SHOW UPDATE: Wooden Cow Pick-up

Just a reminder for everyone:
Pick up anytime between 9am and 5pm on Sunday the 31st.
Or the preceeding Wed, Thurs, Fri before 7pm.
They're closed Mon. & Tues. But if that's the only time that works, call first: (505) 999-1280
Someone may be there.

BEN-O-GRAM: May '09

Yahoo! Well, you did it! You flooded the Wooden Cow Gallery with 120, yes 120 pieces of colored pencil stuff. And the gallery was able to hang 73 and everyone who submitted had at least one juried in. Congratulations!

So, let's celebrate by coming to our next meeting THIS SATURDAY AT NOON, Bear Canyon Sr. Cntr. Our program will feature David Chavez, a fantastic and award-winning artist (as well as a dancer and choreographer).

**Please bring a medium-sized sketch pad to sketch and take notes.

It will be informartive and interesting.

Be There!
-Ben

MEETING 4/25/09 Yupo Process

Hello everyone!
We had a fabulous meeting on Saturday - and we have images of the event to share.
Chapter Member Betty Lehnus did a demonstration of the watercolor pencil & Yupo paper technique - what fun!
She also brought enough samples for everyone to experiment with - we all got to draw, play, and share the process as a group. Please see the images below for an overview of the supplies and process, examples of Betty's finished works and contact Betty for an questions you might have. :)



Don't forget you can click on the images for a larger view.

MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT: from Betty Lehnus

Hello chapter members!

I'd like to ask everbody who will be at our next meeting to bring their pencils -- especially any water-color pencils they may have -- I'll be doing a demo of how the Yupo paper+color+plastic wrap works and you'll be able to experiment with small samples I will have prepared.

-Betty-

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Member: Betty Lehnus

Betty Lehnus recently contacted CPSA Founder, Vera Curnow, to discuss some of her thoughts about working with colored pencils. At her request, here is that discussion to share with our group:

Betty Lehnus to Vera Curnow:

I've just finished realing Alyona Nickelsen's Colored Pencil Painting Bible. It's filled with solid advice and information, esp. about how to make good use of digital tools. But, as with almost every publication about colored pencil, the working assumption is that a very tight, nearly photo-real approach is what we are all looking for. I'd love to see an exploration of abstract, semi-abstract or simply "loose" cp techniques and work in To the Point. Surely as artists we don't want to limit our work/goals to one approach!

Betty Lehnus
CPSA Chapter 219
Albuquerque New Mexico

-----

Vera's Response:

I'm with you, Betty. This has been one of my contentions since the conception of CPSA. I'll be on the look out for the types of work you suggested for inclusion in TTP. I'll look to find something/someone to publish for this Fall issue.

As for books more open to the edgy, creative side of colored pencil, I'm afraid publishers like North Light and Watson-Guptil are looking for universally appealing works & techniques that will interest the masses. They have pigeon-holed our medium. (Deep Sigh.)

Thanks for writing, Betty. We are kindred spirits. I'm glad you "rattled my cage" on this subject.

Best regards,
Vera
Vera Curnow, Founder
Colored Pencil Society of America

SPECIAL BEN-O-GRAM: APRIL '09

Hi members! We have more details about our next show. We hope you're already working on some new pieces because we need YOU to contribute to our success! The show will run from May 13 through May 31. The opening reception will be on Friday, May 15 from 5 -8 pm. (You betta be there!)

• The Wooden Cow Gallery is in the Mossman Center at 7400 Montgomery Blvd.
• Drop off entries from -- Wed to Sat: May 6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th -- between 11am and 7pm.
• Artwork must be framed, matted and ready to hang by wire.
• Inventory sheet and release form to be filled out when you drop work off.

There is no theme except it be colored pencil and there is no limit to number of pieces.
(My concern is not that there will be too much but too few. Make me wrong!)

The gallery reserves the right to reject any piece for any reason.
All work should be for sale, but a few pieces NFS will be allowed.
Commission is only 25% (THIS IS A BARGAIN!)
You can pick up postcard adversivements at the gallery after this week. Call at 505-999-1280 to be sure.
Check out the gallery at www.woodencow.com
Work must be picked up after the show, but before June 13. (?)

Many, many thanks to Wendell Unzicker for offering us this opportunity.

So, please, don't let us down!
--Ben--

MEETING 3/28/09: Color Theory & Colored Pencils

Our meeting for this month brought members Ben & Lee Nurry in to present and demonstrate several experiments in color theory using specific colors (Yellow, Blue, & Magenta) to achieve some dramatic effects such as Mixing colors on the color wheel and mixing colors for shading (using compliments). Lee & Ben came prepared with some great handouts for everyone to experiment with. The extra hour really helped out too - plenty of time to play and talk!

First we started to create our own color wheels, using the blue, magenta and yellow to mix secondary colors (and tertiary, if we had time!). I highly recommend this for everyone that loves working in colored pencils, as it gives you a real understanding of how to layer and mix your colors while working on your paintings. It can be a tedious exercise, but as you work through it, you develop a method that works for you and your individual style and will quickly become second nature in your creative process.

We also worked at creating new colors using only the three primaries with a simple punched paper technique to help us really focus in on the target color (Brown in the example).

Finally, discussed the best ways to achieve shading without using blacks or grays - which is to say, using complimentary colors. As an example, Ben provided us with a still life reference of oranges and encouraged us to recreate one of the oranges using just an orange pencil, and it's compliment, blue. I confess, I used the orange pencil and all three primaries - Magenta, Yellow & Blue - along with a little white to complete my experiment (pictured).





On a side note, back in college, I took a color theory class and my instructor, Edie Fisner, went on to publish a book on her course. Thanks to her I got some great 'basic training' when I was first starting to use colored pencil to complete my various works - it gave me a great foundation for future projects, and I realize now, just how much I've taken it for granted. Edie used student work to illustrate many concepts in her book - and two pieces from my class work were included, which were executed in colored pencil.