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| For Short: Tony Tulips, 8 x 6, Graphite, TMDD Series Sketch* |
Our beloved Black Labrador remembered with guilt--I didn't walk him enough, I was too quick to have him put to sleep; the cancer in his muzzle wasn't that advanced.--all the stuff we whip ourselves with when we've lost a loved one came to the surface this morning roughing in his image quickly before my Sun Torch went off. I adored this giant lab who weighed 110 pounds, stood eye to eye, nose to nose, when he rested his paws on my shoulders and could jump a five foot fence to go visit the pretty Scotch Terrier next block over.
Sketching him from a lucky shot I took years ago where the lighting was accidentally right enough to show his form through that thick black coat, I thought, fifteen minutes into the session, a better rendering might be gotten with the subtractive drawing method where by highlights are carved out first on a ground completely and evenly covered with graphite, or charcoal. The knead would be the main drawing tool then darks laid in with graphite or vine stick. Charcoal would be the most suitable; layered on thick, no sheen develops.
* A sketch takes minutes; it's a quick study. A drawing can take days, weeks, months pending the degree of articulation desired.
I'm no dog lover, but he has such a soulfull look in his eye, I perhaps wouldn't shoo him away!
ReplyDeleteOops , hadn't finished. Nice drawing but I think your idea with charcoal would have been more powerful.
DeletePicture it: It's six thirty in the morning. I have just poured my coffee and climbed the stairs to my drafting studio where the Sun Torch light sits on my credenza. The only supplies in the room are pencils, knead erasers and a pencil sharpener. My little 6 x 8 Strathmore drawing pad lays on the desk. I sit down at my desk and swivel the chair around to face the light, turn it on and the timer starts ticking. I begin drawing. When the light goes off, the pencil is laid down. Time's up. The drawing session is no big deal. The sketches are no big deal--they are just first time impressions--get acquainted exercises. There's no dust and no fuss. That kind of thing goes on in the lower level studio where charcoal dust goes unnoticed and everything is done standing at an easel. Most of these sketches will never make it to the lower level. The half hour is just practice in the quiet of morning before I begin thinking too much.
ReplyDeleteHe has a soulful look. Lovely sketch.
ReplyDeleteHe did when he needed petting, attention. Taking his picture wasn't enough of the right attention. Thanks, maybe in charcoal some other time?
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