Selected artists were notified privately via email last week. The CPSC Executive would like to thank every artist who submitted artwork for the juror’s consideration. Our congratulations and best wishes go out to all selected artists, all of whom will have their work displayed at The Shenkman Arts Centre in the Ottawa area from July 4 – 31 and then again at the Galerie d’Art in the St. Sauveur area from August 1-19.

Accepted artists should mark their calendars with the following dates:

And now, without further ado, here is the list of artists accepted into the first CPSC National Exhibition:

Abbott, Joanne

Adams, Manon Menard

Adams, Manon Menard

Bain, Carolyn

Bastien, Alexandra

Bastien, Alexandra

CPSC Monthly Colour Challenge

April showers have brought May flowers and this month our Colour Challenge is to mix a pink. Usually we have all kinds of pink pencils to choose from, everything from rose to shell to shocking. But what would you do if you had no pre-mixed pinks? Well, this month you’re going to find out!

First, find something pink. Anything you like: it can be a flower or a teacup or a lipstick. Now get out your pencils. You may use any red, any white and any colour at all EXCEPT your pre-mixed pinks. Don’t worry: pre-mixed pinks may be beautiful and useful, but they aren’t absolutely necessary. Give yourself a chance and you’ll be amazed at what you can do without them!

Here I will discuss a topic that worries many artists who are beginning their careers. When you have your work represented by a gallery, it’s often the gallery which manages the prices for your work. So I will elaborate on this aspect a little further on in this article. But if you are not represented by an art gallery, here are some tips that may help you to find the price range that will be fair to you and to all your potential customers.

First, we must take into account a general rule; in the art world, prices are determined mainly by size and medium. For two-dimensional works, oil has the highest price range, followed by acrylic, and then by works on paper (watercolor, pastels, charcoal, coloured pencils, graphite). A painting is usually sold for more than a sketch on paper. This is not always the case, but framed works under glass are more difficult to sell in commercial galleries. Buyers who visit art galleries are often visiting tourists and prefer to purchase a work (e.g. a painting) which they can roll up in their luggage. Frames with glass, middle-to-large-sizes are more difficult . . . → Read More: How To Set A Fair Price For Your Work?]]> written by Alexandra Bastien, CPSC Vice President

Here I will discuss a topic that worries many artists who are beginning their careers. When you have your work represented by a gallery, it’s often the gallery which manages the prices for your work. So I will elaborate on this aspect a little further on in this article. But if you are not represented by an art gallery, here are some tips that may help you to find the price range that will be fair to you and to all your potential customers.

First, we must take into account a general rule; in the art world, prices are determined mainly by size and medium. For two-dimensional works, oil has the highest price range, followed by acrylic, and then by works on paper (watercolor, pastels, charcoal, coloured pencils, graphite). A painting is usually sold for more than a sketch on paper. This is not always the case, but framed works under glass are more difficult to sell in commercial galleries. Buyers who visit art galleries are often visiting tourists and prefer to purchase a work (e.g. a painting) which they can roll up in their luggage. Frames with glass, middle-to-large-sizes are more difficult to pack in suitcases. But today, most galleries offer a courier delivery service for customers who buy paintings or drawings. So do not be discouraged if you prefer to work in coloured pencil! There is room for all media in the art market!

To set fair prices for your drawings, your paintings, and your sketches, you must first have a solid understanding of how your particular market operates. Things will be very different based on whether you have your own clients or if you are represented in galleries, or again, if you have an agent. To understand your position, you must consider the quality of your work compared to that of other artists around you. It’s always inspiring to see what others are doing and it also allows you to ask questions and exchange ideas with your peers in the art community. This way, you have a better overview of the exciting work happening around you. Also, you should evaluate your artistic accomplishments and see how they can advance your career.

The more you are aware of what art galleries, cultural centers, museums and symposia are exhibiting and selling in your area, the better able you will be to set fair prices for your work, and you will be prepared for all possibilities. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you should not combine emotion with business. Do not set the price of any one particular drawing much higher than the rest of your work, even if you have spent innumerable hours on it and are extremely fond of it. I’ve seen many artists do this many times. I’ve also seen this problem in reverse: artists selling their least favourite works very cheaply. You must remain consistent in your prices, regardless of the work. If you have too much pride in, or contempt for, one of your paintings, it is better not to show it. Wait, take some time to think. The artist is not always the best person to judge his or her own work. Sometimes you have to take a step back and evaluate the work you have created.

If you are a beginner or if you have not yet sold your work, you need to find a price range based on several factors. Estimating the time you spend on each piece is an important consideration. You need to assess the dimensions of your work and calculate the cost of the materials. A minimum requirement is that you cover the cost of your art supplies. There is also something else to consider: if an artist made 200 paintings per year versus 10 paintings a year, obviously the prices will not be the same. If the work is framed, you can add the cost of framing to the total.

Don’t forget, you have to have a practical understanding of your market. It’s helpful to look at other artists’ work that is roughly similar to your own. You can also visit art galleries or search the internet. This will give you an informed idea of what is selling in your area, etc. For example, I noticed that in my circle, the artists who are most consistent and most accurate in their prices are also those who sell the most. It all depends: do you want to sell 5 paintings a year, or 50? According to some statistics, only 2% of regular buyers in the Canadian art world buy works priced higher than $ 1,000. It is therefore quite normal to begin at the bottom with modest prices and raise them over the years whether one is exhibiting in a commercial gallery or not.

Also, there are several ways to price work, but the easiest and most common is to price art by the square inch. In other words, there is a gradual rise in price depending on its size (and medium). There should not be a sudden big price jump between picture sizes, nor should there be a major discrepancy in the cost of similar-sized works. The price must be regular and proportionate to the size. You have to be consistent in your prices and this applies to all your buyers. You cannot sell a 16×20” piece for $ 700 to one client and then suddenly sell another 16×20” piece (in the same medium) for $ 450 to another client. This would be seen as disrespectful to your customers, especially to the client who paid the higher price.

I want to remind you to compare your work often to that of other artists in order to find your best price range. During your observations, do not forget also to consider the following: whether these artists are represented by galleries, whether their work is collected by companies or private collectors, how long they have been active in their milieu, whether they have received recognition from their community and/or their peers, whether they belong to recognized art associations, and so on. All of these factors contribute to how an artist is rated by the market, and you must be able to evaluate such factors in developing your own career. Without this system, obviously every artist’s work would be equally expensive! You can raise your prices as the occasion requires, especially when you have a lot of success and sales. You can gradually increase your prices every year, or with every major accomplishment, but you must be able to justify this increase. For example, such justifications could include your past experience, or the many sales you’ve made, or the prizes you’ve won at festivals, symposia, or the size and prestige of the exhibitions and competitions you’ve been part of! Document your artistic process, have your biography at hand, write up a list of works you have already sold. Prepare authenticity certificates for each of your paintings. You will have a very professional image, and you will build your customers’ trust.

Another important thing is that if you raise your prices too quickly, you will find yourself in a position where you cannot raise them further, and you will have far fewer customers who will purchase your work. If you exhibit 10 works at $ 1,000 each, perhaps you may sell half. But if you have 10 works at $ 500 each, the chances of selling all 10 are higher. The reality is that the entire art market is going through difficult times these days (and has been for some years, for that matter). Finally, if you have not sold your work, I will say this: go with a reasonable price that you believe is fair for the work you’ve put in (taking into account the material and size).

You can have one list of prices for your paintings and another for your sketches. The latter are sold cheaper, and many collectors buy sketches. You can also maintain a special price list for commissions. This is particularly the case where portraits are concerned: your prices for commissioned portraits may be quite different from those of your non-commissioned works. As well, you can create limited reproductions of your art. They are cheaper and more affordable to all potential customers who would like to acquire your work. Collectors who buy your art will often become loyal customers throughout your entire career.

If you are represented by a gallery, generally it is the gallery itself that will decide your prices. Galleries can take from 40 up to 70% for each piece of art sold. We could debate this at some length, as to whether galleries take too much. This could even be the subject for another article! But I will say this: galleries are often well established, they tend to have a solid customer base, they pay for framing, they often pay 50 to 100% of advertising to provide you with exposure and to promote your work … these things matter, they are important considerations. Galleries usually do their best to represent you well. Each gallery has its own ways of working, so it is very important to “shop around” carefully to find the best gallery for you.

You can also show your work in annual symposia, or submit your work to cultural centres and/or artist-run exhibition centres. This is a very different kind of art circuit from that of art galleries, but it is one that suits a lot of wonderful artists. You could also have an open studio every six months or so for your customers, with a vernissage to promote your work.

In the end, the most important thing is to be consistent, aware, and realistic when you price your work. This is the best way to build up a solid customer base! If you have any questions, you can write me at: vpresident@colouredpencilcanada.ca

CPSC Monthly Colour Challenge

Spring is here and so is green! Pine green, grass green, jade green, emerald green, viridian … and those are just a few. Perhaps because of its bewildering variety, green is often considered a difficult colour to mix. Picasso once complained that not one of the myriad greens in nature could be found in a tube. Neither, of course, will any of them be found in a pencil. So are you up to mixing a green, WITHOUT using any of your green pencils?

Yes, green is our Colour Challenge for April. Choose a green object – or even several, if you’re feeling brave! You can use any colour you like EXCEPT green. So get out your blues and yellows … and while you’re at it, don’t forget about all those reds, browns, violets and turquoises you’ve got too!

CPSC Monthly Colour Challenge

Lion or lamb, this is the month of slush and melting and mud … in other words, the not-so-glamorous colour brown. So often brown is dismissed as a dull boring colour – even nondescript. But brown can be as rich and lively as any colour out there! It can be warm with gold and red or softly cooled and muted with dark blue. It can glow as bright as amber or be as dark as bitter chocolate. It can be rust, coffee, taupe, sand, umber, chestnut, caramel … the list goes on and on.

Good large sets of pencils usually include several different browns and maybe you’ve never ventured into trying to mix your own. But you will now because that’s our Colour Challenge for March: mix a brown! No pre-mixed browns or beiges allowed. Find something brown – a nut, a potato, a cardboard box – and render it without using ANY of your brown pencils. If you want to be really daring, don’t touch your grays or blacks either. Happy colouring!

March is an exciting month for all of us here at the CPSC. Not only does it herald a new season but, with the deadline of  our 1st National Juried Exhibition at the end of the month, it’s also the highly anticipated beginning of something extraordinarily special for all Canadian coloured pencil artists. The deadline is approaching fast, so if you plan to submit an entry or two, mark the date on your calendar (March 31) and feel free to submit your entries using our convenient online entry form.

As is outlined in the prospectus, we have some matting and framing requirements for submitted work. Our President and Exhibition Director, Gordon Webster,  has been kind enough to write an article describing the  CPSC Framing for Exhibit Requirements in detail. We hope this clears up any questions you may have had regarding these requirements, but if not, please don’t hesitate to email your questions to exhibition@colouredpencilcanada.ca.

Also in the news for March, we are pleased to profile Daniel Hanequand this season as our Featured Artist for the month of March. Daniel is a Parisian born, Toronto based coloured pencil artist who enjoys working in the abstract . . . → Read More: Exhibition Fever!]]>

Birth by Daniel Hanequand

March is an exciting month for all of us here at the CPSC. Not only does it herald a new season but, with the deadline of  our 1^st National Juried Exhibition at the end of the month, it’s also the highly anticipated beginning of something extraordinarily special for all Canadian coloured pencil artists. The deadline is approaching fast, so if you plan to submit an entry or two, mark the date on your calendar (March 31) and feel free to submit your entries using our convenient online entry form.

As is outlined in the prospectus, we have some matting and framing requirements for submitted work. Our President and Exhibition Director, Gordon Webster,  has been kind enough to write an article describing the  CPSC Framing for Exhibit Requirements in detail. We hope this clears up any questions you may have had regarding these requirements, but if not, please don’t hesitate to email your questions to exhibition@colouredpencilcanada.ca.

Also in the news for March, we are pleased to profile Daniel Hanequand this season as our Featured Artist for the month of March. Daniel is a Parisian born, Toronto based coloured pencil artist who enjoys working in the abstract and shares in his interview with us the way he interprets his surreal, visionary art.

CPSC Monthly Colour Challenge

Welcome everyone! It’s time for another Monthly Colour Challenge. Here’s one with a twist: can you create something transparent? Transparent things are a special challenge because we tend to think of them as more or less invisible – at least as far as colour is concerned. We might add some gray here or a highlight there, but that’s about it. Yet transparent things DO alter colours in many subtle and unexpected ways – we just have to take the time to look.

You don’t have any “clear” pencils, but you still have all your complements, so don’t reach for those grays and blacks just yet. Choose a transparent object – it can be anything from a glass jar to a crystal vase to an icicle. Place it against the colour background of your choice, and look carefully. Can you see the colours? Can you render them without any pre-mixed blacks or grays? Let’s find out!

The Three Graces by Ester Roi

The first time I saw some of Ester Roi’s work one word came immediately to mind: “blazing.” Such colour! I’m never surprised by the idea that coloured pencils can do extraordinary things but in this case I was particularly impressed and curious to learn more of her technique. When I found out about her Icarus Drawing Board I thought I would love to try it some day. Then the day arrived in January, with a late and unexpected Christmas present. Hooray!

For those of you who may not have heard of it, the Icarus Board is a portable drawing board with a “warm zone” that can be heated electrically. The heated surface causes any wax-based media to soften or even melt; when returned to room temperature, the medium solidifies once more. It is suitable for artist crayons, oil pastels and, of course, coloured pencils. Roi has developed many techniques for her invention and her own radiant work shows what may be accomplished with it. My own experiences are extremely limited since I’ve hardly used it yet, but here’s what I have to tell you so far.

First, . . . → Read More: First Impressions Of The Icarus Drawing Board]]> written by Erica Walker,  CPSC Secretary-Treasurer

The Three Graces by Ester Roi

The first time I saw some of Ester Roi’s work one word came immediately to mind: “blazing.” Such colour! I’m never surprised by the idea that coloured pencils can do extraordinary things but in this case I was particularly impressed and curious to learn more of her technique. When I found out about her Icarus Drawing Board I thought I would love to try it some day. Then the day arrived in January, with a late and unexpected Christmas present. Hooray!

For those of you who may not have heard of it, the Icarus Board is a portable drawing board with a “warm zone” that can be heated electrically. The heated surface causes any wax-based media to soften or even melt; when returned to room temperature, the medium solidifies once more. It is suitable for artist crayons, oil pastels and, of course, coloured pencils. Roi has developed many techniques for her invention and her own radiant work shows what may be accomplished with it. My own experiences are extremely limited since I’ve hardly used it yet, but here’s what I have to tell you so far.

First, I was impressed by how well-packed it was. Long-distance delivery of anything that happens to be both breakable and expensive always makes me nervous, but this was reassuringly solid. Inside a large box it is protected with lots of very stiff styrofoam and is held quite rigidly. So rigidly, in fact, that I couldn’t pull it out of the box. After tugging gingerly at it a few times I decided it would be safer to push it out. When I opened the other end I discovered a little paper anxiously instructing me NOT to pull out the Board, but instead to open both ends of the box and push it out. As a matter of fact there were several of these papers in the box — they are obviously meant to confront the opener immediately at either end, but had slipped out of place during transit. You’ve been warned!

Once I got it out, the next step was to find a place to set it up. The (temporary) choice was the dining-room table. The Icarus Board sits on 4 rubber feet so that its heat won’t destroy whatever surface you’ve put it on (though I personally still would not risk it on anything really delicate). It is intended to lie flat. I don’t know if it would be safe to have it on a slanted surface, but even if it is, I imagine it would be very awkward. It comes in two sizes: 14×20” and 20×26”. I have the larger size, which was uncomfortable to carry, but it also comes with a handle that can be attached at either side, to suit both the right-handed and the left-handed. Or you can simply not attach the handle at all. The Icarus Board can also be turned to suit both right- and left-handed. The only real inconvenience for me so far is that the rubber feet make it a little too high for me on this table.

If you are afraid this contraption might be too complicated or involve too many safety precautions, set your mind at rest. It resembles a stovetop with a burner on one side, and could not be simpler to use. On one side is the “warm zone;” the other is the “cool zone.” All you do is plug it in, switch it on, and turn the dial to whatever heat level you like. (Heat levels are numbered from 0 to 10; Roi says that 6 is the usual level for most work.) Those of you who are worried about burns may be surprised to learn that it is actually quite difficult to burn yourself with this. The warm zone is surrounded by a frame of space that stays cool, so you can always rest your hands against the work surface. At level 6, I found that I could still keep my fingers directly on the heated surface, although it was a little too warm to be totally comfortable. Even at level 10 it is hard to burn yourself unless you do so deliberately. Roi herself advises placing a folded cloth (or even two) under your hand, which provides protection from the heat while shielding your work from the oils in your skin. Of course there are instructions on what and what not to do with it, but a lot of these are just common sense. Never get water on it, it might get inside the mechanism; never use a damaged Board; make sure you’re working in a well-ventilated area; etc. Remember, though, that it is not made for children, and that close supervision is recommended if there are children around.

Icarus Board

Icarus Board Zones

A few complementary supplies arrived with it: some coloured pencils (Prismacolor, Caran d’Ache Luminance) and some Caran d’Ache Neocolor wax-based crayons and pastels, as well as 2 sheets of Stonehenge paper. I confess that I have not tried any of the Neocolors –I was just too eager to break out the pencils! In the end I tried out eight different brands: soft (Prismacolor, Derwent Coloursoft, Caran d’Ache Luminance), medium (Faber-Castell Polychromos, Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor, Caran d’Ache Pablo), and hard (Prismacolor Verithin and Derwent Signature). Note that both the Faber-Castell Polychromos and the Lyra Rembrandt Polycolor are oil-based. Although oil-based coloured pencils are NOT included in the list of acceptable media on the Icarus Board web site, I still wanted to see how they would respond to the heat. Derwent does not currently produce its Signature line, but since many of you might still have and enjoy them, I wanted to include them as well.

So what did I do? Scribbled and played around a bit — nothing serious. Nor did I test every pencil from every brand, so keep in mind the variations that exist even within each brand — one might react quite differently from another. All of the tests I did were at about heat level 7. With a cloth under my hand, I found this perfectly comfortable.

My impressions were as follows:

ALL of the pencils I tried were distinctly softer on the warm zone, though they retained their original hardness too. By that I mean that a heated medium pencil was still harder than a heated soft pencil and softer than a heated hard pencil. The creamiest pencils were softer even on the cool zone than the heated medium and hard pencils.

It was easier to lay down colour on the warm zone, and it does take noticeably less pressure to get complete coverage. What a blessing! Anyone who works heavily or burnishes a lot knows how hard it can be on your hands and wrists, and some pencils seem to release colour more reluctantly than others. For example: Prismacolor’s Black is one of its harder, scratchier pencils, and seems to fight you when you pile it on heavily. But here I was almost unconsciously using less pressure — there simply wasn’t the need for it. The exception was the Derwent Signature: although it did spread more easily in light layers it still protested loudly against heavy pressure, resisting all the way.

Many colours became brighter and/or more translucent when heated. I took colours from all of the different brands and tested them, first on the warm zone and then on the cool. I used heavy pressure, so as to completely obliterate the paper texture. The oil-based pencils I tried changed in temperature as well as brightness.  The colours of Faber-Castell Polychromos colours on the warm zone actually got a bit warmer!  With the other brands it varied: some were distinctly brighter, some slightly brighter, some seemed the same. The brightening was wonderful for achieving intense vivid colours, but I was a little disconcerted to see my favourite darks get lighter. At the moment I’m trying to figure out how to compensate.

I noticed that when pencils are used with heavy pressure on the warm zone there’s a lot of shed pigment to brush away, more than when they’re cool. The brand that seemed to be least affected in this area was the Prismacolor Verithin, which, although somewhat softer, still stayed “neat” and hardly shed at all.

The web site states that there must be a lot of pigment present for many of the warm zone techniques to be really effective with coloured pencils. I found this to be quite true: when I applied ONLY thin or delicate layers I did not find that the heat made much difference, other than making them easier to lay down.

The instructions state that the machine takes about 10 minutes to warm up properly. Again, this is true, but I personally found it more and more effective the longer it stayed heated. It might be simply that I became more used to it.

River Pebbles No. 2 by Ester Roi

You may be wondering if the heat damages or causes any kind of detrimental change to the support. I tried several kinds of surfaces on the warm zone: Arches, Stonehenge, Canson Mi-Teintes, Terraskin, matboard, and museum board. None of them seemed affected in any way. The web site states that some light warping of the paper may occur from heat (it did) but that the paper will return to normal when cool (it did). I don’t know if matboard would warp — I only had it on the heat very briefly. Putting paper under a heavy book overnight can help, so perhaps one could do the same with matboard.

Although keeping the support clean from all those little bits of pigment is always high-priority for the coloured pencil artist, bear in mind that this is twice as important when working on the warm zone … because they won’t just smudge and smear, they’ll melt.

Finally, remember that I have only just begun to try this out! You may make very different or even contradictory discoveries. The Icarus Board is something that has to be experimented and played with a great deal to really understand its potential. It might not suit every coloured pencil artist –for example, those whose technique requires them to work only with extremely sharp pencils. But it would certainly be an advantage to those who love a rich painterly look and who habitually use a great deal of heavy pressure.

The Icarus Board comes with a 1-year warranty (applicable only in the United States and Canada). Service was very friendly, encouraging both questions and requests for help. The web site provides many photos, a lot of information, and several excellent instruction videos — it’s particularly helpful to be able to see what kind of pressure Roi is using. Visit: http://icarusart.net

(Images used with permission.)

This article was originally published in the webzine “Crayons de couleur, le Mag” in November 2011. The webzine is available at:  http://crayonsdecouleurlemag.jimdo.com/

Resistance to light is a major issue for all artistic media, including coloured pencils.  Artists must take into consideration the quality of products used to ensure the long-lastingness of their works.  Coloured pencil is no exception.  Many coloured pencil artists assume that all artist-quality pencils have excellent resistance to light. Unfortunately, the reality is different …

Artist-grade pencils are made with pigments and binders of better quality than those in student- or middle-grade pencils, so artist-grade pencils are more likely to resist fading. However, the term “artist quality” on a box of pencils does not guarantee the product’s lightfastness.  Some pigments are more susceptible to fading over time. Also, should you happen to have any old pencils, it is quite possible that they possess less resistance to light, since before 2003, there weren’t any standards in this area. Today, manufacturers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of offering products with improved stability to light.

Why is this important?

The durability of a work in coloured pencil is . . . → Read More: Coloured Pencil Lightfastness]]> written by Manon Leclerc,  CPSC Member
photos © Manon LeClerc

This article was originally published in the webzine “Crayons de couleur, le Mag” in November 2011. The webzine is available at:  http://crayonsdecouleurlemag.jimdo.com/

Resistance to light is a major issue for all artistic media, including coloured pencils.  Artists must take into consideration the quality of products used to ensure the long-lastingness of their works.  Coloured pencil is no exception.  Many coloured pencil artists assume that all artist-quality pencils have excellent resistance to light. Unfortunately, the reality is different …

Comparison between the ASTM D6109 and Blue Wool scales:

 

click to enlarge

JANUARY COLOUR CHALLENGE

Happy New Year from the CPSC! We’re starting 2012 with a new Monthly Colour Challenge for you. So far you’ve created your own unique blacks and grays – and even whites – by blending complementary colours. Very good, but don’t put those complements away yet … because this month you’ll need them for silver!

While we tend to think of silver as white or colourless, it is really full of colour because it reflects everything around it. A lot of us find reflective surfaces intimidating, so go easy. Take a small shiny-silvery object such as a Hershey’s Kiss or a key. Place it on whatever colour background you like and look at it carefully. There’s a whole world of colour reflected there! So DON’T get out your metallics if you have them. They won’t do the job at all. And DON’T just reach for your pre-mixed grays and blacks either. Mix the colours you find. You can do it if you try!