Sep. 15th, 2010 at 10:04 AM
more greenwich landscapes
Last night I showed Stuart that day's sketch from the park, and was sitting there feeling a bit glum and irritable about how it looked. I decided I'd do another quick doodle, not caring and just taking the mick out of what I'd drawn. But then I got so absorbed in mocking my own picture that I ended up being quite pleased with the outcome. (And I looked at the clock and realised just how late it was.)
The park looked far more interesting this morning, with loads of strong shadows and golden light. I haven't attempted any colour work, but I tried using pencil instead of pen (since I'm putting myself through the Alex Milway/Philip Reeve Landscape Course 101, and Philip uses pencil). Alex recommended I look at work by Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. That's really helpful. (Thanks, Alex!) I know these guys' work, but it's a totally different thing to get a book with some good prints in it and take it drawing with me, so I can be sitting there drawing a tree, and turn a page to see how one of them did it. I still have a very long way to go.
Yesterday I sat on a damp tussock (undoubtedly widdled on by countless dogs), but today I sat on a bench and sketched in palatial grandeur. When I used to work from home, I sometimes used to take a packed lunch to this colonnade between the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum. I only ever saw old people sitting there, but some of them had great stories. My favourite ones came from a retired merchant seaman, and I wished I'd had a voice recorder with me.
A couple more picture of the National Maritime Museum in the morning. Have you seen their Toy Boats exhibition? It's fabulous. (I made two blog posts about it, here and here.)
The park looked far more interesting this morning, with loads of strong shadows and golden light. I haven't attempted any colour work, but I tried using pencil instead of pen (since I'm putting myself through the Alex Milway/Philip Reeve Landscape Course 101, and Philip uses pencil). Alex recommended I look at work by Caspar David Friedrich, John Constable and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot. That's really helpful. (Thanks, Alex!) I know these guys' work, but it's a totally different thing to get a book with some good prints in it and take it drawing with me, so I can be sitting there drawing a tree, and turn a page to see how one of them did it. I still have a very long way to go.
Yesterday I sat on a damp tussock (undoubtedly widdled on by countless dogs), but today I sat on a bench and sketched in palatial grandeur. When I used to work from home, I sometimes used to take a packed lunch to this colonnade between the Queen's House and the National Maritime Museum. I only ever saw old people sitting there, but some of them had great stories. My favourite ones came from a retired merchant seaman, and I wished I'd had a voice recorder with me.
A couple more picture of the National Maritime Museum in the morning. Have you seen their Toy Boats exhibition? It's fabulous. (I made two blog posts about it, here and here.)