For this piece I used a process kindly given to me by my lovely fellow blogger, Anita Murphy. I think Anita's charcoal work is fabulous and indeed all her work is a real inspiration to me. I'm not a huge fan of coloured papers like Ingres and prefer instead to use white paper but Anita's suggestion was to cover the white paper with a layer of charcoal and then to blend this with a paper towel to produce a mid-tone on which to work. You can then build the piece bit by bit by adding darks in charcoal and lifting out lights with an eraser and continue to push and pull the tones to get things just right.
I loved using this method, although you have to take extra care with lifting out since the charcoal sometimes lodges itself in the grain and can smudge rather than give a clean edge. I am very pleased with the result overall.
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| Imagination lakeland landscape |
I love landscapes too and you are surrounded by wonderful landscape! I admire you do them from imagination, great work! Thanks for sharing the process.
ReplyDeleteBTW, love Anita's blog!
Oh now! That is stunning, Michael, stunning.
ReplyDeleteYou should be very proud of that one!
Get it sealed and framed and put it on the wall.
Dankje Judy! I prefer to be out there in the beauty of it all but I also like to invent my own beauty. Glad you liked reading about the process :)
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks Pat! Good idea. I'm glad it's in a perforated sketchbook now! I scanned it before applying Perfix so I'll probably need to hose the scanner down now :)
That's a beautiful atmosphere that you've captured, I like the reflections and looseness of the strokes a lot. Can I second that you frame it?
ReplyDeleteThis is so good Michael - particularly effective is the water!
ReplyDeleteI really do struggle with landscapes. I haven't even started painting the Spanish one yet! I just find landscape painting so dull! Still - I am hoping to get it done over the next few days :0)
Michael - how sweet of you!!! See how effective it is working on the mid-value ground - also saves you a lot of work covering white paper! And you did a lovely job with this! More, More, More!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not using charcoal at the moment but I found the technique interesting. I might try it in the future, so I'll take note of your blog. Cora
ReplyDeleteHi Lisa, thank you very much - that's two yesses then! Looks like I may be visiting the local framer quite soon although I may have a go at doing it myself :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Sandra. I (as many others I would think) am looking forward to your Spanish painting:) If the pencil sketch is anything to go by it's going to be fabulous. No pressure of course ;)
Hi Anita. You're very welcome. Yes it's a fabulous process and I really enjoyed doing this - at 5am this morning, I ask you - so you may very well get more, more, more :)
Hello, Cora, and thanks for stopping by. You ought to give charcoal a try - it's so cheap to buy so you can waste loads getting to know it. You can get a small set with vine charcoal sticks, charcoal pencils and compressed charcoal crayons for less than 10 euros or so! You have a lovely blog too, I will visit again when I have a bit more time!
very successful and yes, you should frame this one :>)
ReplyDeleteDo you use an electric eraser? those little Jakar ones (only a couple of pounds) - they are fantastic for drawing back into the shaded areas with free marks.
Thanks, Vivien. I used a variety of erasers for this - putty, plastic (Staedtler are the best) and a Derwent battery eraser. I can also get back to pure white paper with two Tombow elastomer automatic erasers - expensive but worth it. Who would think there's so many different ways of removing material!
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful drawing. It's exactly what I love. Light and shadow are well set and the sky is a perfect
ReplyDeleteVielen Dank für Ihren Kommentar Elsbeth und mir zu folgen. And thank you very much Google Translate too, although I think it's right from my dim and distant schooboy German!
ReplyDeleteYou have five lovely blogs. I find having just one a struggle :)
Thank you for your answer. Sometimes I have a lot of time and I often spend this in front of the computer, but then again it is too much. I'm sorry if my English is not good, but I think we understand what we mean and this alone is important. I am pleased to have found your blog.Your paintings are wonderful
ReplyDeleteElsbeth
You're very welcome Elsbeth. I hope you return to my blog often even if only to look - but comments are nice too ;)
ReplyDeleteI think your command of English is extremely good and at least an order of magnitude better than my command of German which I can only describe as 'ein bisschen' :)
This is so good Michael. The shadows and the lights are just off. I like drawing with charcoal. It's just that you have to be so dirty.
ReplyDeleteI fall in line with your other commentors on stating that this work deserves to be set and looked at. The stripy reflections match the cloudy sky and the contrast is very bright and crisp.
ReplyDeleteFunny, I'v been working with charcoal and eraser these days,which I'd never done before!
Dankje Renske! I have put off drawing with charcoal for a very long time because of the problems with messy hands but it's all part of the fun and the charcoal becomes an extension of your hand and you can really make the most delicate or expressive marks this way. I use a kitchen cloth at home and a little packet of hand wipes when I go out to clean myself up afterwards :)
ReplyDeleteThank you Concetta! I will definitely be visiting the local picture framer soon. I look forward to seeing your charcoal work - your graphite sketches are so beautiful and inspiring. Many thanks for visiting my blog. Ciao :)
Hi Michael.
ReplyDeleteI love your sketches, they are brilliant. plenty of detail in them, more like drawings I would say. Also your Pastel paintings are lovely and colourful. I`ve just joined up as a follower of yours. All the best Michael.
Vic.
Hi Victor. Thank you very much indeed for your kind comments and for following! I've not come across your blog before but I just had a quick peek and your oils are gorgeous. I have dabbled in oil a little but not got it under control. Watercolour is my real passion and, like you, where I started about twenty years ago. I shall be following you too and come back for a better look later:)
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