Colored Pencil News

I am much happier than I look in this self portrait... I recently found out that I am now a Signature Member of the Colored Pencil Society of America, as I have been accepted into the annual exhibition for the past three years. CPSA is a wonderful organization with a plethora of information for colored pencil artists, and I have found the members to be very encouraging and supportive.

Also, Reticent, shown above, has been accepted into this year's Art Kudos International Juried Art Competition and Exhibition. The entire exhibition is available at www.artkudos.com, and my piece can be viewed on this page.

Finally, my first open studio event this past Saturday was a great success - I was thrilled to have people view my art in person, two pieces were sold, and I am excited about upcoming commissions. Future open studio events will be announced in my e-mail newsletter.

CPSA Award Winners Announced

The Colored Pencil Society of America's 18th Annual International Exhibition Award Winners have been posted, and I am thrilled to announced that my piece Quiet Moment has received an Award for Excellence! I wish I could have attended the convention this year in Los Gatos, CA, but I hope to be able to attend next year's in Dallas...

Work in Progress, Open Studio

Pictured above is a 16"x12" oil portrait I'm currently working on. Sign up for my newsletter to receive an announcement for my upcoming Open Studio event to see this and other sample portraits:
http://hbedrosian.fineartstudioonline.com/email-newsletter

Kevin Framed

I'm posting this photo of Kevin framed partly because I really like the frame, and partly to feel productive because I do not have any more artwork to show at the moment! I did start a new larger oil painting (not a commission), but I had to abandon it after a few days of working on it. I was struggling with it in every way - proportions, colors, values... and I also realized that I wasn't too happy about the overall idea after I had already worked on it for hours and hours. It was an expensive mistake, but I learned to plan better for my paintings - especially the larger ones - in the future. In the meantime, I am starting a smaller portrait that will hopefully get me comfortable with oil painting again.

"Next" Completed

I was inspired to do this piece attending a piano recital recently, when I recalled my own experience waiting for my turn to play even more than the act of getting up on stage and actually playing the recital piece. I've decided to call this colored pencil drawing "Next".

Almost There...

My colored pencil work in progress is at the stage where I will spray it with workable fixative, and then go over the entire piece making adjustments in value and color, as well as cleaning up rough areas.

My plan is to complete this piece by Wednesday, and have it mounted and scanned at Image-Tec... the final piece should be posted by this Thursday.

Colored Pencil Drawing in Progress

I've done a bit more on my drawing of children at a piano recital. You can see that the chair on the left is more dull than the chair on the right, due to "wax bloom". Over time, the wax in the colored pencils rises to the surface, creating a grayish cast that is especially obvious with darker colors. I will remedy this by gently wiping the surface and spraying with a workable fixative.