JANUARY 2013

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JANUARY 2013T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S

Editor-In-Chief Ann KullbergDesigner Garry Dimapilis

Copy Editor Susan CottmanContributors Paula Grookett,

Hellen Martinand Katie Kullberg

For Subscription, Purchase and Advertising Informationwww.annkullberg.comann@annkullberg.comPrinter MagCloud

© 2013 annkullberg.com

31313 31 Ave SW Federal Way, WA 98023-7855

Cover Art Lisaby Annemieke de Wit

10.5" x 8.5"

My name is Annemieke de Wit, I am 46 years old, Dutch, and live in Rotterdam, Netherlands. I am completely self-taught. I love drawing animals, mostly cats, both big and small, but also other furry mammals. A few months ago I decided to also try portraits, the main challenge for me being the skin tones, but I think I'm getting there now! I started off with graphite pencils but now I'm totally into colored pencils. I just love drawing with colors, and I don't think I could go back to black and white.

www.facebook.com/annemieke.dewit.3

03 FROM MY DESKa note from the editor

04 STEP BY STEPportrait prep 101

07 Q&Ayou asked, ann answered!

08 PROFILEpaula grookett

11 GRAB BAGcolor penciling on a gourd

13 TIPSskin tones on suede board

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ART TECHperfect reference photos

SHOWCASEcolored pencil art gallery

CRITIQUEglenn keelan

20 WORKSHOPS

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Happy New Year! We’ve got a brand new 365 days to enjoy colored pencil!

I think about the just past 12 months – I taught on a cruise in the Caribbean, in a café in Tokyo, and crisscrossed the country teaching in SC, NC, TX, VA, TN and probably a few places I’ve left out! I became a first time grandmother, a Japanese TV singer and a vegan all in the same season! I published 12 magazines, 2 new kits and a new book that included cp work from all over the world. I met fabulous colored pencil folks everywhere, and was enthralled innumerable times by the amazing cp art I see on Facebook and in CP Magazine. And then there’s you! You who have subscribed or renewed your CP Magazine subscriptions – remaining faithful readers and sharing the news about CP Magazine to your art friends and art groups. Thank you for that!! Your loyalty and appreciation mean the world to me.

I think life is wonderful and I love the unpredictability of it all…and I look forward to sharing another year with all of you!

Ann Kullbergannkullberg.com

If you somehow missed it, our 13th Annual Member Theme Show is online! It’s great fun to see all the different “triplets” that exhibitors came up with. There’s whimsy and abstraction and lovely work. You’ll enjoy it! Go to www.annkullberg.com and click on the Gallery link to see the show, and previous ones, too!

If you somehow missed it, our 13th Annual Member Theme Show is online! It’s great fun to see all the different “triplets” that exhibitors came up with. There’s whimsy and abstraction and lovely work. You’ll enjoy it! Go to www.annkullberg.com and click on the Gallery link to see the show, and previous ones, too!

Our next show is the 14th Annual Member Show. Entry deadline will be May 5th. As a subscriber, your entry is free. We have great prizes every year from Prismacolor. Best of Show wins a set of 132 Prismacolor Premium Colored Pencils. You’re limited to one entry for the Member Show each spring…but it can be of any subject, on any surface, using any colored pencils. Please, please, please use your own photo reference for your entry. There will be more specifics to come regarding how to enter in the February issue, but for now…get the camera out…take some fabulous reference photos and get started on your prize-winning entry!

2012 Issues

VISITwww.annkullberg.com/zine.phpTo order paST ISSueS

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F RO M M Y D E S K

S T E P B Y S T E P

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I’m sure what I’m about to say won’t surprise any of you one bit…Upon the advent of the birth of my first grandchild the end of October, I was suddenly overtaken by a strong and immediate urge to draw our new little Evey Lou!! But as I started the process of this first portrait of my granddaughter, it struck me that the level of my “pre-drawing” preparation was pretty intense, and that it might be helpful to share this with all of you.

Drawing a portrait is so much more than just drawing a portrait. It starts with all kinds of decisions. This might seem obvious, but when I teach workshops I see that these first steps, even though they are so vitally important, are often hurried or barely addressed. We all know how long colored pencil drawings take. They take way too much time to rush through any of the preparation necessary to give you the best shot at a truly successful drawing. Maybe it’s because cp takes so long that people hurry? If that sounds like it might be you…you might be being “penny wise and pound foolish”!

To start Evey’s portrait, the first step was to make an awful lot of decisions.

Which photo? It’s obvious that your first decision will be which photo reference, but what are the questions you might ask yourself as you go through your photo possibilities? Of course I already have tons of photos of Evey, and of course I think they’re all adorable…so which one? Here are a few things I ask myself when choosing:• Is it just a cute photo? That’s not enough, in my book.• Is it clear enough for me to really see all of the features?• Is it a large enough photo? • Does it have good or interesting light?• Are there any textures I don’t feel like tackling?• Does it tell a story?• Would this image appeal to people who don’t know or care about Evey?

After asking and answering those questions, I chose this photo because it has great light, her expression gives it a bit of “story”, it’s a large, clear photo and I love the glisten on her lips.

Cropping – Choosing the photo is only the first step in preparing my reference photo. Next I play with cropping. I print out the photo, and then get a stack of plain white sheets of printing paper. I place the sheets around the photo on all four sides, and then start to move them into the image, effectively cropping it. I might play around with this for quite a while – moving the left sheet in a half inch, then back a quarter inch, then bring the bottom sheet up a couple inches...etc. I can do this same thing on the computer, of course, but I find this low tech method is actually the easiest.

PHASE ONE - DEC IS IONS

PORTRA IT PREP 10 1

S T E P B Y S T E P

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I start the tracing by opening the reference photo on my computer. I then place mylar film (Dura-Lar, purchased via www.blick.com) onto my monitor. The monitor as a little edge the mylar can rest on, then I tape the top two corners onto the monitor and I use regular #2 pencils that are very sharp to trace onto the mylar. This method is most successful if the room is darker, so I tend to do this at night with the lights lowered.

Now I just have to decide how much detail to trace. I tend not to add too much detail when tracing. Too much just makes me end up confused. I do, however, practice “mindful tracing”. That means that I am always mindful of the objects as a whole, not just as lines. In other words, when tracing an eye, I’m aware of how an eye is put together, what folds into what, what tucks into what, etc. It is almost a mix of drawing and tracing, in that way. I think this is KEY. I have seen too, too many poor tracings when teaching workshops. Really inadequate tracings. Ones that make my heart sink when I see them, because I know that they have set themselves up for failure. Take your time. If the tracing doesn’t look like the person, erase and start again, or fix what’s wrong. Don’t move on to the next step until your tracing looks like a drawing….a line drawing, of course, but a drawing, just the same.

I ended up with this crop for Evey, because I really wanted that pouty mouth to be the star of the portrait and I felt this more intimate crop would show it off more.

Intensity – Photo chosen, crop decided…now what about color intensity? Do I want or need to punch up the brightness of the color? Or do I want to make the light more dramatic by increasing the contrast? Do I want to warm her up by adding more red? I play with these in my graphics program (Elements or Fireworks) and finally decide to keep the color intensity and contrast pretty close to the original photo. I feel the higher contrast and intensity is a little harsh for this little 2 week old!

PHASE TW0 - TRA C ING

Size – Next I have to decide what size I want this portrait to be. I have soooooooo little time to draw these days that I know starting with a piece that is too large is a recipe for never finishing the portrait! Keeping that in mind, I go with 7.5 x 9.5 which is big enough for me to get all the detail I want without struggling and small enough that I might actually finish it.

Surface – My last prepping decision is what surface should I work on? In the past, when I had more time, the answer would always have been Stonehenge, which is always my preferred paper. But I decide to go with a sanded surface for this because it’s faster. So do I go with a brown or a white sanded surface? I really struggle when working on dark papers, so I decide to go with White Colourfix. It will be the first time using this paper, so it’s all a big experiment!

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S T E P B Y S T E PI also take not of texture and light and how things work, as I trace. For example, I noticed how much thicker the lines of the blanket on the left are in the foreground versus the background while I was tracing. Mindful tracing helps me to start solving problems before I even begin my drawing.

If you’re not comfortable tracing from your monitor, then of course, you can trace from a printed photo. Follow these 3 “rules” for success:

Use mylar, not tracing paper.

Use a light box or a window. Place the photo on the window and the mylar over the photo.

If you’re having trouble seeing the photo through the mylar, even at the window, print another copy of your photograph, but increase the contrast. Even if you don’t know how to use Elements or another graphics application, you can always adjust your reference photo in your printer settings. All printers these days have quite advanced setting options, including raising or lowering the contrast.

Since I’m new to white Colourfix paper, I need to do some practicing. Easiest way for me to do that is to print out my line drawing onto Colourfix. I scan my tracing, lighten it somewhat, and then print it right onto the sanded paper. Now I have a practice piece that will be exactly like my real drawing so any time I feel the need to try something out, it’s ready for me.

I work out a little bit about different areas on this practice sheet. I experiment – a little Inktense pencil and water along the top (didn’t like that). A little wet NeoColor on the upper left corner (wasn’t sure about that, either) A little dry Neocolor as a base for the blanket (that I liked!). I played with brushing areas to fill the tooth more quickly. I played with light skin tones and dark ones, and Evey’s little mouth. I tried building color from a mid-tone, then tried building color from light values. I played until I felt I had somewhat of a handle on the Colourfix.

By the time I had finished all of this preparation from choosing a photo, to tracing onto my drawing paper, I’d spent a total of 7 hours just to ready to start on the portrait! But as ironic as it may sound, I had to spend that kind of time in preparation simply because I have so little time! With all of this groundwork done right, I can proceed with confidence knowing I’ve chosen the best photo I can, with the best crop, at the right size, with the right amount of detail and light. I know I have a solid tracing, and I know that I can perfect a new area on my practice piece at any time, if I need to.

7 hours wasted? Note as far as I’m concerned. In fact, I think of them as the most important 7 hours I’ll spend on the entire drawing!

Of course, Evey’s portrait will end up being either another CP magazine lesson or another kit. This is as far as I’ve gotten so far, but I am so itching to get back to it again soon!

PHASE THREE - PRA CT ICE

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Q: I enjoy the critiques in your magazine so much, especially when you include the images with the lines across to check for differences betwveen the drawing and the photograph. I wish I could do that, but I’m pretty weak on the computer. Is there a lower-tech way to check my drawings?

A: Absolutely, although you may have to think about it from the beginning of the drawing process, rather than at the end, because it may take some planning. Here’s the procedure I’d suggest you use right from the beginning to make “low-tech checking” easier.

Decide that your drawing is going to be the same size as your photo reference.

Trace your photo reference onto Mylar, with a regular #2 pencil.

Make registration marks onto your tracing – a simple X in each corner will work.

Now trace onto your drawing paper. (See this month’s Step by Step for thorough guidance.)

Start your drawing – as you need to check to see if you’ve gone off course, lay your Mylar tracing over your drawing. You can instantly see if you’ve strayed and no computer was harmed in the process!

Q & A

Q: Ann, maybe in CP Magazine you could touch on how to achieve an even, flat value in a large area. That's one area that continues to be a challenge for me. I guess it's a matter of a light touch and building up layers? Does it help to do a scumbling stroke as opposed to a straight stroke? Maybe using shorter strokes? When I have large areas, such as a background that is dark, I have a difficult time getting it done evenly.

A: Flat areas are often much tougher to pull off than textured areas. If these areas are really supposed to be flat and even, but you can see strokes going in various directions and with various levels of darkness, they distract from the areas that are supposed to be textured. Although painfully slow, I think scumbling is an easier way to get an even tonal value. (Scumbling is the fancy term for a very, very small circular or oval type stroke.) But probably more important than the stroke is the artist’s eye and attention, since it's mostly a matter of seeing and noticing that there are some areas, no matter how small, that are lighter. Once seen and noticed, it’s simply a matter of going back over those lighter areas to bring them up to the value of the darker strokes.

The other thing required is patience. In large areas, it’s so easy to start getting looser and looser with your strokes. I’m as guilty of this as anyone, so I understand. It takes a great deal of patience and discipline to continue with dense, even, small strokes in large areas. It’s just natural to start to hurry to fill those areas up! I have to remind myself that speeding up actually slows me down – because it’s harder to fix an unevenly applied layer than it is to do it right in the first place!

Q: What is the smallest size I should draw to practice drawing? I guess I don’t want to waste too much paper or too many pencils on practice drawings, but if they’re too small, it’s hard to get detail.

A: I’m afraid I’m not a big fan of “practice drawings.” I say go for it from the start! There’s nothing wrong with having scrap pieces of your drawing paper to try different techniques and color mixes on, but personally, I’ve found you learn more by just plunging in and trying a drawing of something you care about, in the size that will make you happy. But to answer your question more directly – if it’s detail you’re after, you probably don’t want to work too small. If it’s a portrait, my personal rule is “No face smaller than a large egg.”

Q&A: You asked, Ann answered!

Submit your art questions to Ann!ann@annkullberg.com

P RO F I L E

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Paula Grookett is an award-winning artist in Columbia, S.C. She displays her work at the Village Artists Gallery where she teaches technology classes for artists and accepts colored pencil portrait commissions. Visit www.paula.grookett.com or www.thevillageartists.com to see more of her work.

I ventured into art after retiring from 30 years as a teacher, librarian and then administrator in the public schools. With absolutely no art background, training or experience or even knowing colors beyond the primary ones, I signed up for a beginner’s watercolor class. I soon found out that while I love “loose” watercolor, I am NOT LOOSE in any way, shape or form! And then one day in 2008, I saw an ad for an Ann Kullberg colored pencil workshop on a cruise out of Florida. Armed with a new large box of nicely sharpened Prismacolor pencils and absolutely no idea of how to use them, I sailed away with Ann, Nicole Caulfield and Gretchen Parker. I was hooked from the first day! I created “masterpieces” on Pastelbord and on paper with Nicole and Gretchen and Ann introduced me to the world of portraiture.

I came home excited and started my first original colored pencil piece, some apples in a blue bowl on black paper. I was pretty pleased with the result and entered it into our local SC State Fair that has a very large Fine Art show and exhibit each year. To my surprise, I won my first ribbon – an Honorable Mention with a nice monetary prize!

And then Ann Kullberg came to Columbia, SC to teach a 3-day Portrait I Workshop and really jump-started my “new career.” I knew I had found what I love to do most – paint people in colored pencil! My first portraits were of family members until receiving my first real commission – for A CAT! The cat was a challenge as I was experimenting with

Ampersand Claybord. The Claybord does not allow nearly the numbers of layers that I wanted or needed. When Claybord reaches its max, any additional layer REMOVES the previous LAYERS. My advice is to avoid Claybord for colored pencil work. I was lucky to escape with a passable likeness and no blank areas! My commissions since have been of “real” people and I prefer to use Stonehenge paper as my support so I have plenty of layers with which to work.

“ I knew I had found what I love to do most – paint people in colored pencil. My first portraits were of

family members until receiving my first real commission – for A CAT!”

This month’s profile is of artist

Paula Grookett

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My most recent commissions were so much fun to create. The clients provided the photo references and that can be a challenge. Much cropping was necessary to make this girl the center of interest instead of the horse!

And the hair on this boy (yes, this is a boy) was a bit daunting but very satisfying to finish!

My favorite family portrait is my husband Bob on Stonehenge with a plain white background. I was drawn to do the painting because of the interesting reflections on his face from his glasses. This portrait was also recognized as a “winner” in a local art guild juried show. My mom’s portrait (Stonehenge) is also a family favorite although my mom wishes she had posed for the reference photo! Other family portraits include my brother in-law, my daughter and my grand daughter.

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People are my preferred subjects but I also enjoy painting florals like this pink hydrangea (on Pastelbord) and these sunflowers! (Sunflowers.jpg) I don’t even know the identity of this flowering tree (on Stonehenge), but when I saw it, I had to paint it too.

When I’m not painting, I work and play with technology. My mother calls me a geek and all my artist friends know that I love technology gadgets! For my own art, I use a retina display computer and/or iPad to manipulate photos, layout portraits, create grids, experiment with color and transfer images to canvas or paper. And then I teach other artists how they can use the technology (especially the iPad) to facilitate their artwork in classes that I teach at the Village Artists Art Gallery here in Columbia, SC. In my spare time, I create and maintain websites for 3 art guilds and several local artists. Visit the art organization websites at www.TrenholmArtistsGuild.org, www.sevenoaksart.org and www.CrookedCreekArt.org.

While waiting for my next commission, I am working on new portraits of my grandchildren, planning an iPad class for artists in January and looking forward to my third Ann Kullberg cruise in March (just because they are so much fun).

Note from Ann: Paula wowed us all at a recent workshop with her extensive knowledge about iPad apps that are particularly useful to artists. She knows it all and can convey this information with clarity and enthusiasm. If you are in the SC area, you really will miss out if you don’t take Paula’s class!! Email her for info: trenholmartistsguild@gmail.com

“ With absolutely no art background, training or experience or even knowing colors beyond the primary ones, I signed up for a beginner’s watercolor class.”

G R A B BAG

I have been painting with acrylics for many years, but I’ve always wanted to try color pencils. Why didn’t I? I think it was my “fear factor” playing tricks with my brain. Well, I finally decided it was time to just jump in with both feet. I read a couple of books and learned just enough to make myself dangerous. This forced me to learn how to solve my own issues as they developed. Many of you know more about colored pencils than I do so I’m just going to address the challenges of applying colored pencils on gourds.

Gourds can be a challenge just because they are a gourd and golden in color. Let’s don’t forget about the bumps, dents, grooves, and dark spots. That’s a challenge even for an acrylic painter but much easier to solve. Since the gourd is round, you sure can’t place it on an easel! Many gourd artists work with their gourds on their laps. Does the color rub off? Yep, sometimes it does. I’ve learned to start by applying the color with the gourd on my lap but move it to a table when half the piece is colored. This seems to help. As they say, “Practice makes perfect.”

Colored pencils do not adhere to a gourd surface. Oh, you can color on them, but you will actually end up with just a hint of color and

pencils lines. To correct this problem, use a product by Golden called Acrylic Ground for Pastels. This product is a blessing to gourd artists who want a quality piece. Follow the directions on the jar for mixing with water. Then, lightly paint over the area you want to use the colored pencils. This product feels a little sandy on the gourd. It’s wonderful!

Gourd artists don’t have the advantage of using white paper. We must deal with the gourd’s golden color. If you color blue over it, you get green. This really isn’t the color you want in your sky. You need to lightly apply a neutral color first then apply the colors as you normally do. Now, if you can utilize the color of the gourd, by all means don’t apply the neutral color.

What about those bumps, dents, grooves and dark markings? The bumps must be sanded even with the gourd. Use a power sander when you do it. You’ll never get them flat with sandpaper. Dents and grooves can be taken care of by keeping your pencil to a point which means sharpening them often. The dark markings will disappear the more colors you apply to the gourd.

The Challenges

of Color Penciling

on a Gourd

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by Hellen Martin

Now you have two options for applying the color: (1) Lightly in one direction with short up and down strokes, then repeat the process in the opposite direction. (2) Lightly in a circular motion. This is my favorite because it covers the gourd better.

As you probably already know, the colorless pencil is a gift to artists who want their colors blended. You can use the pencil after you finished a section or wait until you have finished the whole piece.

Now, for the product I call the Magic Stuff. It’s Low Odor Mineral Spirits. Many of you color pencil artists already know about it. Well, this is new to gourd artists. I wish you could see my students’ faces when I give them instructions for using this product. I love to watch their faces when they use it! As they say, “Priceless!” I use #2 and #4 filbert brushes and pat the Magic Stuff over the colors. Sometimes I will use short strokes to blend difficult areas. I go slowly so I don’t mix the colors into areas where they don’t belong or totally remove the color. When the color is

removed, you have to reapply the Golden product and reapply the colors. So make sure you don’t have too much of the Magic Stuff on your brush.

After I use the Magic Stuff, I check the piece to see if I have areas where I can still see the gourd or the color didn’t blend. This happens a lot when dealing with a gourd. You can recolor that area with the pencils you used or use watercolor pencils. I prefer using watercolor pencils that closely match the color I’m redoing. It goes into the dents and grooves better after applying the Magic Stuff again.

If you’re pleased with the piece, spray with fixative spray. Use the workable fixative spray throughout the coloring process as much as you like.

I love using colored pencils. When I have a colored pencil piece in my booth, people will argue with me – the artist – that the piece is decorated with paint, not colored pencils. Little do they know!

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“ I have been painting with acrylics for many years, but I’ve

always wanted to try color pencils. Why didn’t I? I think it was my

“fear factor” playing tricks with my brain…I read a couple of books

and learned just enough to make myself dangerous.”

G R A B BAG

Subscriber Virginia Carroll has these tips to share with you regarding working portraits on suede board:

As you might remember, Becky Neideffer (who drew a portrait on grey Suede Mat Board featured in the July Critique) is a friend of mine. I watched her do that portrait and was intrigued by what a great surface suede board is for skin tones. So, when I was given a commission to do a piece representing "The Eye of the Artist" I chose to try it on that same surface. I think it turned out fairly well and thought I would share it with you.

I used the silver/grey board. I used your skin tone palette for pink skin, but the only things about this particular surface (seems to me) are that it requires a really light touch, especially with the lighter colors, such as Cream. You also have to periodically re-establish your colors. They seem to fade or brush off. If you get too heavy-handed with the light colors, it mats the fibers down and you get a blob of color that is difficult to rectify. Other than that, it works pretty much the same as other surfaces. Thanks for sharing your insights, Virginia!

Skin Tones on Suede Board

Values at a Glance

I think this is one of the cleverest tips we’ve ever featured in this magazine! At a recent workshop in SC, student Pam wowed me with this inexpensive and clever way to quickly find a pencil within one of the value groups of my skin tone palette, as listed in my Colored Pencil Portraits book and our Portrait Tool Set. She bought these colorful erasers at a dollar store, then put a different color eraser onto the ends of each of the pencils in a value group. Ingenious! And there’s an added bonus – her pencils never roll off her table.

I’m officially calling this my favorite tip ever

The Cold Hard TruthHas this happened to you? Subscriber Diane Siracusa shares with us the value of looking at your art in a new way, or from a new perspective to see your work more clearly and objectively. Diane writes:

I thought I did a good job on the cat kit. However, my son, who lives in London, said he wanted to see the original to make a comparison. I made a collage photo which included the reference photo from the kit and the cat portrait which I had drawn from the kit, and emailed them to him. He said that I could have done a better job and then proceeded to detail my artistic faults.

Although I did not want to hear what he had to say – after all, he is not Ann Kullberg – I looked at the photo I took of both portraits on my laptop, and was amazed at all the errors I found, mostly in VALUE.

I don't know why taking a digital picture of the artwork side by side showed me what I could not “see” when I had the actual pieces next to each other, but it did. I assume it would work if you put your reference photo and the artwork side by side and took a picture of both of them.

Diane has hit on one of those little “tricks” that help us see the “cold hard truth” about our drawings. When we’re working on a piece, we’re so involved and invested that often we project what we want to see onto our drawing. Generally I suggest two easy ways to trick your brain into seeing it more accurately: Turn your art and photo reference upside down or look your art and photo in a mirror. It can be pretty amazing what mistakes magically appear when you change your point of view. Even scanning and photographing them together, as Diane did, can be enough to give you a sudden artist light bulb moment!

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T I P S

Hi all!!… and Happy 2013! :)

After a long hiatus… while moving across country and then having a baby, I am VERY pleased to be back! Plus, now I have plenty of inspiration and material… pictures of our new bundle of joy, Evey Lou Purich. I won’t gloat too much; I know Ann will do some of that for me! ;)

This month’s Art & Technology works with Ann’s Step by Step lesson; it’s about adjusting light and dark (Ann will refer to this as contrast within her lesson).

Lessons Using Adobe Photoshop Elements – the cheap version of Photoshop!

by Katie Kullberg

A warning about Photoshop Elements in using the Contrast command; it’s not the best, simply because it will apply the contrast adjustments to the entire image, equally. (You can avoid this by using the selection tool and selecting only that which you would like adjusted.) For the purposes of this lesson, however, we are going to skip that step.

Super Easy Way: Click on Enhance (up at the top near File, Edit, etc) select Adjust Lighting, and finally click on Brightness/Contrast. That’s it; the magic of Photoshop Elements takes care of the rest.

The following works well for close ups, where the subject is the entire image… but if you are further away, or perhaps it’s a landscape, you may want to play around with “levels.” Photoshop Elements comes with an Auto Levels, which is like an auto correct, and can work very well for some images. (This is similar to the above step, but Photoshop will try to decipher the image, so while it’s still one step, it may give different, better results.)

So, for another Super Easy Way to adjust levels of not only contrast, but hue, intensity, etc as well: Click on Enhance again, and select Auto Levels.

Here is my before and after…

Here is my before and after…

For this image, I think it did a great job… But, if we need a fantastic image, that looks just perfect for painting… the real control, is going to be within the actual Levels command, where we can adjust everything precisely as we want it…

Pretty good results, but it didn’t fix her skin tone, which is quite pale and white/yellow compared to her real skin tone.

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Click on Enhance, select Adjust Lighting, and then click on Levels. I’ve chosen to apply the level adjustments to my entire image, as she consumes most of the image. (However, like I stated before, depending on your image, you may want to use one of the selection tools and choose only a portion of your image to adjust.)

Shadows are shown on the left side of the histogram, mid-tones are in the middle, and highlights are on the right.

1. Once you have the levels window open, Click Window (Up at the top near File, Edit, etc) and then choose Info to open the Info panel. A little tiny window will open, that may not make much sense to you, yet.

2. Set the black and white points manually by using the eyedroppers in the dialog box; first click the White Eyedropper tool and then move the cursor over the image, looking for the lightest light. • If you cannot tell just by looking at your image, use the Info panel. The Info panel will have the highest RGB values for the lightest white.

After finding the white in the image, select that point by clicking it.

3. Repeat Steps 1 and 2, using the Black Eyedropper tool and trying to find the darkest black in the image. The darkest black has the lowest RGB values.

4. Use the Gray Eyedropper tool to remove any colorcasts by selecting a neutral gray portion of your image, one in which the Info panel shows equal values of red, green, and blue. This is where that Info panel will be the most helpful!

5. You may also want to play around with and adjust the output sliders at the bottom of the Levels dialog box.• Moving the black triangle to the right reduces the contrast in the shadows and lightens the image. • Moving the white triangle to the left reduces the contrast in the highlights and darkens the image.• Adjust the midtones (or gamma values) with the gray triangle input slider.

The default value for gamma is 1.0. Drag the triangle to the left to lighten midtones and drag to the right to darken them.

6. Once you are satisfied, click OK to apply your settings and close the dialog box.

Here are my before and afters…

Hope you had a great holiday season…and again Happy New Year! :)

A RT T E C H

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Girlish Giggles10" x 8"

Ana Tirolesew w w. a n a t i r o l e s e . c o m

Lisa10.5" x 8.5"

Annemieke de Witw w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / a n n e m i e k e . d ew i t . 3

Peace and Irie 12" x 18"

Jane Honecutt

S H OWC A S E

16

The Rangiwahia Rustler12" x 8.5"

Scott Meyersw w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / p a g e s / S c o t t - M eye r s - N a t u r e - A r t - N Z /

2 0 2 5 3 9 7 0 6 4 4 2 7 3 3

Blueberry Bowl15" x 15"

Barbara Goodsittw w w. B a r b a r a G o o d s i t t S t u d i o . c o m

Shorthead Redhorse Emily S. Damstra

w w w. e m i l y d a m s t r a . c o m

S H OWC A S E

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C R I T I QU E

18

This month’s critique an untitled piece by

Glenn KeelanTitle: “Untitled”Size: 8.5" x 16.5"

Glenn says:

I am intrigued by the human condition with all its imperfections and fragility; this is what motivates me to create my works, which I intend to depict in a raw, fleshy, organic and unprocessed way.

What a striking drawing this is and how completely successful Glenn is in creating a painting that is “raw, organic and unprocessed,” as he stated is his goal. I was so happy to include this in CP Magazine, since let’s face it – colored pencil artists tend to draw the very pretty, very safe sorts of subject matter. I’m always glad to stumble upon something with more edge and drama.

But as pleased as I was with seeing something so intimately personal as this piece, I must also say that it is quite difficult to critique because it is so personal and stylized, but I will do my best.

I really love Glenn’s handling of the eyebrows. Looking at them closely, you can see that he paid exquisite attention to the direction of each and every hair. I LOVE THAT! Really, really makes such a huge difference in believability. Well done.

I will say that one think does slightly bother me about the composition. The narrow bands of very dark hair on either side of the face keep drawing my eye out of the frame. Thin shapes often attract attention to themselves. Here I’ve enlarged those areas to give a little more breathing room to the face. It seems that adding space on the side actually draws more attention to the face itself.

I like the crop, in that it feels uncomfortable to have no mouth at all, while still seeing so much of the nose and face. Since this is obviously not a “comfortable” subject matter, a slightly awkward crop adds to the discomfort that Glenn is aiming for. The piece is loaded with emotion that comes not so much from the expression as from the handling of the skin tones, the high contrast and the bright, weirdly intense colors.

And the title? At first, as I looked closely at the piece, I was annoyed (sorry Glenn!) that he didn’t help us out with what to feel about this woman by giving us a hint with a title. But then it dawned on me that perhaps Glenn’s point in leaving it untitled is to not give us any clues. We need to feel whatever we need to feel when looking at her face.

C R I T I QU E

19

I wanted to show how Glenn’s color choices really informed the mood of the piece. I took down the saturation (intensity) of the colors (and also changed the direction of the eyebrow on the right) and now we have a very different mood. I see worry, fear, possibly even terror in this version, which I don’t see in Glenn’s original portrait

One suggestion I have for Glenn is to pay as much attention to less “interesting” areas as to the focal points. Why? I guess I believe that a piece is only as strong as its weakest points. The weakest area, in my opinion, is this section of the nose. It’s not so much a drawing problem as a problem with the stroking technique. The entire piece, except this area, has a quite dense coverage, and the pencil strokes don’t show except where he wants them to show (eyebrows, hair and eyelashes.) But this section looks airy and rushed and the strokes are visible, even though there’s no textural reason for them to show. I’d love to see him fill this area in a little more so the density is more consistent with the rest of the drawing.

ann kullberg’s 2013 schedule To register or get more information visit: annkullberg.com

October 13-20, 2013

Our Caribbean Workshops Cruise is full…But we have a new one! Bermuda Workshop Cruise!

Royal Caribbean Cruise LineLinda Lucas Hardy will be teaching on this one!Don’t miss this chance to learn from a master!

JUST $849 for 3 workshops and the cruise. Info will be online soon, but start saving your pennies…this one will fill!

For reservations, contact:CP on the High Seas WorkshopCruise Desk at 1-800-253-0116

CP on the high seas!

WO R K S H O P S

CP – Ann Kullberg’s Magazine for Colored Pencil Artists January 2013 www.annkullberg.com

What's a Super Workshop?It's 5-Day, 30 hour super intense, super concentrated workshops for just 3 or 4 students at a time. The workshop is designed for YOU – I'll teach you what it is you most want to improve on. A single Super Workshop can literally catapult you forward leaps and bounds in your colored pencil mastery and skill level…all while having a really great time full of fun and laughs.

Lexington, SC - February 19-23 (1 spot open)Super WorkshopLimited to 4 students - Super Intense, Super Instructive!

Federal Way, WA - September 11-15Super WorkshopLimited to 3 students - Super Intense, Super Instructive!

Lexington, SC - September 19-21 (1 spot open)Portrait Workshop Part IAll levels welcome. Ann will cover everything you need to know about her portrait techniques. Twenty years of experience taught to you in 3 full, fun days. Come join us!

What Can a Super Workshop Do For You?

Here are two images from Linda Greenwood Cantwell. The first she drew before she attended a Super Workshop. The second one was after the Super Workshop and after she did our In-Depth Portrait Kit. Aaaaamazing!

Prepared by MagCloud for Ann Kullberg. Get more at annmkullberg.magcloud.com.