We're having a sweatshirt-warm day today, too nice not to include a pause in my walk to sketch another shed along my route. This is on the same property as the shed I sketched here, but closer to the house. Not a garage - there actually is a garage right behind the house and painted to match it - but some kind of outbuilding for what was once a working farm perhaps. I think getting a car through the big doors would be tight. To give you some perspective, one would have to stoop to go through the smaller door. Like the other shed, it too still has some of the original white paint on the upper portions, but most of the boards are weathered and in some cases, nearly black.
I had such success using just graphite pencil and white charcoal on my last urban sketch that I decided to use it again on this. Partway through, I wished I'd brought a water soluble graphite pencil as well so I could smudge in those greying boards like I did on the other shed, but then I would have wanted to add more color too. This time I wanted to go for a simple pared down effect with a little shading from the graphite and let those white highlights shine. I added the streak of white along some of the trees in the background as I have before - such a nice touch on this toned paper - and the bit of snow still clinging to the mountain where the ski resort is. Poor ski resort - it had to close for the season this weekend. We simply have not had much snow.
I still find it interesting how much detail our brains filter out when generally viewing. I was well into the sketch before I noticed that metal bar leaning across the smaller door. Once focused on it, I then saw its very dark shadow angling the other direction. I didn't get much other shadow worked well into the sketch, but I was pleased and proud of that one. And it wasn't until I was totally done drawing and filling in the white areas with the white charcoal that I spotted the hinges and hasp on the doors. The hinges were gleaming particularly white so how had I missed them? I'm going to blame it on the fact that when I started sketching the sun was partly obscured by clouds, but as I finished up, it had broken free of them. Yeah, that was it, right?
4 comments:
Your attention to detail in the drawing is amazing. Good point about how much our mind filters out!
I do love your sketches. I actually think they are atmospheric. To me there is no doubt at all that these sheds are American.
Sorry your ski resort had to close early. I've no idea about Europe, but we've had no snow again here this winter though just at the moment we 're having very windy weather.
But though it should be spring winter is still keeping her cloak on. It feel like February out there, not nearly April.
You should be soooo proud of yourself....this is really, really good!!!
Thanks everyone. Not sure my sketching is quite as good as you all would indicate but I must admit I'm not only enjoying the sketching but enjoying the results as well. Nice to have the additional kudos!
Hilary - as you can see, your comment did not get eaten up by the internet as you feared and I am glad it did not. Your description of my sketch as atmospheric intrigues me as does your implication that there is a recognizable look to American sheds. I guess one often goes along thinking everyone does things the same way when of course, that is not true at all. Makes me want to google British sheds to see what kind of images pop up!
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