"Seville Orange," © 2020 Jan Clouse, colored pencil on paper
Creating Texture & Detail in Colored Pencil
with Jan Clouse
Online Zoom
"Seville Orange," colored pencil on paper, © Jan Clouse 2020.
Details and textures are at the heart of visual appeal in a botanical painting; they bring the painting to life. They can also be among the most satisfying and nuanced aspects of a painting for a colored pencil artist.
Bring one or two specimens to the workshop. Specimens with surface texture, such as Jacaranda pods, oranges, oak stems or branches, acorn caps, etc. are great subjects. If you already have a work in-progress with surface details, by all means bring that along to work on. There will be time at the end of class for questions.Limited to 16 participants.The workshop will be recorded—Jan has generously agreed to allow us to video this workshop demonstration so those who are unable to participate on the day of the live event, or those who simply want to review will be able to watch it for seven (7) days following the workshop. Everyone who signs up for the workshop will have access to both the workshop and the recording.
Materials List
Colored Pencils:
I prefer using Derwent Lightfast, Caran D’Ache Luminance pencils and Faber-Castel Polychromos because they are reliably lightfast, but you may use whatever you like as this is mainly a practice. Also Prismacolor Verithins for both details, textures and edging.
Paper:
A sketch pad for your practices; for finished paintings I use Strathmore Bristol vellum.
Erasers:
For erasers, I suggest a kneadable eraser, and retractable erasers from Tombow and Paper-mate, and an eraser shield if you have one. Some artists use Frisket to lift off color, I just use bits of white artist’s tape.
Blenders:
My favorite blending tool is a synthetic brush, size 1 or 2 (Taklon, Liquitex or any small inexpensive brush) that you can use to blend and smooth colors together. Most pencil brands also make a colorless blender in the pencil shape.
Embossing tools:
Pergamano makes a range of sizes, 0.5mm is the finest, and you can also find a double ended embossing tool that has 2 different sizes on a central barrel. Prismacolor Verithins sharpened to a very fine point make an excellent tool, as do the Faber-Castels.
"A Week in November," Quercus agrifolia and Magnolia grandiflora seed pod, colored pencil on Strathmore Bristol Vellum, 300 series,
© 2020, Jan Clouse.
Information at a Glance
DATE:
Saturday, May 13, 2023
9:00 am – 12:00 pm Pacific Daylight Time
WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS:
This is an online, Zoom workshop.
Limited to 16 participants.
FEES:
BAGSC Members: $65.00 US
Non-Members: $75.00 US
This workshop will be recorded and available for one week (seven days) following the live workshop.
QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WORKSHOP?
Contact BAGSC Education Committee by clicking here.
PROBLEMS WITH REGISTRATION
OR CONNECTING VIA ZOOM?
Contact BAGSC Media Committee by clicking here.
About the Instructor
Following a career in teaching literature, theater and art, Jan began her pursuit of botanical painting in 2005, focusing her attention on the close observation of plants rendered in colored pencil. Since
then, she has shown her work regularly in group and solo exhibits.
As a member of the Botanical Artists Guild of Southern California Jan has participated in various activities and shows, including the Artist at Work demonstrations at the Getty Center in conjunction with the Gardens of the Renaissance exhibit. She has also exhibited work in a number of BAGSC-organized exhibitions presented in the Brody Center at the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens, most recently in
the exhibit celebrating BAGSC’s 25th anniversary.
Jan has studied with botanist, botanical artist
and Jepson Manual illustrator Linda Ann Vorobik,
with botanical colored pencil artist and teacher
Ann Swan, and most intensely with botanical painter Margaret Best.