Snowy Ridge Trail
January 14: I did something totally
different today and taped a piece of BFK Rives on the standup easel and
measured it at 9 ½ x 15 ¾. Using a charcoal pencil, I began sketching the foreground
ridge. I played around trying to get it right.
I moved the painting to the DT easel,
so I could sit to work on the foreground. I need to put my face closer to see
what I’m doing. No, I’m not really doing detail yet, but I want to get the
shapes and perspective right. I used a hard charcoal pencil for the ridge lines
and the line of trees which helped give it the beginning of depth. Thought I
did OK. Once again, I find putting in some foreground work helps me see the how
the entire composition is looking.
I started getting the mountain tops drawn in. So far so good. Then I tried to find the right color pan pastel to start laying in some color. Too blue, too gray, not quite right, and when the pans didn’t “pan out” (pun intended), I tried Mount Vision, Diane Townsend, and Sennelier. I don’t have the right color blue, but I kept at it laying in some beginning color. But what I discovered is using the hard charcoal pencil doesn’t wipe away when I rub the mountain colors over the treetops. Hmmm, good to know… however, this means I need to hard erase any mistakes.
I’m really experimenting here trying
to go at the painting from a different perspective than usual. I thought I was
doing OK, until I edited the two progress photos. Oh, no! I’ve got the ridgeline
too high on the page in spite of making a note to watch out for that. (‘Course,
when I start working, I never remember to review my notes, ha-ha.)
I scooted back in the studio,
erased lines and moved the ridge lower. I didn’t take a new progress photo. And
now I just realized I didn’t print
Funny I can have all this intent,
but the minute I get in the studio and start working, I totally forget my plans.
No comments:
Post a Comment