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October 2016$7.99 USAcoloredpencilmag.com

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POWDER BLENDER GIVEAWAY!

For Digital SubscribersFOCUSING ON FEATHERS

Owl Step-by-Step

Mixing Mediums

Featuring: Philip Schorn

Photographing Your Pet

Falling in Love withLANDSCAPES

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OCTOBER 2016

CONTENTSdepartments

Rebecca V. O’Neil shares how she has learned to master feathers.

FOCUSING ON FEATHERS05

Your pet can be the ideal subject for your art, and France Bauduin teaches how to capture the perfect reference.

PET REFERENCE08

Follow Jennifer Watson’s step-by-step tutorial on creating this Eurasian Eagle Owl, then share it with us on social media!

OWL STEP-BY-STEP26

Ushering in the fall season is Philip Schorn with his up close look at nature. Read how he went from a graphic designer to botanical artist.

FEATURED ARTIST14

Many colored pencil artists find landscapes intimidating, but after reading this article bySusan Robjant you might just give it a try.

FALLING IN LOVE WITH LANDSCAPES20

2 COLORED PENCIL Magazine | October 2016 | www.coloredpencilmag.com


Editor-in-Chief Sally RobertsonCopy Editor Kimberly Woods

ContributorsMaria Abagnale France BauduinJodi JasonDominika KowalczykEwelina KuczeraClaire MurrayRebecca V. O’NeilSusan RobjantPhilip SchornChuck SenecalBarb SotiropoulosJennifer Watson

Sponsors/AdvertisersCaran D’acheJerry’s ArtaramaLegion Paper

Publisher Platte Productions LLCwww.platteproductionspublishing.com

Advertising and Marketing Edward Robertson [email protected]/advertise

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P.O. Box 183Efland, NC 27243

m a g a z i n e

Copyright © 2016Platte Productions LLCCOLORED PENCIL MagazineAll Rights Reserved

All rights reserved. The contents of this publication may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission from the copyright owner.

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Cover art by Philip Schorn “Crisp Fall Day” 22x16”

features

What’s new and in the newsSKETCHBOOK18

Mixing mediumsQ&A24

The inside scoopEDITOR’S NOTE04

Take the October Art Challenge & win great prizes ART CHALLENGE31

Latest & greatest artwork from our readersGALLERY30

Winners of the July Art ChallengeART CHALLENGE WINNERS32

3COLORED PENCIL Magazine | October 2016 | www.coloredpencilmag.com

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Focusing on FeathersEDITOR’S NOTE

Sally RobertsonEditor-in-Chief

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Trick or treat! If you are one of the many artists who took advantage of our three month print subscription sale, welcome. You started at a great time. This month's print issue includes a sample of Brush and Pencil's brand new Colored Pencil Powder Blender with applicator. Just follow the instructions on the card to see how this product can blend your pencils like magic! We still have some samples left for anyone purchasing this October print issue, but one way to assure you don’t miss out on all these great bonuses is to subscribe: www.coloredpencilmag.com/subscribe.

If you are a digital subscriber, we have an exclusive giveaway just for you. Five winners will receive the full size Colored Pencil Powder Blender with applicator. Winners will be selected via a random drawing at the end of the month and we will contact you by email if you won. Good luck!

In this issue, Rebecca V. O’Neil focuses on feathers, which will help you get an edge on the owl step-by-step by Jennifer Watson. Do you have a pet or know someone with a pet that would make a great photo reference? Learn some helpful tips from France Bauduin on capturing them with your camera.

Also this month, Susan Robjant will make you fall in love with landscapes when you hear her story and view her work. We need more colored pencil artists brave enough to tackle these subjects. Are you one of them? If you want to know more about mixing colored pencils with other mediums then you will love Barb Sotiropoulos’ Q&A this month. And, let’s pay homage to the fall with our featured artist Philip Schorn. The detail he puts into each piece will have you studying his work for hours.

Join in our growing Monthly Art Challenge community by drawing the cute blue house on page 31. Submit your work to our Flickr page for your chance to win some of the $300 prize booty from Jerry’s Artarama! www.flickr.com/groups/cpmchallenge

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Focusing on Feathersby Rebecca V. O’Neil

Ten steps to creating realistic feathers!

The first goal is to set up your details accurately. Don’t be afraid to use a light box or a projector. I like to draw in

some of the shadowing as well, because too many lines can become confusing. Instead of using a graphite pencil, which is hard to cover up and detracts from the finished drawing, I use a neutral colored pencil. For this piece I used Faber-Castell burnt umber 9201-280 with light pressure.

This is a very important step. You must put the lightest colors in first, because it will be nearly

impossible to put them in later. Start with the lightest tips of the feathers. I used Prismacolor Premier eggshell PC 140. Press hard with your pencil to push the color into the tooth of the paper, but not so hard as to damage your paper.

• Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils: ginger root PC 1084, sandbar brown PC 1094, light umber PC 941, 90% French grey PC 1076, eggshell PC 140, chocolate PC 1082, sienna brown PC 945, black PC 935, burnt ochre 943, light blue 904

• Faber-Castell Polychromos: burnt umber 9201-280

• Caran d’Ache Luminance: White 001, cassel earth 046

• Derwent: Chinese white 7200

• Gamblin Gamsol Odorless Mineral Spirits

• Brushes: soft bristle filbert, No. 4, stiff bristle filbert, No. 3

Focusing on Feathers

Supply List1.

2.



Layer the lights and darks onto your paper, paying close attention to the reference photo. That is, after all, the key to

making it look the way you want. Once you have anywhere from four to six layers of color on your piece, blend with odorless mineral spirits (OMS) using a stiff bristle filbert brush.

Repeat step three, layering your colors again and paying close attention to your reference photo. Draw what you see!

Notice that at this stage there isn’t a lot of detail. We are adding lights and darks and following the shapes of our reference

photo. They’re not feathers yet, but rather shapes and colors.

Blend again with a stiff bristle brush and OMS, however, don’t put too much OMS on the brush. Your brush should

be just slightly damp. Otherwise, it will lift the color off the paper. Use firm pressure to scrub the color into the paper. As you can see it’s starting to come together. Keep layering, working with more of your lights and deepening your darks. At this point I haven’t used any black, but I will.

Now sharpen the details, making sure to always set your pencil strokes in the same direction as the feather growth.

Add more highlights using a lot of white. Last, start working in a light layer of black.

Note: Derwent Chinese white is very opaque but also soft and doesn’t hold a sharp point. Caran d’Ache Luminance keeps a good, sharp point and is also very opaque.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.



Lightly blend with OMS, this time using a slightly damp soft bristled filbert brush.

Repeat step seven.

Keep layering and tweaking, reinforcing the details. If you don’t put enough layers down the drawing will appear gritty, so if you see any of

that add more layers. Make the drawing look smooth. Always refer to your reference photo, I can’t stress that enough. Remember, draw what you see.

8.

9.

10.

Finished Piece“The Osprey” 11x14”

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Pet Referenceby France Bauduin SOFA, UKCPS

Choose the Right Camera

Pets, especially cats and dogs, remain a favorite subject for colored pencil artists. In this article, I will share a few tips to help you take great action shots of your pets.

My camera is small and light making it possible to take pictures with a single hand. When shooting pets, it is always useful to have a free hand so you can capture their attention by snapping your fingers or shaking a noisy toy.

With my Live View function I can pivot my view-finder upward to take pictures of my subject at eye level (between 15 and 30cm for a cat) without having to lie flat on my belly. It allows me to move and follow my subject, to a point.

My camera also has a sport option that allows me to take many pictures per second in good light conditions (without flash) which generates more opportunities to capture a good action shot.

Sequence of three photos taken within one second with sport option on a bright, hazy day (best conditions for black and white cats).

Tips to getting the best photos of your pet



Choose the Right LightNatural daylight is usually best. Avoid harsh sunlight around midday, especially with white pets. You will achieve better results taking your photos around mid-morning or mid-afternoon.

Bright hazy, cloudy days work well when you plan to replace the background with other photos and so will not need to match shadows. These are the best condi-tions for black and white animals.

In some occasions, flash photography may give good results with black subjects, but natural sunlight is usually better to show the coat’s highlights.

Donna’s drawing was inspired by a combina-tion of two photos taken from the same spot around 2:30pm on a sunny autumn afternoon.

Choose the Right SpotInstead of having to chase your animal, it’s usuallybest to position yourself in a good spot with the sun at your back and wait for them to come play in front of you, shaking a twig or throwing a ball to entice them in your direction. If it is for a commission, ask for help from the owner.

Having a solid object like a bush, fence, or wall behind your subject increases your chances that the focus will automatically be on the animal and not on something far behind them.



Know your subject and anticipate the most likely periods for a good mood. With kittens, it is usually after they wake up from a long nap and can last a good half hour before they run out of steam again.

My best advice is to always have your camera ready and close by.

As a rule, I always recharge my camera battery after downloading any photo shoot of 100 or more pictures.

Practice makes perfect. The more you take pictures the more likely you are to get a great shot, even if it is just by luck!

It takes many trials and errors to get the timing right. With my camera, half-pressing the button activates the automatic focus. The trick is to keep it half-pressed until I see a good opportunity and then depress it completely. This quickens the response time.

Most importantly, make sure to download and look at your photos the same day you take them so you can see and remember what worked and what didn’t.

Next time you’ll be able to:

• Eliminate those shots where you are too close or too far away or when the light is too dark or too bright

• Reduce fish eye effects and other distortions by centering your subject and using the zoom option to the maximum

• Identify surroundings and circumstances that generate a greater likelihood of good shots

• Find the best time to take pictures according to the season and weather

Choose the Right Time

Shoot, Shoot, Shoot

The lucky shot that inspired this drawing, “Timmy in Trouble.”



Switching out the background of one photograph with another.

A great shot of Gold and Silver playing together with a pheasant feather.

If you are going to spend dozens of hours on a particular drawing it is worth spending a few hours getting a good photograph of your subject, remembering that the composition can still be improved afterwards with tools like Photoshop or simply using a different background from another photo.

Conclusion For every hundred of pictures I take:

• One third go straight to the bin (off focus, too dark, white washed, etc.)

• Half are too ordinary to draw

• 10 to 15 may be good shots but with little flaws

• One or two are great shots worth drawing (with or without improvements)



But, with digital cameras, who cares how many photos you have to take to get that perfect shot? I only print the photograph I will draw and keep the rest classified for future refer-ences. And once in a while, perhaps one photo out of a thousand, I get lucky and take that perfect shot where everything works.

Conclusion cont.

Best of luck and remember - keep clicking!

Gold and Silver playing with a red ribbon in natural daylight. The perfect pose.

www.francebauduinart.com12 COLORED PENCIL Magazine | October 2016 | www.coloredpencilmag.com


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Featuring:

Philip SchornI went to Eastern Illinois University with an art scholarship and received my Bachelor of Arts with a double major in graphic design and 2D studio art in 1984. Afterwards, I worked for a couple printing companies until 1993 when I became a self-employed graphic artist. Soon after graduation I did several paintings as well as some drawings, but with marriage, kids, and running a business my fine art was put on the back burner for many years. Although the desire for fine art was always there the time was not.

In 2001, I was asked to assist judging 4-H art at our county fair in the newly formed computer generated art category. I also had the opportunity to judge other art categories including painting, drawing, etc. Seeing the art that these kids created reignited my desire to get back at it. That and a lot of encouragement from my wife and kids. After a few years of judging I took the plunge and jumped back in with ink, pencil, and color pencil.

After doing a few graphite and ink renderings, I tried out my, at the time, very limited set of color pencils. I took a real liking to them. I would consider my first several drawings to be somewhat crude and limited with that distinctive pencil look. But I knew the look I wanted to achieve so, since that time, I have been working on my colored pencil technique and how to create the effect I want. I’m constantly researching various sources including the internet, magazines (COLORED PENCIL Magazine is great), books, etc.

My pencil preference is Prismacolor Softcore. I also have the Art Stix, Verithin pencils, and several of their markers. My paper of choice is Strathmore. Most of my work is on 300 series smooth Bristol while my larger pieces are on 400 series. The paper can take a beating and hold the color very well.



I consider myself a botanical artist. Everything I draw is in nature. I’m attracted to the individual items and details that make up the scene, the more the better. I take a lot of walks and can look at the ground, a pile of leaves, or a weed and imagine it as an illustration. Nature has so much going on all the time on a very close, intimate level. Everywhere I look I see something I want to draw. When I started in earnest with colored pencils I drew individual leaves because I was able to create the detail I wanted, and I kept achieving more and more realism the better I got.

I try very hard not to over think what I want to do. I know artists sometimes look for that perfect spot or view to encompass an entire area or location just to be frustrated in the end. That being said, composition is as important as value and color. But I try to keep it simple. I look for contrast and strong edges and a light source. I enhance what I see to bring out more of the details. Putting it all together takes patience and an enormous amount of time and a great wife who lets me sit in my studio for hours on end.

I have done plein air sessions and find them very refreshing. It helps me keep loose. It lets me try out new materials and tech-niques and work with other artists.

I begin my process with a picture. Drawing on location is impossible for me due to the amount of time required. I have hundreds to thousands of images that my wife and I have captured, and I take my time selecting which to use. Since the time involved in rendering is as much as it is, finding the right image is important from the start.

As a graphic artist I have the software I need to crop and clean up my pictures. I print them out on photo paper to use as my reference. I usually grid my images down to one inch squares and draw out the grid on my paper. My goal in this laborious process is to be as accurate as possible to the image. Breaking my images down into squares is my way of controlling the process. My motto when drawing is always “think big, draw small.” This really helps me concentrate on the fine details one square at a time.

By working this way, I take control of the medium and the image. I usually know within an hour or so whether the picture is going

to work or not. I take a lot of breaks to look at my progress, because I can get too caught up within a particular area. Ever ything needs to fit together like a giant puzzle.

Here are some tech-niques I’ve learned along the way. Keep your paper clean (I use frisket around

the edges). I always have something under my hand when drawing. Being left handed, I generally work from right to left. For shadows and heavy solid areas I use multiple layers of several colors overlapped and blended together. Even for lighter areas,

I layer and blend and repeat the process. I’m constantly looking for depth of color. For very fine, dark lines I use .05 illustra-tion pens and an ebony pencil.

I try for complete coverage of the paper. All paper has a tooth to it, no matter the kind, so I use an odorless mineral spirits wash, blending pens, and burnish-ing pencils. I really try hard to get solid color. Using a thick paper is essential, it will take a lot and not come apart. I have experimented using markers as an underlying base and then drawing over that with the colored pencil.

I have entered some exhibitions and contests and just had a few renderings in a gallery show this June. I’m having a showing in November at a local library which will feature many of my drawings. I will also be doing a demonstration of my techniques.

Wherever you are with your art, techniques, mediums, and subjects, try not to over think it too much. Don’t let that take away from the satisfaction of the creation.

You can see more of my work at:

pschornstudio.com


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Philip Schorn

“Leaf 8” 7x7” (top left)“Leaf 2” 9x11” (top right)“Signs of Fall” 6x7” (center)“Leaf 5” 5x5” (bottom left)“Leaf 7" 5x7” (bottom right)



www.pschornstudio.com

“Kansas Flower” 20x16” “Random Weed” 10x10”

“Life Goes On in the Fall” 20x14”“Spring Emerging” 20x14”

“Winthrop Harbor Spring” 20x14”

“Leaves 10” 9x6.5”

“Leaf 8” 7x7” (top left)“Leaf 2” 9x11” (top right)“Signs of Fall” 6x7” (center)“Leaf 5” 5x5” (bottom left)“Leaf 7" 5x7” (bottom right)



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My transition into landscapes

I had never really entertained doing landscapes before because it was out of my comfort zone. I thought I simply would not enjoy the process of creating

them with the detail that I thought most scenes entailed. However, I had several photographs of an intriguing and quite large water wheel built and used in the Australian gold rush mining era of the 1800s. This wheel is nestled deep within a lush bush setting in the foothills of Victoria’s high country.

My husband and I had hiked to the wheel a few times and loved this spot in the bush. I had often wondered, while looking through my photos for new drawing projects, how one of these landscape photos would translate into a drawing. More impor-tantly, I wondered if I would be able to do the scene justice. I would then go on to choose a safer subject, something I knew I could draw successfully. Then one brave day I took a leap of faith with my art ability and, as Australians say, “had a crack at it.”

I fell in love with the process. It was wonderful depicting the different textures of the bush and the varied and vast range of colors, but above all I loved the detail and intricacy within the landscape. An additional element to it was reliving the memories from being there in person, remembering the calm and tranquillity of the Australian bush. It was so relaxing absorbing the details of nature.

With this particular piece, the water wheel’s amazing history, standing strong in the bush year after year, gave me a sense of honour drawing it. I only hoped I could do it justice, holding it high as an important piece of our history.

I came to the huge realization with this piece that as an artist I had to follow my instincts. If something appealed as a potential drawing, regardless of doubts regarding skill, technique, time, or materials, I had to attempt it. This is advice I would give to any budding artist. You may very well stumble across a talent or love for a subject you hadn’t imagined you were capable of. Step out of your comfort zone and draw what you love and what appeals strongly to you. Don’t draw what you think will please others or earn you a win in a competition or gain you more work as an artist. When you find your passion in your art the rest will follow. The process is just as important as the end result.

by Susan E. RobjantLANDSCAPESFalling in Love with

A passion for drawing landscapes is not something I would have envisioned as part of my repertoire. Initially, I kept my art passion busy for the most part by drawing domestic animals and wildlife. And while I still love those subjects, I have now found immense enjoyment recreating breathtaking scenery with colored pencil.

“Wheel of Time”



Choosing your reference images

When selecting a subject to draw, I first choose a place or subject that I have connected with in some way. It may be somewhere I have been or somewhere I am keen to visit. A few of my drawing references were used with permission from extended family who had gone on trips to amazing places around Australia. These are places that I dream of visiting one day.

I have found, though, that drawing a place I have seen with my own eyes is of greater benefit to me as I can rely on my own memories and the feelings left with me from the experience. Quite often I’ve taken numerous photographs of one spot from different angles with different lighting and different content that helps immensely. By combining the most flattering elements or lighting from the different references, I end up with the best possible depiction of that scene.

I look for a reference photo that has an interesting focal point or points that the eye is drawn to. This could be a flat expanse of water that draws your eye in or a meandering pathway that disappears into the bush. My hope with these focal points is to provide a sense of intrigue, curiosity, or just pull my audience in with something relaxing to the eye.

I also love a reference photo that has a lot of depth which, hopefully, after being drawn will portray the immense scale of our native scenery.

Starting the process

Once I have chosen my reference photos, I map out the scene by sketching it all out on paper in a light graphite pencil. Just as I do when drawing an animal or a person, I measure out all my key points. These would be things such as the distance between trees, the thickness of tree trunks, the expanse of water, heights of any cliffs, etc. Once I am comfortable knowing everything is placed proportionately, I very lightly sketch in the shape of the foliage, branches, rocks, and any pivotal highlights or shadows that I don’t want to forget about.

At this stage I start using colored pencils and rely heavily on following my reference photo, using my initial sketch and markers to guide me. I have tried using a grid method in the past, but, frankly, I’m simply too lazy to implement it. I am trying to draw freehand as much as I can. Hopefully, with practice, I will need less measuring out in the future as my eye for detail improves.

With the beginning of every new piece I am always hopeful I will be more methodical and work smoothly from top left to bottom right. Instead, I normally start bottom left then work up and across, jumping around a bit as the piece goes on. If I’m getting tired of a particular part of the drawing I will leave it not quite complete and move on to another part of the scene. I think this is a great method for overcoming frustration or boredom.

“Deep Reflection”



Frustration can lead to overthinking and overworking the paper or causing an irreparable mistake, when all it may need is fresh eyes. I set up shop in a different section for a change of scenery and return a few days later. I usually find I can complete it problem-free.

Another advantage of resting an area of paper is that it gives it time to absorb the pigment, enabling more layers to be applied. The color can also change slightly with time and may need adjustments.

Once I feel I’ve finished the piece I let it sit for a day and then go back and reinforce the darks and shadows and lights and high-lights. At this point I’ll take a photo of it on my phone to add to my progress shots. I find that viewing it on a smaller scale can reveal if something needs to be darker or lighter or requires moredetail. Converting it to black and white can sometimes help a lot with getting my values correct as well.

Textures in landscapes

I think one of the wonderful things about landscapes is the wide diversity in structures that makes up a scene. There are so many beautiful colors, textures, and shapes to explore in any one shot. When drawing these I really want to define the many different qualities, such as making my water look glassy and smooth, or emphasising the many crevasses and fissures on the rock faces, showing the way the light catches its jagged edges. I want the viewer to feel they are there seeing it for themselves.

Lighting plays an incredibly huge role in this. I constantly need to be aware of how the light hits the many aspects in the scene and make sure I’m very constant with the direction.

Flora - trees and foliage

Plants, shrubs, and grasses are naturally abundant in landscapes with their many different colors, shapes, and varieties. Each one is as individual as we are, so I’m definitely not drawing the same tree over and over again. It’s a new experience every time. With every piece I try to develop different methods of rendering leaves and foliage. This skill is my weakest point and one I hope to get better at with each new piece.

I start by creating a base layer of lights and darks and then use Zest-It to blend these together smoothly. Once this is dry and has rested a little bit, I layer on the leaves in small, random strokes starting with the lightest colors. Sometimes a very bright lime, almost a yellow, will create an illusion of sun on the new green tips. I use whites where the source of light hits the outer leaves. In the shadows of the foliage I use darker greens, and in the deepest and densest parts I layer greys and blues to create more depth.

When drawing the branches or trunk of a tree, I will notice many colors that may not have stood out initially. This is where the maxim “draw what you see and not what you think you see” is so important. I use colors such as browns, greys, white, black, reds, yellows, oranges, and even blues and mauves in recreating a simple gumtree trunk and branches. These colors are subtle but they play an integral part, giving depth and character to the appearance and telling my eye that this object has a cylindrical shape. For example, I might be tempted to believe the edge of the trunk wrapping around to the back should be darker, but when I look closely, on the very outer edge of that tree trunk, I see a highlighted strip. These subtle inclusions make an enormous dif-ference in the end result.

Water

I find that water translates beautifully in a landscape drawing. I’m always particular with the techniques involved to make sure I portray its qualities accurately. If it is a smooth, flat body of water I need to pay attention to the reflections cast upon its surface. It mirrors the surrounding landscape, and I want this to show perfectly as this is a feature that adds immensely to the beauty of a scene. When the object is very close to the water’s edge the reflection is sharp and is almost perfectly mirrored. If the object is higher or more distant the reflections are just a suggestion of color and light being reflected back on the water’s surface.

Quite a few of my Australian landscapes have very reddish orange dirt and/or cliff faces in the reflection. When I draw the water, I start by layering reds, oranges, and browns before going over with black, again using Zest-It to smooth and blend everything. Having these colors underneath gives the black a warm depth. I draw many layers, probably more so than any other area of my drawings.

“Heavy Armed Recovery”

“Stillness”



I keep the darkest blacks for the deepest and most distant parts of the water. The water will lighten as it gets closer to a shore or shallow edge. I finish up by adding crisp white highlights where the light hits the ripples or edges of the water.

Cliffs or rocky areas

I enjoy rendering a nice and intricate rock face, with the deep shadows and the light hitting the edges. It looks dramatic and beautiful.

I start these sections with a deep grey, almost black, and start to get in all the shadows and crevasses in the rock. Then I begin layering in the lighter colors, working outwards until I reach the lightest spots at the edge. I often use a sharp blending pencil on these rougher surfaces, lightly blending the pigment into the paper, but not so much that I can’t layer over again. I do a final layer of colors to reinforce it all.

Again, as with the tree trunks, when I look closely I see colors not expected in a red cliff face, such as blue. Faber-Castell Polychromos sky blue is probably one of my most used pencils for this.

Depth

I like creating a sense of depth in my landscape drawings. For example, a sharp and clear branch of a tree in the forefront of the drawing that recedes back into a path or water or a valley, the main focus of my piece, which all

expands to a view in the distance which is usually slightly out of focus. This recreates how my eyes would see it in person. These different levels are important in portraying a sense of distance, drawing the viewer’s eye in and through the landscape.

Enjoy what you do

Finally, I can only reiterate my advice to draw whatever makes you happy or gives you a sense of passion for that subject. Draw what evokes feelings from you, whatever that maybe - a loved one, a treasured pet, a place or item you have a connection with. Don’t let doubts hold you back. Give it a go and learn from every piece that you create. Improve your method in the next piece and I guarantee you’ll be empowered as an artist.

I am not sure why I didn’t realize my passion for landscapes earlier in my art career; it may have been obstacles in my mind excluding them from consideration. But they make total sense to me now. I have combined my love of nature in my travels with my love of drawing. I am so pleased that I broke through my self-imposed barrier and attempted that first landscape, “Water Wheel.” I hope that through my landscapes viewers can feel a sense of the peace-fulness, simplicity, and sheer beauty that nature offers us. I also hope that a little bit of my love and passion for these scenes is shared with them.

www.susanerobjantart.com

“Tranquility”

“Nostalgia”



Mixing Mediums

I like using mixed media in my artwork. I’ve seen other artists use pastel with colored pencil, but can I use wet mediums as well? What types would you recommend?

Barb Sotiropoulos - www.barbsotiart.com

Question:

Answer:

&QA

You sure can! One of the brilliant things about colored pencil is that it mixes quite well with other media, both wet and dry. This is a great technique if you want high saturation without having to apply the many layers you would by using colored pencil alone. You can create wonderfully rich illustrations and drawings in a lot less time.

A few wet mediums you could try with colored pencil include acrylic ink, water-color, and acrylic paint. All three of these have a relatively fast drying time and work best when using them as a wash or in thin layers. Use your wet media to establish your base color or mid value tones, and then apply colored pencil to add in high-lights and darker values.

Something to keep in mind is that more texture will tend to show through from the acrylic paint and watercolor compared to the acrylic ink. Experimentation will be your friend as you establish what works best for you, but there are a few things to you’ll want to determine before you get started.

Test swatches on Moleskin Mixed Media paper. Left to right - watercolor, acrylic ink, and acrylic paint using Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils over top.

“Trinitas” 7.5x9” Colored Pencil and acrylic ink on hot

press watercolor paper


http://www.barbsotiart.com


Send your questions to: [email protected]

PAPERFinding the right paper may take some trial and error, depending on what look you want to achieve. The key is to pick a paper type that can handle both wet and dry media without curling or wrinkling. Using paper designed specifically for mixed media from brands like Canson and Strathmore work great for this. Hot press watercolor paper is also great because the tooth is smooth enough for colored pencil but it can still handle wet media. A best practice tip is to tape down the edges of your paper to help prevent any warping while you are working.

WET MEDIAWatercolor is great for washes and gradations. Because the medium can be reworked when it’s re-wetted it allows some flexibility if you don’t get something quite right. You have to let your layers dry completely with any wet media before applying your colored pencil layers. You can damage your paper if you try applying colored pencil layers too soon. Also, try not to apply the watercolor too heavily as it can add unwanted extra texture to your surface, unless added texture can be used to your advantage as part of the look you are trying to achieve.

Acrylic ink is my favorite wet media to use with colored pencil. There are a few brands on the market that work great like FW Acrylic Ink and Liquitex Acrylic Ink which are professional grade artist mediums. This versatile ink is great if you like the look of watercolor but want something that has high satura-tion with water resistance and very little application. A little bit goes a long way with this medium. Unlike watercolor, however, once it dries you can’t rework it, so plan wisely. Colored pencil layers quite well over this medium because it seems to soak into the paper rather than sitting too much on top and changing

the quality of surface you are working on.

Acrylic paint can also be used in conjunction with colored pencil, but you are a lot more limited. Watering it down or using a high flow acrylic version as a wash is the ideal applica-tion. Because acrylic paint tends to have a plastic-like texture when it dries, too much will not be suitable for adding colored pencil on top. Some colors won’t show up well over acrylic paint so this medium might take the most experimentation. In this combination, lighter colored pencil on darker paint colors works best.

Another option to explore is mixing wet mediums and colored pencil in a piece without layering on top of one another at all. By leaving some areas just for colored pencil and others just for the wet media you can create a rich, dynamic piece. For example, you might choose to create most of your background with acrylic paint while saving your subject matter for colored pencil work. Artists like Lisa Clough of Lachri Fine Art use this method often in their work very successfully.

IMPORTANT NOTEIf you are planning to sell your finished original piece it’s important to research the lightfast rating of the media you are using with your colored pencils to ensure you are working with the best archival quality. Even if you end up mostly covering your wet media layer with lightfast colored pencil the media underneath can still potentially be susceptible to fading.

When choosing to mix your colored pencil and wet media together, however, the important thing to remember is to experiment and have fun!

“Giant Panda” 6.25×4.5” Colored pencil, watercolor, and

acrylic paint on mixed media paper

“Lion Tamarin” 6.25x4.5” Colored pencil, watercolor, and acrylic paint

on mixed media paper


mailto:[email protected]


Eurasian Eagle OwlStep-by-Step

Tips:Background - Base

Background - Bokeh

by Jennifer Watson

Using a very light hand, I layered my lighter background colors. Because the background is out of focus, colors needed to overlap a bit to prevent any shapes from being too well defined. After a few layers I used odorless mineral spirits to blend colors together and fill the tooth of the paper. I repeated until I achieved the color saturation I wanted.

Because I consistently used a light hand in layering my background colors the paper still had plenty of tooth left. Starting with cream, I lightly layered the light spots into the back-ground, putting a greater concentration of spots into lighter areas of the background. Then I used ivory for brighter spots and, finally, Polychromos white and Derwent Drawing Chinese white for the brightest spots of light.

• Layer your colors with a light hand. Don’t flatten the tooth of the paper so early that you can’t add additional layers or correct mistakes.

• Pay close attention to the texture of the feathers in any given area - birds have up to five different feather types. The feathers of an owl are specially designed for their hunting style.

• Don’t lock yourself into a mindset that will only allow you to see feathers as feathers. Sometimes feathers don’t look like feathers, and it’s better to see them simply as abstract shapes.

• W i t h F a b e r - C a s t e l l Polychromos pencils, which are oil-based and therefore more translucent, you can focus on achieving values and then “glaze” with other pencils on top to achieve greater color saturation without completely covering up previous layers.

I love wildlife. I own dozens of nature documentaries, and I’m an annual pass holder at Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo in Florida, which is where I get most of the reference photos I use for my artwork. It’s an amazing zoo - the animals are alert and engaged, and there are always opportuni-ties for great photos. Every time I attend the bird of prey show I hope their Eurasian eagle owl, Ivan, will be performing. His impressive size, stunning eyes, and effortless grace make him an instant favorite with his handlers and the zoo guests. When I captured this reference photo I knew I had to draw it someday!

You too can draw Ivan! Download this photo to use as a reference and follow along at www.flickr.com/groups/theclassroom. If posting on social media use #DrawingIvan so we can all view it. You can also tag the zoo by adding @TampaZoo. Visit them at: www.lowryparkzoo.org.



Head Feathers & Beak

EyesI completed the illuminated parts of the eyes first by layering yellows, oranges, and a little bit of red. I also layered quite a bit of white to block in the highlight; then I put down a very light layer of dark sepia to mark the shadows. I layered orange, red, and dark sepia alternately to complete the shadowed portion. Only the pupil and corners of the eyes are actually black. I left some tooth to the paper at the top of the eye to add a white sheen around the highlight, which gives the eye more dimension.

The feathers around the eyes and on the top of his head came next. Notice how Ivan has very fluffy, almost fur-like feathers around his eyes and beak but very sleek, contoured feathers on top of and around the rest of his head. I used quite a bit of ivory, burnt umber, and dark sepia to block in these areas then glazed with colors like burnt sienna, bistre, and similar shades to add addi-tional feather colors.

Because the beak isn’t high gloss I didn’t want it to have an ultra-defined highlight. Allowing a softer transition between light and dark better repre-sents the texture of the beak. I also tried to capture the imperfections that cast different reflections in the light.



Because the shoulder is rounding away from the viewer, the feather pattern doesn’t have much rhyme or reason. I didn’t stress too much about making feathers look like feathers - remember, sometimes they just don’t. I copied the shapes and patterns in the reference photo, looking for the little details that gave dimension (light and shadow) and the appearance of feathers (colors, patterns, lines, gradations, etc.).

I’m won’t keep any secrets from you - this was unequivocally my least favorite portion of this piece! If you look at my progress shots, you’ll see that I moved away from it and worked on the wing before finishing this area. Here are my tips for working on the “face fluff.”

1. Getting the direction of the feathers right is more important than copying the reference photo exactly. Don’t stress too much about getting it all perfect.

2. Don’t let too many of the tufts and clumps of feathers be too well defined. Gradual changes in value represent softer textures while hard lines make something look firm or wiry. Giving a general sense of the feathers is better than defining the feathers too well.

3. Focus on your values. This is what will create dimension and push some tufts forward and others back.

4. Keep a light hand. You may find it works well to layer in darker colors and then pull out lighter feathers by using an eraser or by layering ivory down on top of the shadows. If you’ve damaged the tooth of the paper you won’t be able to do this.

Lower Face

Shoulder



The wing to the viewer’s left can be a challenge because of the way the wing is curved and partially extended. Some feathers are seen head on, some from the bottom, some from the side. Some are on top of the wing and in full sun while others are on the bottom of the wing and completely in the shade. I found that working in sections helped me - I worked on groups of feathers that were facing a similar direction before moving on to another section.

Contour and value are the best things to focus on. This is another area where I found myself using quite a bit of ivory, burnt umber, and dark sepia to block in the feathers and then glazing various areas with burnt sienna, bistre, and different ochre shades to add additional feather colors.

Note: I did not use black at all for wing shadows.

I used the same techniques for the shadowed portion of the wing as I did for the body, and I used the same general techniques for the second wing as I did for the first wing. Once more, I focused on shapes, colors, and values over trying to draw actual feathers. I used browns and sepia for the shadows with a little bit of black to accentuate the shadow that separates the wing from the body.

I started the body by focusing on the small portion that’s in full sun. Here are more feathers that don’t look like feathers. Again, I focused on shapes, colors, and values. For the portion of the body that’s in shadow, I began blocking in the darker feathers in dark sepia, and then I layered over the entire body with various shades of brown. To avoid making Ivan appear flat, I looked for how the feathers follow the contour of the body. Because the body is in shadow the feathers aren’t incredibly detailed.

Wing

Body

www.thearteest87.com

“Ivan” 11x14”Introductory colored pencil workshop coming May 2017 - follow Tampa Regional Artists on Facebook for updates!



“Grandma’s Love Machine”Chuck Senecal

www.charlessenecaldesigns.com

“Mean Machine”13x10”Faber-Castell Polychromo pencils on grey-tint Stonehenge paperClaire Murraywww.facebook.com/murray.paintings

“Soller”11.5x16.5”Faber Castell Polychromos, Derwent Drawing Chinese white pencil on Canson Mi Teintes pastel paper (#343 pearl)Ewelina Kuczerawww.kot-filemon.deviantart.com

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About the drawing: Soller is a town in Mallorca, Spain. It is well-known for its old trams. The track passes through the town's centre and goes through the main square.


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1. USE THIS PHOTOor go to www.coloredpencilmag.com/challenge to download the full size image.

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