En Plein Air

Today our group of  artist friends ventured out into the Waterlily Gardens to draw and paint.  Here is one of my two pieces  –  on A5, 110 gsm paper using a black Pitt artist pen, an extra fine  .03  Faber Castell ink pen, and light washes from my  watercolour pencils.  Water from my drink bottle, not the lily pond which we sat beside.  This sketch took 40 minutes approx.

This was mid-morning on an overcast and humid day so not many shadows to deal with.  And because the sun was not shining, the waterlilys were not showing their faces.

Plein aire 2

I’m reasonably happy with this result as I generally don’t do realistic landscapes.  Perhaps I could work up an impressionistic piece from this, time will tell.

 

Drawing ‘clarifies the essence’

My interest in drawing and sketching has been re-ignited, and it seems to be something I can manage for the moment.   I will be going out with a group of fellow sketchers, to different locations, in order to capture the feel of summer into autumn,  en plein air.   Stately gardens, old industrial sites, rocky foreshore and placid inner harbour will all be visited.   Apart from the paraphenalia which needs to be carried, the other important requisites are cafe close by, toilets, and ‘local’ water.  A pond, a puddle, a fountain….whatever.

My preference is for buildings in the landscape, but I will endeavour to produce something from each location, which may lead to a larger painting at some later stage.