Thursday 1 September 2011

Down by the river

It's been quite a busy week at work with one of our massive team of three off on holiday and the other 'working from home' - yeah right, lol. So that left me. Oh well, I still managed to get away early today and stop off by the river in town on the way home to do a quick sketch. I keep promising myself to do more drawing like this so this was a good start towards fulfilling that promise. I used a 3B watersoluble graphite pencil, not in my Moleskine this time, but in a small square format cartridge sketchbook which opens out perfectly flat to allow you to work across the pages as I did here. One day I'll manage to sketch fast enough to capture one of the many canoeists or rowers that use this calm stretch of water to practice :)


River Great Ouse, watersoluble graphite, 4" x 8"

11 comments:

  1. Lovely! I adore tonal sketches, when you get the tones as right as you have them here, why you can paint in almost any colour . Bravo!

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  2. When I saw it as a thumbnail I liked it already and I'm not disappointed to see it big! Lovely sketch!

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  3. Morning Pat and thank you! I like to do tonal sketches as exercises or, as in this case, purely for enjoyment. However, I may use this as a reference for a more finished piece - in colour of course :)

    Goedemorgen en dankje Judy. Yes thumbnails can sometimes look better or worse than the full images and Blogger doesn't help with how it decides what to show us sometimes!

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  4. Some days we have so little time to make art, and it is hard to stick at it... but you made it, and this sketch is really wonderful. I am sure that it gives you also great fun and joy! A big hug, Cristina

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  5. Hi Cristina. Thank you very much indeed for your lovely comment. It can be a struggle to find time for art when we have so many other people and things to think about, but it is a joy when we do. Un grand abbraccio - Ciao!

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  6. Well I finally got through , seemed to not want me to get here..
    like your sketch, and admire the fact that you just stop on the road and paint or draw what you see...
    Thanks for the thought of us here in the States, and yes living in Florida for over 40 years, I've been through a few hurricanes.. but still kickin' LOL ! BJ

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  7. Lovely Sketch Michael. Graphite pencils eh? thats another medium that I keep promising myself to try.
    Michael, We haven`t heard anything from Joan Cicignano lately have we?
    I did email her but have not had a reply. I was wondering if she got caught up in that terrible storm a lot of Americans got caught up in.
    Anyway mate, a lovely tonal sketch here my friend. Well done and have a nice weekend. All the best michael.
    Vic.

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  8. The negative shapes left by the trees make the eye wander around the sketch in a most interesting way. I like the long sweep from right to left and then the sharp swoop up.
    I hope you get a chance to recover from your busy week.

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  9. Hi BJ and thank you for your lovely comment. I wish I had more time to paint and draw but I should be thankful for the time I do get I guess. Good to hear you're still kicking over there in Florida LOL :)

    Hi Vic and thank you for stopping by and leaving a lovely comment. I haven't heard from Joan yet but I'm sure she's fine and possibly she's without any power at the moment. Let me know if you hear from her first and I will do the same. Best wishes Vic, Michael.

    Hi Lisa and thank you. I enjoy doing tonal sketches and trying to get the composition interesting to the eye so I'm really pleased with your comments.
    I went out again this afternoon and it was so hot that my paints had started to go runny. My Winsor Yellow looked more like Winsor Lemon Meringue lol. My paintbox is in the fridge now chilling next to the wine :) So I had to use my WC pencils. Not happy with the result so it may go under the tap!

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  10. Hi Michael, sorry for this nothing post .. it's a test really as I was able to post and receive comments (thanks for yours) but wasn't able to comment to others. and I think this is going to work, Yippeee !!!

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  11. Hi Bj and you're welcome! Your test comment worked absolutely fine. I'd better hurry up and do some art so you can try it out for real!

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