ONLINE ART COURSE – CLOUDY SKY IN GRAPHITE
I have now got half way through the course, and begun the first module where we concentrate on subject matter rather than medium, in this case, landscapes.
Graphite
We haven’t worked in graphite pencil since the first module when we did the still life of fruits, and the eye studies, and figure studies of street musicians. I have done a bit of my own in between, and kept my hand in.
This time the approach was slightly different. The subject was a cloudy sky over a minimal silhouetted foreground, and it proved quite difficult. The cloud formations were complicated and the shading not easy.
We began with a series of warm up exercises – initially a single cloud and how to shade it, and then a series of four little sketches of different cloud formations. All these were done with an HB graphite pencil.
The picture that Phil, the teacher, chose as the subject matter for the main project was the third one.
We began by mapping out the basic shapes, using an HB pencil.
Adding the initial shading.
They say every drawing/painting has an ugly stage. I think this was it!
Working on the focal point clouds in the centre.
This proved very difficult to do, removing graphite with the Tombow Mono Eraser to produce highlights along the cloud edges. I also used my electric eraser with the fine point to help with this.
Working on the other clouds. There wasn’t too much difference in my case, because I’d already done quite a bit of what Phil covered in this stage.
The final stage was to add the foreground. This certainly grounded the whole thing and made what I had done look more like a sky than just a mess!
I have to say I did not enjoy this particular project. While I enjoy working with graphite, I have come to the conclusion that landscapes are not the way I want to go with my art. We’ll have to see how I get on with the rest of this module. I may enjoy it better with a different medium. For me, this was too reminiscent of my bad experience with charcoal. I was determined to complete it though, because you can’t decide what you like or don’t like unless you persevere.
