ARTWALK - Points of Brilliance: Louisiana’s colored pencil artists
Colored pencil art is often lost in the postmodernist fray of flash mobs, graffiti, and guerrilla crocheting, yet there is something timeless and inherently introspective about this medium and its kaleidoscopic progeny. It takes a certain temperament and sense of perspective for an artist to sync with colored pencils. The level of detail is the main allure—like with graphite and ink, the artist enjoys an astonishing control over their medium that isn’t possible with other mediums like paint and pastels. The journey over each page is a methodical, zen-like process of conquering each inch of the drawing, and the result transcends the din of our modern 10-second attention span to pursue the deeper meaning of each subject.
Carol Scott
Carol Scott fell in love with colored pencils when she was completing her MSA in sculpture at UNO in 1979; a fellow student inspired her with a drawing, gave her a set of pencils, and soon Scott was collecting her own and experimenting with the medium. Scott has been working primarily in colored pencil ever since and is now an associate professor of art at Holy Cross College. Last summer, she won a prize for Outstanding Recognition at the International Colored Pencil Exhibition. “It’s like having the intensity of paint and the control of a pencil,” she says. She likes doing large-scale drawings and has been on a prism kick ever since the summer of 2008, when she started photographing and drawing the crystal objects around her house. “The Crystal Series is about sight and the prismatic effect of color. Looking through a form and looking at how it changes as light goes through the structure multiplies the layers of reality. Crystal is a reflective and a refractory surface, which can also distort images seen through or in the crystal, increasing the optical possibilities. A cross between Impressionism and Op Art, I am showing you how to see light and the magical affects of color and movement. I am exploring perception in creating beauty,” she says. Scott is represented by Jean Bragg Gallery.
Jean Bragg Gallery
504-895-7375
600 Julia St.
New Orleans, LA
jeanbragg.com
Maurice Stockton
Also known as the “Dot Art Dude,” Stockton is as much a presence in the galleries of Louisiana as in the virtual world, where he blogs extensively about his artistic process and mediums. Stockton has been painting and drawing since age three. He received a BFA from Mississippi State University in graphic design, photography, and painting, and he shows regularly with artist organizations in New Orleans and also teaches Talented in Visual Art classes in the Jefferson Parish school system. He is most famous for his Dot Art, which jumps and jives around the concept of pointillism. “Each piece I create is an intuitive journey for me. I enjoy the magic that happens along the way. My preference is to work part to whole as I build an image. Even though I have a mental picture in my head, I do not let that interfere with the evolution of my work. During my process, my art develops a specific personality and a certain order. I’m happiest using drawing media and painting media on paper. Instead of planning my art from beginning to end, I trust spontaneous impulses. They give me the best results. They also excite me. I don’t like to hem myself in while completing a project. I like going into new directions and discovering new ways to use my favorite media.”
(504) 838-9126
dotart.blogspot.com
Jon Guillaume
A Louisiana native from the small town of Slaughter, Jon Guillaume has had a passion for drawing since childhood. He followed his dream through school, earning a BFA from Louisiana State University, and has illustrated a wide array of subjects over the years. In March of 2006, he was working as a graphic designer for a Baton Rouge trade magazine when he decided to start spending part of his time selling his drawings in the French Market. He soon moved from Baton Rouge to New Orleans to do this full time, and today you can find him most afternoons sketching and chatting affably to customers at his booth on Decatur. From absinthe fairies to streetcars to Zulu warriors, Guillaume has drawn it all and developed a signature style along the way. Guillaume is meticulous, concise, direct, and tends to use high contrast, free-flowing images and vibrant color. He mostly illustrates iconic New Orleans and Louisiana themed images, some more surreal than others. “I do most of my work in colored pencil and pen, and sometimes just pencil. I like how precise I can get with colored pencil. It’s so clean—I can get as detailed as I want. I tend to be a little OCD, so the more detail the better. I’ve always fought with paint because I can’t control it in the same way, but Prismacolor pencils blend so well together that if you do it right, it looks almost like paint. It’s an underrated medium, I think,” he says. Guillaume was the 2011 Zulu poster artist and shows his work in several French Quarter shops and galleries. He sells poster prints, giclees, photo prints, and originals.
Guillaume Studios
(225) 205-7377
3638 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA
bigezartist.com
Carola Nix
“I’ve always drawn, even as a child. I used to use the kids watercolor sets in school and I would paint on wallpaper instead—only the walls were big enough for me,” she laughs. Originally from Germany, Nix came to the U.S. in 1973 when she married an American soldier. For 20 years, she put her art on the back burner while she worked full time and raised a family. In the late 90s, she picked up her pencils and brushes again. “About five years ago, I rediscovered colored pencil. I try to work in a realistic style, but my favorite style is something I don’t really have a name for. It’s not abstract and it’s not realism. It usually deals with mental impressions, feelings, or ideas that have come into my head. I’ve heard it called dream art, fantasy art, even visionary art,” she says. Nix blogs about her pieces as she creates them and exhibits three times a year with the Bossier Arts Council. “As an artist I feel myself drawn to two opposing categories of art: abstract and realism. In realism I am in control, creating images of ordinary things in the world around me. In abstract, free flowing pen or brush strokes often express mental images and emotions. Both have one thing in common, my love for color. I am in love with colored pencils—they give me the control I feel I need in realism. Fluid acrylics, watercolor, and sometimes paper and fabric help me to express my mental and emotional states. Regardless of media, when I am in my right brain, I feel as one with the painting or drawing I am working on and often relate to them as one would relate to a child.” ✦Rate This Story
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