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Gemma
Gylling, Scribble Webmaster
For as long as I can remember I either had
a crayon, a paint brush or a pencil in my hand.
I always wanted to create art. My parents were
very supportive of my creative needs and allowed
me to try all different types of art and crafts.
Although I haven't had any formal training
in art I believe
I've
learned a lot by studying other artist's work
and by taking lots of workshops.
I
discovered the colored pencil medium
in
2000
by reading an article in Artist magazine
about a colored pencil artist's work. I
remember being so amazed at
what could be done with the colored pencil.
I immediately went out and bought all the
books I could on colored pencil and started
studying the medium. I practiced by doing
several small subjects, an apple, a rose,
and a few other items. Now I was ready!
The first piece I did was titled "Brand-O".
It was a portrait of my dog and I had so
much fun doing it, I was hooked.
About
three years ago I took over the Scribble
site and through this site I have met so
many wonderful people and hope to continue
these friendships in many years to follow.
Several of my friends, subscribers and
fellow Wetcanvas members
from the colored pencil forum, have asked
why I don't feature my work one of
these days so,,,,,, here I am. I hope
you enjoy and,,,,,,,,, Keep Scribbling!
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Lost
But Not Forgotten
Colored Pencil on Stonehenge Paper
19”x14”
This
is a 1937 Fire Engine. For several
months I drove past this farm in
Byron, California, near where I
live, that had this truck sitting
out in front
of the barn. Every time I went
by it I thought I've got to take
a picture of it, so,,,,, one day
I did. When I finally decided it
was time to draw it I realized
that my reference photo didn't
show a lot of the detail in the
grill area of the truck, the front
area of the truck was sitting in
the shade and was very dark. I
drove over to that farmer's house
and
the truck was gone. I went up to
the
house and inquired about the Fire
Engine. I found out it was a 1937
GMC and it was the actual fire
engine used in the Byron area
years ago. In fact the Farmer was
the Fire Chief in Byron for 30
years. If you look closely on the
hood of the truck you will see
Byron RFD (Regional Fire Department)
faded out. He told me he sold the
truck to someone
who
wanted
to
restore
it. So my only option was to surf
the web and try and find a picture
of another one so I could make
out the detail on the front area
of the truck. I found another truck
with the same grill area and
was able to make out what it looked
like. This was done with Prisma
Color, Lyra, Derwent Studio and
some Faber Castell colored pencils,
it took me roughly 80 hours to
do it.
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Barney,
Beloved Pet
of Nancy & Peter Farber/Szekrenyi
Colored Pencil on
Stonehenge Paper
11" x 14"
This
is was commission I did for the daughter
of Nancy and Peter
Farber/Szekrenyi as
surprise to her parents. The dog is a Newfoundland
Lanseer and had passed away quite sometime
ago. This piece was a challenge because the
reference photo I had wasn't very clear at
all. I loved the pose with the bone in his
mouth so I wanted to do it anyway. When I
have a reference photo that is not so great
I try and get other pictures of the dog as
well, in order to see some of the detail.
Unfortunately the other photos were quite
small of him and it was tough to do. The
advantage I have is,
I show my dogs, and I'm always at dog shows,
so I can study the breed I'm drawing at the
time. This was done with Prisma Color, Lyra,
Derwent
Studio and
some Faber Castell colored pencils,
it took me roughly 40 hours to
do it.
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Ramsey, Pet
of Nancy & Peter Farber/Szekrenyi
Colored Pencil on Stonehenge Paper
14”x11”
This was commissioned by the same person
as Barney and this was also a surprise
gift for
her parents. This cat is an Abyssinian,
he is still alive today and is the wonderful
pet of Peter Szekrenyi.
According to his daughter Andrea
this cat is the love of her father's life.
She wanted me to do this for her father's
60th birthday. Andrea is supposed to
give the portrait
to her father at the end of June and
I can't wait to hear how he liked it.
I really
had fun with this one. I
had a great reference photo and the cat is
just so regal. This
was done with Prisma Color, Lyra, Derwent
Studio and some Faber Castell colored pencils,
it
took me roughly 40 hours to do it.
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In
The Dog House
Colored Pencil Stonehenge Paper
11”x19”
I
found this picture on the web, on a Basset
Hound Breeder's website. When I saw it
I just had to do it. I emailed to the
breeder and found out that this dog lives
in South Africa. She explained to me
that in South Africa they have bars on
their doors and windows to keep the wildlife
out. Well,,,, one day she was having
a party, and the local newspaper was
there taking pictures. She said that
the dog was being a nuisance so she put
him in the house. The dog just sat there
staring out at all the people having
fun with that look of longing to be out
there too. The newspaper reporter had
taken the picture,,,,
now
I had to
write
to
them to get permission to use the photo.
I wrote to the editor of "Springs & Brakpan
Advertiser" and
asked permission. They were wonderful,
they said I could as long as I gave them
credit for taking the reference photo.
After I had prints done I sent the number
one print to the breeder, she was very
pleased. It's amazing what the internet
has done for us, who would have thought
that I would be chatting with someone
in South Africa about their dog! This
was done with Prisma Color, and Derwent
Studio colored pencils, it took me roughly
60 hours to do it.
This
piece won an Award of Merit at the California
State Fair in 2003.
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Brand-O
Colored Pencil Stonehenge Paper
25”x18”
This
was my first colored pencil piece and
what an undertaking, 25"x18", I had
no idea just how long it would take!
This is a picture of my dog, Brand-O,
when he was 8 months old. He has such
a
sweet
personality and I hope I was able to
portray just how sweet he is. This
was done with Prisma Color colored
pencils and I have no idea how long
it took me to do it.
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Black
Dog Kit
Colored Pencil Stonehenge Paper
10”x8”
I was happily surprised when Ann Kullberg asked me to
create a colored pencil kit on how to draw black fur. I had a blast doing
it but
I have to say, it was really strange to remember to write down ever pencil
I picked up, the pressure I used and the stroke that was used as well. This
kit can be bought for just $14.95 at the this link, Ann
Kullberg's Animal kits for
the colored pencil medium.
Ann's kits include the following:
- Line drawing to transfer
- Palette list
- Step by step instructions:
Includes color, point, pressure & stroke info
- Step by step full-color
demos
- Stonehenge drawing paper
- Photo reference
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I want to take this opportunity to thank all
of my readers and to say hi to all of the wonderful
colored pencil artists I have met while publishing
Scribble. Don't forget,,,,,, Keep Scribbling!
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