mike thomas
moleskine sketch 014
I thought I'd try some outdoor sketching in the park today. Both these sketches were done in deKoevend Park in Littleton, CO. This is a very pretty park, with the Highline Canal running through it, and huge cottonwoods growing along the canal.
I've been doing a lot of reading about drawing, both in pencil and pen (perhaps I should be doing more drawing than reading). I get all excited about going out and doing some "plein air" sketches, then once I get started I realize "oh yeah, that's how I draw ... not like those folks in the books ... damn."
Oh well, at least I was out there, getting my first sunburn of the year.
The first sketch was done with a black Sakura "Pigma Brush" pen, a gray Pitt brush pen, and a very fine (005) Sakura "Micron" pen. It's mostly a value study, but I definitely overworked it. I could not figure out how to render the tangle of underbrush at the middle right. The sketch took about 15 minutes.
The second drawing is of what was a very pretty scene along Big Dry Creek. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the nature of the scene, which was the gracefulness of the trees bending out over the creek, and the quality of the light. This drawing was done entirely with Staedtler 0.3 pigment liner. I drew it while standing on a bridge next to the creek, and spent about 20 minutes on it.
Both drawings done in a large Moleskine sketch book.
moleskine sketch 014
I thought I'd try some outdoor sketching in the park today. Both these sketches were done in deKoevend Park in Littleton, CO. This is a very pretty park, with the Highline Canal running through it, and huge cottonwoods growing along the canal.
I've been doing a lot of reading about drawing, both in pencil and pen (perhaps I should be doing more drawing than reading). I get all excited about going out and doing some "plein air" sketches, then once I get started I realize "oh yeah, that's how I draw ... not like those folks in the books ... damn."
Oh well, at least I was out there, getting my first sunburn of the year.
The first sketch was done with a black Sakura "Pigma Brush" pen, a gray Pitt brush pen, and a very fine (005) Sakura "Micron" pen. It's mostly a value study, but I definitely overworked it. I could not figure out how to render the tangle of underbrush at the middle right. The sketch took about 15 minutes.
The second drawing is of what was a very pretty scene along Big Dry Creek. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to capture the nature of the scene, which was the gracefulness of the trees bending out over the creek, and the quality of the light. This drawing was done entirely with Staedtler 0.3 pigment liner. I drew it while standing on a bridge next to the creek, and spent about 20 minutes on it.
Both drawings done in a large Moleskine sketch book.