charcoal, sketch looking across the beach at sunset

Across the beach, sunset, 16 ins square, charcoal on watercolour paper. Vivien Blackburn



A quick sketch in charcoal with some conte pencil to push the darkest areas. I used watercolour paper which didn't grip the charcoal very well. The texture worked ok for the sand but was sometimes annnoying in other areas.

The sand has a little more tone than shows in the photograph - again the flash bounces off the white paper, lightening it >:>(

details:





Comments

Shirley Anne Sherris said…
Hi
Love the way you get the reflections looking like reflections.
Try putting a piece of tissue paper over the flash (use a couple of bits of blue-tak to hold it). It provides the light but reduces the harsh flash back.
Cheers
6:56 pm
vivien said…
yes I must try it - the annoying thing is that I told my daughter about that technique and she's used it very successfully - I'm always in too much of a rush and I forget to do it! I do hate harsh flash light
7:48 pm
Suzanne McDermott said…
Yes, the reflection area is marvelous!
1:11 am
vivien said…
thanks Suzanne :)
2:43 pm
Lindsay said…
I totally agree about the reflections and I love the texture in the rocky out cropping.
I've posted a thanks on my blog to you today for recommending the Lyra Skin tone pencils.
here is the link:
http://straightlinesout.blogspot.com/2008/01/portriat-project-sketchbook-and.html
1:22 pm
vivien said…
thanks Lindsay - I'm off to see what you've done with the Lyra skintones :) I'm glad you liked them.
2:33 pm
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Eye, Urban/Rural exhibition

Image
Vivien Blackburn's work in the Urban/Rural show We've just hung a group show at the The Eye Project, Urban/Rural show.  If you want to come and see it it's on for a month - well worth seeing, 11 lovely artists and some fabulous work. Those large canvasses are 40 inches square. There are rural landscapes, flowerscapes, intriguing textile work including a large knitted building, abstracts .... something for everyone. It's in the gallery below the cafe in the Adult Education Centre at the top of Wellington street, Leicester, opposite Fenwicks.  Meet the Arttists day is Saturday 1st April 10-2.  Come and have a chat with us?
Read more

Hedges silhouetted agains the snow, winter light: watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal pencils in Stillmand and Birn Beta Hardback sketchbook

Image
 Detail  I have always liked the calligraphic tangle of the hedges when they are sihouetted against the sky.   Recent snowfall meant even more opportunities with amazing light and the landscape simplified and hidden by the snow, throwing hedges into relief. Above is a detail of a double page sketch in the lovely Stillman and Birn Beta A4 hardback sketchbook.  This paper is so forgiving and the watercolour works beautifully with it.  It allowed me to work through wet washes with charcoal pencil - something that tears many papers, leaving holes.  Some of the hedge is paint, some tinted charcoal. First snow, more on the way, winter light: silhouetted hedges in watercolour and Derwent tinted charcoal in a Stillman and Birn A4 beta hardback sketchbook The earlier warm golden glow of the low sun is covered by clouds, threatening more snow to come.   The spiky calligraphic marks of the hedge and the underlying form of the bank, with some of the taller dried grasses showing
Read more

paint or sketch trees: challenge

Image
Close up of tree bark, Marqueyssac, France. photo: Vivien Blackburn Another challenge Rather than another update on the seascapes I've decided to run another challenge in response to feedback from the trees post. Feedback from people said they got a lot out of the skies challenge and I'm sure you will out of this one :>) click the image on the left to link to the original post on trees and you can check all posts with the tag 'trees' here The challenge is to produce sketches of trees done from life. These can be: close ups, extreme close ups, whole tree, part of tree, distant views - whatever you want. Style: anything goes - photorealism to impressionism but with underlying observation Medium: your choice, anything goes :>) oil paints, acrylics, watercolours, mixed media, charcoal, graphite, coloured pencils, pen, oil pastels, pastels, pastel pencils ....... etc etc etc Timescale: we'll finish at the end of July and I'll post links to your blogs t
Read more