of the Colored Pencil Society of America (past DC201 president), chair of the Vista’s and Vineyards plein aire painting group, past president of the Valley Viewfinders Camera Club and a member of the Nature Photographers of the Pacific Northwest. He works with colored pencils, watercolors and pastels and has had his work in a number of juried shows and exhibitions in the Northwest as well having pieces accepted by CPSA in their international shows.
If he is not out painting Wednesday mornings with the Vistas and Vineyards group or with a colored pencil group on Thursdays,
P RO F I L E
11
Terry can usually be found on the golf course, or with a digital camera in his hand. He has written four books and currently has three more in the works, one on the settling of the Canadian prairies. He is quite a devotee of Photoshop and digital image manipulation. He has created and teaches a class, Photoshop for the Artist and another workshop based on his book, The Handy Photography Booklet, An Artistic Approach. His many presentations on photography are laced with his art work and puns. His wife, Jan, is a quite a quilter and they equally share a remodeled two-car garage converted to a sewing room and studio (Jan gets three-quarters, Terry gets a quarter).
One of Terry’s latest efforts is documenting the history of his hometown, founded in 1901 and torn down in 1973. A book in final draft form lists the history of the Hilt Elementary School with the names and photographs of every kid from 1921 to 1973. He has even published a book on puns. (Who would have guessed!)
Most of Terry’s work is with Prismacolor pencils but often he uses other brands for certain colors or intensity. To speed up the process, he is now using water-soluble pencils as the undercoat and then 100% colored pencil over the top.
He likes colored pencil because of the detail it provides but gets his escape with the plein aire painting when the work is usually completed in three hours. There is a peaceful process with colored pencil as layer after layer goes on building up the rich colors all to the thousands of eclectic tunes on his ever playing iPod.
The piece Terry has been working on over a period of four months is a panorama of logs being dumped into a log pond, the source photos taken in the ’60’s at the mill in Hilt. Part of his documenting the history of the town, Terry has taken on the project of creating watercolor and colored pencil paintings of the area from photos he has, his memory and old restored photos. Currently he has seven paintings. The one with the Shay engines took considerable research to get the details of the undercarriage of the rolling stock. In all cases, he has researched
the subject before starting the piece of art so he can place himself appropriately in the right place and time period to do a reasonable job of capturing the mood and environment.
Terry wants to leave the readers with just a couple of thoughts. If you have kids or grandkids, please be sure that they get a taste of the arts and give them things they can be creative as the most accomplished and successful engineers and managers are often artists of one type or another. Secondly, a fellow still at work lamented to Terry several years after he had retired. “Terry, you are always on vacation!” After reflecting on his life for a minute, Terry responded, “We are ALL on vacation, it is just where you chose to spend it!” So live every day like you are on vacation and enjoy life to its fullest.
Oh yes! What about that movie actor dipped in the vat of blue dye. Of course... you get Indy Go Blue.
Half Dome colored pencil painting 32x19. The painting was rendered with a water-soluble colored pencil under painting. Then Terry went over the entire painting with numerous layers of colored pencil. Where intensity was needed, such as the trees, the Icarus board was used to soften the wax and work it into the 4-ply Stonehenge. With the hot wax, softly dragging the side of the pencil across the surface created a nice texture
Peggy’s Cove 14x19 was juried into the 18th Annual International Colored Pencil Show in Los Gatos. The source photographs were taken by crawling over a pile of lobster traps (empty, thank goodness) to capture the composition I was trying to get. The dark colors of the water were layer and layer of heavily burnished Prismacolor. (I forgot to count!).
My son and I designed and build this pencil holder – it is great for holding a ‘pallet’ of pencils when working on sections of the painting. Contact Terry at [email protected]
P RO F I L E
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(This profile was written by Terry Tallis... do you really think Ann would stoop so low with these horrible puns!)
Terry’s web site where you can see more of his work and many projects is at www.terrytallis.com
P RO F I L E
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We recently had an article in CP Magazine about Bokeh – (with images from Elizabeth Patterson) and I thought I’d do an Art Tech on the technique, using Photoshop Elements! (Bokeh is the blurred light effect often seen in backgrounds of photos.) I’ve created a short animation to go along with this Art Tech.
View the video here: www.annkullberg.com/arttech_02bokeh So first, as usual... let’s open Photoshop Elements in Edit mode. Using File > Open, browse to a location of an image you want to use and open it. (Special thanks to freedigitalphotos.com and photostock.com for the use of their images.)
Lessons Using Adobe Photoshop Elements – the cheap version of Photoshop!
by Katie KullbergI'M SEEING DOTS
STEP 2:We need to eliminate the background from the topmost layer… (Online you may find instructions about a masking layer. Personally, I like the
selection tool and feel it’s much easier for this project.) Click on the Selection brush tool on the left hand side. Up at the top (under File, Edit, etc.) adjust the parameters of the brush. For this I made the brush size 90, but it may differ for your image. Remember to lift your mouse button often, and if you need to deselect any part, hold down your ALT button while selecting the area with your mouse. Once you have a close selection of the background… erase the background using the eraser! Now click on Selection up at the top and choose Deselect.
STEP 4:We are going to put the “bokeh” effect on a separate layer. Click on the New Layer icon
within the Layers Window; name it Bokeh. To select the color of your bokeh effect, click on the foreground square and either find a color you like within the color selection box, or use a color from within your image (by using the eyedropper tool that will automatically appear if you move off the color selection box.)
We then need to access the brush tool options. Click on the Brush tool, on the left hand side, and under File, Edit, etc, the brush tool options should appear. When you click on the brush icon, even more options will drop down… Fade: Will set the number of steps to fade; Hue Jitter: will set the jitter amount between foreground and background colors; Scatter: this will set your scatter amount (and is particularly important for this project, you will want to use scatter, as a shortcut, instead of manually placing each bokeh dot); Spacing: brush spacing is set with this, the higher the number the further your “dots” will be from each other; Hardness: you can set your brush hardness here. I set mine at: 25, 13%, 88%, 400, and 80%. You will want to play around to get the best results for your image.
STEP 3:Using the bottom most layer within your layers palette, we are going to blur out the layer. Click on Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Adjust the blur so that it’s relatively blurry.
STEP 1:In the layers window on the right, right-click on the thumbnail picture of your image and choose Duplicate Layer. (If it is a locked background, simply double click on it to make it a layer, Click OK, and then proceed to duplicating it.)
Below is a link to a website where you can download and install preset bokeh brushes… I was perfectly happy with what I found in Photoshop Elements so I used the standard selections. To make your selection, click on the Brush tool, select the brush you want to use. Keep the opacity at default (you can play around with that within the layers palette) but DO click on the icon of the little paint brush, under the word Help. This will give you the Additional Brush Options. My settings were approximately: Fade: 30; Hue Jitter: 25%; Scatter: 97%; Spacing: 575%; and Hardness: 0%. Making sure you are working on the Bokeh layer, click a few times around the picture. (Really play around with the color and the brush… Remember you can ALWAYS undo and retry until you get just the perfect look for your image!) As I said earlier, in the Layers palette, on the right, you can adjust the opacity of the layer as well to get the bokeh effect to be just perfect!
Bokeh brushes & instructions on how to install with terms of use:
www.obsidiandawn.com/bokeh-photoshop-gimp-brushes
That’s it. You are all set to go! :) We’d love to see your results and what other creative ways you came up to use this technique with!! Have a great month… and Happy New Year!! I’ll be back in the April issue! - Katie
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Prelude 9 x 12Bleuie Acostawww. f a c e b o o k . c om/ impo s s i b l e u i e
Two Cats Sleeping8 x 10
Robin Zebleywww. r o b i n z e b l ey. c om
Kitten Heart10 x 8
Karen Middletonwww.ka r e nm i d d l e t o n i l l u s t r a t i o n . c o . u k
S H OWC A S E
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Bring Me to Life9 x 12
Carol Moorewww.moo r e s a r t g a l l e r y. c om
Mariah21 x 19
Lori Garnerwww. l o r i g a r n e r a r t . c om
Long Pool, Liffey River23.5 x 31.5
Richard Klekociukwww.a r t k l e ko . c om
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This month’s critique is of a portrait by new colored pencil artist
Dona RhodesHere is an introduction to Dona, in her own words:
My name is Dona Rhodes. My husband and I became full time RV’ers about 18 months ago. Color pencil replaced my old acrylics because they are just more practical for this life style. I am still trying to find my comfort zone. After some frustrating attempts at landscapes I tried portraits last spring beginning with an animal portrait class at the local art center. It was great fun. Several months ago CP Magazine had a step by step portrait article. I did this painting of 3 year old Sophia using that process.
Yellow PhotoYou cannot expect a person’s very first colored pencil portrait to be a masterpiece, because colored pencils take a while to get used to, and portraits are absolutely the most difficult subject matter there is, because in a portrait, if you’re off by an eighth of an inch, you’re off too much.
Having said that, I find Dona’s very first portrait to be sensitive and engaging, and I think it shows real promise. I especially like Dona’s hues and values in the hat, shirt, background and eyes. She did a good job with a difficult nose (it would have been so easy to end up with a “pig’s” nose!) And there is some nice technique going on with that hat. A newbie to colored pencil tends to over-do unnecessary details, but she handled that cap well, adding just enough detail with the curving lines, to let us know it’s a knit cap, but no more. It’s a somewhat impressionistic handling. It’s not necessary to draw every little line to capture a texture – it’s enough to do just enough to get the basic gist of a surface or texture.
When you draw every single line in a perfectly accurate way, it’s called photo-realism. I’m going to veer off-topic here for a moment to talk about impressionism, realism and photo-realism. Although many people think my own work is “photo-real” it is not at all. My style is realism, but not photo-realism. Some of my earlier work was a little bit impressionistic, as I steered clear of too much detail, but my style gradually tightened up and I can no longer say there’s anything very impressionistic about my work. Take a look at the two styles here, though. Ralph Goings work is photo-real. Mary Cassatt’s work is impressionistic. Most colored pencil artist’s work falls between these two styles.
Too FlatI mentioned that I like many of Dona’s values, and I do, but the values in the face are under-developed. See what happens when we lose all color? With so few differences in value, her face almost looks like a mask. What is the difference between a mask and a human face? Think about a mask in profile and the answer is easy – a mask is flat. And a face with few value differences also looks flat. Dona was challenged with a small cell phone photo that didn’t have a lot of value differences to begin with. With that sort of photo reference, and a child’s face (fewer, less pronounced planes on a child’s face) you have to be ultra careful to capture as much value difference as possible.
www.ralphlgoings.com
www.marycassatt.org
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It's Hard to Draw the Very Young!Actually, I think Dona fell into the same trap that I did last month with my Ava drawing. I initially had the facial skin tones too light, and Dona does too. It really is hard to get children’s skin tones dark enough. Here I’ve punched up the skin tones a bit so she doesn’t look quite so pale.
Last, I noticed that Dona’s little girl looked a little older than the girl in the reference photo. A quick comparison led me to think that it was face shape differences that had mostly aged her. Age lives in the outlines of our faces! The adorable little chin found in the photo is missing in the portrait, and that alone added a couple of years to the age of Dona’s subject.
Dona, I hope you continue to do more portraits. I think for a first attempt, you have done an admirable job!
Masks and flat faces made me think of Japanese geisha and their ultra-white faces. You can clearly see here that when there are few value differences, faces look mask-like. (photo by Julie Podstolski)
I did notice that Dona made the neck quite a bit darker, which is good. It’s that difference in value between the neck and head that makes the face come
forward while the neck recedes. I lightened the neck here to the same value as the face to show how important value is. Now the neck looks more like a double chin!
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JEFF GEORGE
I have asked myself the question: “Why is it so difficult for me to let go of my colored pencil works?” I mean, I have worked as an illustrator for 30 plus years, so creating a piece of art and being paid for it is nothing new. I have drawn or painted hundreds of illustrations for pay during that time period. So why does selling one of my colored pencil works feel so gut wrenching?
You probably know the answer. With illustration or commissioned art, you are creating content specific art, suited for the tastes and needs of that particular buyer, a specific vision which the buyer has requested to see. Sure, you put your own artistic skills, and creativity into the art, but would that dictated imagery be something which you would create purely for your own pleasure? For me the answer is almost always... no. That is the difference; the lack of an emotional tie-in. By contrast, my colored pencil works are intensely personal to me, with the majority of them taking hundreds of hours to execute. As the saying goes, they are an extension of me.
What a shock it was then, when I arrived in Bethesda, MD for the CPSA 15th Annual International Exhibition. My accepted entry, a small colored pencil seascape titled Perpetual, had been purchased... and by a stranger no less! It's still an odd feeling. That being said, one of my personal goals for this year is to finally let go. Purge past pieces, produce reproductions for the public, and try to overcome the feeling of attachment. So far... so good, let's see how it goes!
The Question:
This month’s CP Stars:
Jeff George, www.jeffgeorgeart.com Janie Gildow, www.janiegildow.comEster Roi, esterroi.com
What were the circumstances of the first time you sold a painting, and if/how that changed things for you?
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JANIE GILDOW
Lace and Lace was my first colored pencil piece. It consisted of a handful of Queen Anne’s Lace (a common weed in Ohio), put in a Tupperware spaghetti jar partially filled with water, and placed on an lace-embellished towel. Not long after, Ann Massey sponsored her first colored pencil show, Masters of Colored Pencil. I entered slides of the five pieces I’d completed by that time and she accepted them all. My husband said, “Janie, I don’t care if it is in El Paso—we’re going to the reception.” Lace and Lace won the People’s Choice Award that night—and it was Ann’s parents who bought it! What a wonderful incentive to continue on with the colored pencil—which I did!
Ann and I (and her parents) have kept in touch all these years. Ann became my mentor, encouraging me and promoting my colored pencil work through her gallery, and we have remained friends ever since. Without her early encouragement, I would not have had the confidence to continue. I have her to thank for much of my success!
ESTER ROI
Six months into colored pencil I felt as if I had never been away from art. I rekindled my passion for close-ups of flowers, glass, and rocks that I had explored in oil fifteen years before. However this time I was also planning to sell my artwork, a resolution that brought a new set of insecurities: “Are people going to like what I do? What types of paintings sell in the local galleries and festivals?” I decided to be practical and thus began a large landscape of my town's historical mission.
I entered the finished drawing in a local gallery competition and to my surprise, it sold! The brief satisfaction at selling my first piece slowly turned
into discomfort. I sadly realized that I felt disconnected from my artwork and that I didn't really like it. That experience gave me an awareness of how important it is for me to show and sell only art that I'm proud of and that reflects my personal vision as an artist.
Have a question for our CP stars? Email me at [email protected]
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ann kullberg’s 2012 schedule To register or get more information visit: annkullberg.com
CP – Ann Kullberg’s magazine for Colored Pencil Artists February 2012 www.annkullberg.com
February 12-19, 2012Caribbean Cruise Workshop - sun, sea and colored pencil bliss!!7 Days - 3 Workshops from 3 top colored pencil instructors
February 24-26, 2012 Portraits I - Houston, TX
March 1-3, 2012 NEW! Portraits I - Dallas, TX
June 8-10, 2012Portraits I - Richmond, VA
July 13-17, 2012NEW! Super Workshop - Federal Way, WA (in Ann’s studio near Seattle)Limited to 3 students - Super Intense, Super Instructive!
October 23-25, 2012 Portraits I - The Art Guild at Fairfield Glade, TNInfo & Registration info coming soonLocal contact : Beverly Olin Info at annkul lberg .com
7-night Alaskan Inside PassageWorkshop Cruise aboard the Princess Star
September 2-9, 2012
WO R K S H O P S
