Castle Island Study

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

How fortunate we are to have Castle Island.  One could literally paint there forever.  In addition to the infinite number of subjects there is a bathroom facility and a snack bar.  What more could an artist ask for?  Today I decided to do a detailed tree study that grew into a little composition I intend to copy in watercolor in my studio next crummy day which as we all know could be tomorrow.  In any case a lot can be learned from this pencil sketch.  First of all, I was attracted to the shapes of these two rugged trees at the first turn at the Island.  I chose a vertical format and placed the trees in the upper right focal area (tic tac toe).  I used a 4h pencil (hard pencil which yields a very light gray line) to lay in the general silhouette.  Once I had the general shapes in I measured the trees carefully to make sure they were correctly proportioned and fit on the page correctly.  Here's how to measure the trees:  With the pencil extended fully and held horizontally place the tip of the pencil against the left side of the tree and move your hand up to coincide with the edge of the right side.  This gives you the measurement of the width of the tree.  Keep that measurement and move your hand vertically and place against the tree.  How much bigger is the vertical measurement than the horizontal?  Also measure the trunk.  Is it one third, one fourth, one half the length of the tree?  These are important measurements to understand in order to correctly draw the tree.  Once the first tree is drawn in correct proportion draw everything else in the scene to correspond correctly.  Finish laying in the drawing with the lightest line possible and make sure you are happy with the layout before proceeding.  Now you can use a 2b or even softer pencil to lay in the shadow family and light family throughout the picture.  Make sure you have at least three and not more that five values total.  Limit the number of shapes in your picture. 

This drawing took me a total of 1 hour (11-12) at which time I fixed it with fixative so it wouldn't smudge.  You can use hairspray if you don't have fixative but if you intend to do pencil drawings you should buy a can.  It's cheap. Then I left for lunch.  As you can see, I have a nice little composition with values already spelled out for a nice little watercolor, pastel or oil.  What a life!  Please ask any questions.  Happy painting.

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Attached Files   

Outdoor Studio.jpg

BobbyFarrell

Jul 15, 2009

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