Mei Completed & Selection for CPSA International Exhibition

Mei

12x15.5 inches

Coloured pencils and pastel on Pastelmat

I ended up starting this portrait over four times. I initially used the Colourfix Suede, and whilst I found it wonderful for accepting coloured pencils and doing fine detail, unfortunately the pastel background was lifting off as I worked across the top of it on the foreground. I find that once the pastel is applied to the Pastelmat, you can work over the top of it without worrying too much that the pastel will lift off again and only requires minimal touch up at the end. I still love the Colourfix Suede as a coloured pencil surface, but probably wouldn't attempt to use it again to combine pastels with pencils.

On another note, I was thrilled to discover today, that Grandpa Elliott was selected for the Coloured Pencil Society of America International Exhbition. Only four artists were selected from outside America, so I was honoured to be included! :)

WIP - Mei

This is a WIP of my latest commission - a beautiful leopard called Mei. Doing this commission gave me a renewed passion to do some more artworks featuring Big Cats and so we took a flying visit down to the Canberra Zoo, where they have a wonderful array of big cats. Considering it is the middle of school holidays, we were amazed how quiet it was at the zoo, giving us a glorious day of meandering from enclosure to enclosure. Some of the Big Cats were more co-operative than others in posing for photos. I must admit I had to chuckle a few times, as I got the distinct feeling that a few of the gorgeous Cats knew exactly what I was there for and were deliberately playing cat and mouse with me. As they paced up and down, I would wait up one end of the enclosure for them to return from their pace, upon which they decided take a stretch or a roll up the other end. Quick as a flash I was up the other end for that amazing shot, only to find that they had resumed pacing again. Reminded me so much of my contrary Siamese cat!

'Amore d'estate, Firenze'

'Amore d'estate, Firenze'

A3 (12x16 inches)

Coloured Pencils and Watercolour wash sky on illustration board

This was the commission that I mentioned on my blog about a month ago that kept me quite busy for almost an entire week. I really haven't done a lot of artwork containing architecture before and so this was a pleasant, but challenging change.

Wishing everyone a very happy and peaceful Easter holiday!!! :)

Coloured Pencil Conversion Charts

Coloured Pencil Conversion and Comparison Charts now available in a kit from http://www.miniatureartbykhull.com/tutorials_34.html.Unsure about which coloured pencils to substitute when you are working between brands? Like to know which colours and brands stand out the most on a black surface? Which surfaces work best with which brand of coloured pencil? Like to compare at a glance which pencils have the highest lightfast rating? This kit will help you answer all those questions and more. There are colour conversion charts for four of the main brands of CP including Faber Castell Polychromos, Prismacolor Premier, Derwent Artists and Caran D'Ache Pablos. There are also charts showing each colour on six different surfaces: Fabriano 5 HP, Drafting film, Black mat, Colourfix Suede, Canson Mi-Teintes Tex and Stonehenge with a brief description for each surface.