I have been drawing on the computer for quite some time. For some reason, except as a child and during the standard drawing lessons at school, I never really did so on paper. However, I always wanted to be able to do so and often enjoyed the drawings of others. This only changed when I accidentally came across Gemma Gylling’s website. Her coloured pencil drawings are stunning.
Through her website, I found her online video course Pet Portraits in Colored Pencil on Craftsy.com. This is an online platform with courses in many different areas: not just drawing and painting, but also crafts such as jewellery making, quilting, cooking, gardening and more.
Gemma teaches her technique of drawing with coloured pencil on suede mat-board. This technique works particularly well for animal fur, because you can apply a lot of different layers to achieve a realistic effect. During the course you can ask questions and get tips from Gemma to further improve your work. I highly recommend her course!
This course was the beginning of a whole new addiction for me. Since finding it, I have made a number of drawings and my results are getting better all the time.
In my blog I will, from time to time, show you what I am working on.
As reference for my drawings I primarily use my own photos, but also pictures from the Wildlife Reference Photos for Artists website. It has a huge collection of beautiful pictures that, for a small fee, you can use as a reference for your drawing or painting. A number of my own pictures can be downloaded from there as well.
My favourite subjects to draw are cats of all shapes and sizes, but also other animals. However, there are other drawing courses at Craftsy I want to follow, so there will be drawings of flowers and animals on paper in the future.
Sigh… If only there were more hours in a day.
I use different brands of coloured pencils. Prismacolor Premier and Derwent Coloursoft are great on the suede-board, because of their softness and layering capabilities . The Faber Castell Polychromos excel in fine detail on paper. Each brand has its own characteristics and I often use all brands together.
Unfortunately suede mat-board is quite difficult to find in the Netherlands. It is available in some online shops, but because they offer only large sheets, the shipping costs are sky-high. For my personal use, I found Total Artist in Emmen, where they are always happy to help me find a special colour board without having to buy a huge amount. It is also an excellent shop for all art supplies.
In the summer of 2017 I also started drawing with Faber Castell Pitt Pastel pencils on various kinds of paper. A very different technique, but also very enjoyable.