Illustrations
You’ll find collections of images from my childhood (“Long Ago”) to more current work including both digital and traditional mediums. I’m always looking for the time to practice, to refine, to grow, to develop my own style.
Pencil Sketches
Traditional pencil and paper sketches done during and post college.
Krakow, Poland
Description.
A return to tradition! It has been years – a decade or two (?) – since I sat down with paper and pencil to sketch and get my hands dirty. This work is based on my photograph that you can seen in the “Places” collection of the “Photography” gallery.
I used a basic #2 pencil, HB5 pencil (a lot), an HB6 pencil (a little), white charcoal pencil, a Factis BM2 eraser for some detail work. I tried using a gum and pink eraser early in the work, but they left behind a residue that was impossible to sketch over without creating blemishes. For the sky and fog I used a practice sheet of paper and tried different combinations of charcoal, charcoal dust (razor blade to gently scrape a charcoal stick), pencil, smudge stick, Q-tips, and cotton balls. In the end the HB5 pencil and cotton balls worked best.
As you’ll see in the slide show below I also used two pairs of glasses, because 53 year old eyes suck! One mid distance pair for looking at the photograph and one stronger pair for working on the sketch!
The composition of the photograph inspired me. This is the first time I’ve really tried to sketch an image that has so much subtlety – the early morning fog and sun, the hint of trees and buildings including the cathedral in the background and the overall silhouetted (is that a word?) nature of the image was a challenge.
Information.
- Title : Krakow, Poland
- Inspiration : Based on my photograph of the same
- Year : 2018
- Medium : Paper, pencil, charcoal