Not your grammar school doodle
March 13, 2005 6:23 AM Subscribe
Oh what you can do with a colored pencil. Colored pencils are not just for grammar school projects. Some of these drawings are pretty realistic. Others are just pretty. Who knew there is an organization devoted to colored pencil work?
realism with soft focus. omg. real art!
posted by andrew cooke at 6:31 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 6:31 AM on March 13, 2005
sorry, maybe that's a bit snarky, but every single prize winner is representational. every one.
(hey, i was drawing from (still) life last night, honest, but there is more in the world...)
posted by andrew cooke at 6:37 AM on March 13, 2005
(hey, i was drawing from (still) life last night, honest, but there is more in the world...)
posted by andrew cooke at 6:37 AM on March 13, 2005
I grew up with these.
As small boy I dreamed that one day they would invent color pencils that could depict realistic colors to achieve photographic like drawings.
Later on, I would discover that it was already possible with a lot of patience and when looked at from a distance. On closer inspection, the rough grain always gives it away.
I later stepped over to pastels. While contemplating over an airbrush, discovered that computer illustration gave much better results... and then pretty much lost interest in recreating realism. If something can just as easily be created with a camera, why bother?
posted by Timeless at 6:43 AM on March 13, 2005
As small boy I dreamed that one day they would invent color pencils that could depict realistic colors to achieve photographic like drawings.
Later on, I would discover that it was already possible with a lot of patience and when looked at from a distance. On closer inspection, the rough grain always gives it away.
I later stepped over to pastels. While contemplating over an airbrush, discovered that computer illustration gave much better results... and then pretty much lost interest in recreating realism. If something can just as easily be created with a camera, why bother?
posted by Timeless at 6:43 AM on March 13, 2005
Because so many people equate diligence with artistic merit.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:53 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:53 AM on March 13, 2005
i don't care, i think a lot of those are just beautiful, or at least impressive in their display of skill. All of them are WAY better than geography-class maps i coloured in with my coloured coloured pencils.
posted by Kololo at 8:08 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by Kololo at 8:08 AM on March 13, 2005
i agree - it's just a pity that's all there is.
posted by andrew cooke at 8:15 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 8:15 AM on March 13, 2005
...or as they now prefer to be known, "pencils of african descent".
posted by Silky Slim at 8:43 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by Silky Slim at 8:43 AM on March 13, 2005
i don't mind the fact that they're photographic as much as the fact that they seem to have been made from photographs. it would be much harder to create images like these from scratch.
posted by Silky Slim at 8:46 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by Silky Slim at 8:46 AM on March 13, 2005
Who knew there is an organization devoted to colored pencil work?
While I did not know it, I'm not surprised. In the future we should be surprised when societies of interest don't form around products that are used worldwide, made by dozens of companies and used or collected by thousands of people. In the case of coloured pencils, people don't just collect them, they use them, and develop strong feelings about them. And they aspire to be worthy of the best pencils.
D'oh! There I go again, answering rhetorical questions.
These works are worth the time to look at, for sure. I still keep my childhood case from 36 Staedtler pencils, hanging on a wall.
But, that's also because it has Grevy's Zebras on it. (Grevy's are the the zebras with the most stripes, way more than other zebras. See here for photos that show the clear difference between Grevy's and other zebras.)
posted by KS at 8:50 AM on March 13, 2005
While I did not know it, I'm not surprised. In the future we should be surprised when societies of interest don't form around products that are used worldwide, made by dozens of companies and used or collected by thousands of people. In the case of coloured pencils, people don't just collect them, they use them, and develop strong feelings about them. And they aspire to be worthy of the best pencils.
D'oh! There I go again, answering rhetorical questions.
These works are worth the time to look at, for sure. I still keep my childhood case from 36 Staedtler pencils, hanging on a wall.
But, that's also because it has Grevy's Zebras on it. (Grevy's are the the zebras with the most stripes, way more than other zebras. See here for photos that show the clear difference between Grevy's and other zebras.)
posted by KS at 8:50 AM on March 13, 2005
Beautiful. And as far as proving what can be done with a limited medium, they do add to the world of art. Sometimes art is retinal.
posted by NickDouglas at 9:59 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by NickDouglas at 9:59 AM on March 13, 2005
I don't consider myself an artist, so I don't have much experience in terms of color pencils, however, a professor requires us to get Prismatic Color Pencils when we are creating geologic maps. The things are DAMN expensive (upwards of $1.50 a pencil in some cases).
Not to mention that the torque from a pencil sharpener seems to break the lead quite easily (though that's probably my own problem).
That said, some of those drawings are amazing (especially the paper sack).
posted by RockBandit at 10:08 AM on March 13, 2005
Not to mention that the torque from a pencil sharpener seems to break the lead quite easily (though that's probably my own problem).
That said, some of those drawings are amazing (especially the paper sack).
posted by RockBandit at 10:08 AM on March 13, 2005
I don't consider myself an artist, so I don't have much experience in terms of color pencils, however, a professor requires us to get Prismatic Color Pencils when we are creating geologic maps. The things are DAMN expensive (upwards of $1.50 a pencil in some cases).
On second thought, my Froogle link was wrong (It's actually "Prismacolor").
posted by RockBandit at 10:15 AM on March 13, 2005
On second thought, my Froogle link was wrong (It's actually "Prismacolor").
posted by RockBandit at 10:15 AM on March 13, 2005
this artist does some work from scratch, all in colored pencil. You have to see this stuff in person to believe it. [disclosure: I know the artist.]
posted by exlotuseater at 10:27 AM on March 13, 2005
posted by exlotuseater at 10:27 AM on March 13, 2005
It's true that a lot of people confuse diligence with artistic merit. But the opposite is also true; a lot of people these days confuse obscurity or being avante-garde with artistic merit.
posted by Justinian at 1:22 PM on March 13, 2005
posted by Justinian at 1:22 PM on March 13, 2005
Prismacolor pencils are the best, I'm in love with those things -- no other product measures up. I haven't seen much work done with them, nice post. And I feel a self link comin'!
sorry.
posted by undule at 2:11 PM on March 13, 2005
sorry.
posted by undule at 2:11 PM on March 13, 2005
Whoa, undule, that is better than anything in the main CPSA link. Great stuff.
posted by caddis at 2:30 PM on March 13, 2005
posted by caddis at 2:30 PM on March 13, 2005
Photorealistic is also much, much easier to judge, which is probably why they select it.
posted by five fresh fish at 6:01 PM on March 13, 2005
posted by five fresh fish at 6:01 PM on March 13, 2005
Got my mom some Prismacolors for Christmas. She uses them for painting (i.e. she'll use the pencils to block out a painting then apply acrylic paint over them) but she too says they're great.
posted by kindall at 8:23 PM on March 13, 2005
posted by kindall at 8:23 PM on March 13, 2005
This drawing has been hanging in a Bangalore cafe for ages, and only recently I realised that it was a color pencil thing.
posted by dhruva at 9:46 PM on March 13, 2005
posted by dhruva at 9:46 PM on March 13, 2005
undule: Is that an illustration for a story? That picture makes me want to read about the people in it.
posted by hwright at 2:55 AM on March 14, 2005
posted by hwright at 2:55 AM on March 14, 2005
When I was a kid I mostly called these 'pencil crayons' - is this a regional term?
(NE Canada)
posted by Radio7 at 3:41 AM on March 14, 2005
(NE Canada)
posted by Radio7 at 3:41 AM on March 14, 2005
For admiring mind-blowing representationalism I absolutely refuse to apologize to envious "Artistes" who couldn't draw flies with a conte crayon made of shit.
(... or, what Justinian said more diplomatically.)
posted by RavinDave at 5:01 AM on March 14, 2005
(... or, what Justinian said more diplomatically.)
posted by RavinDave at 5:01 AM on March 14, 2005
hey, undule, that's good.
posted by andrew cooke at 5:26 AM on March 14, 2005
posted by andrew cooke at 5:26 AM on March 14, 2005
When I was a kid I mostly called these 'pencil crayons' - is this a regional term?
Western Canada called them pencil crayons when I was growing up. In this canadian online catalogue it lists the common brand we all used, Laurentien, as 'pencil crayons' but if you click through, the package is labeled 'coloured pencils', with a 'u' in 'colour'. A bit more googling seems to return primarily Canadian results. The term could be mostly Canadian, geared to kids products, and might also be falling out of fashion.
Of course, I am just speculating based on a superficial investigation.
posted by KS at 6:33 AM on March 14, 2005
Western Canada called them pencil crayons when I was growing up. In this canadian online catalogue it lists the common brand we all used, Laurentien, as 'pencil crayons' but if you click through, the package is labeled 'coloured pencils', with a 'u' in 'colour'. A bit more googling seems to return primarily Canadian results. The term could be mostly Canadian, geared to kids products, and might also be falling out of fashion.
Of course, I am just speculating based on a superficial investigation.
posted by KS at 6:33 AM on March 14, 2005
undule: Is that an illustration for a story? That picture makes me want to read about the people in it.
No, but it is part of a much larger series which is narrative/symbolist in tone -- so perhaps you could say the illustration is the story.
On the pencil-crayon thing, I think that classically speaking, any drawing implement is a crayon? This convention has been whittled down to the conte crayon nowadays, but technically, any lump of drawing material -- even encased in wood -- would be a crayon.
posted by undule at 1:37 PM on March 14, 2005
No, but it is part of a much larger series which is narrative/symbolist in tone -- so perhaps you could say the illustration is the story.
On the pencil-crayon thing, I think that classically speaking, any drawing implement is a crayon? This convention has been whittled down to the conte crayon nowadays, but technically, any lump of drawing material -- even encased in wood -- would be a crayon.
posted by undule at 1:37 PM on March 14, 2005
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posted by caddis at 6:30 AM on March 13, 2005