Today I want you to take some drawing paper, the bigger the size the better, and using a really broad drawing tool, I am using a graphite crayon 6B, they come in both water soluble and non water-soluble, for this exercise I am using the non water soluble. I use the soluble type when the black from the graphite will be an important part of the wash.
Think of a landscape and begin boldly with a big hard line across the paper and really try to feel the subject matter. I am drawing the rocks along the coast in Maine specifically an area south of Rockland call “Birch Tree State Park”. I work the really big shapes first and then begin to find the smaller more intimate shapes. I highlight and strengthen the lines and edges really getting the feeling for the rock hardness and round water eroded edges. I put in some accent darks to make the drawing more interesting and grade the values on some of the other areas. I am not looking to make an exact drawing just an expressive memory drawing and one that I can work from later. I spent about 15 minutes on each one. The size of the paper is 22 x 30 and is rough surface, I would recommend a more smooth surface but it was what I used. Give it a go it will help your use of line and your use of your brain not your interpretation of a photograph
22 x 30 graphite on rough paper
22 x 30 drawing
love these drawings
I love these drawings. I get the feeling you are really looking at the landscape’s shapes and lines, almost like you are feeling them with your eyes. I’m so glad I came upon them. I moved to another town 6 months ago and have been so busy I have not done any artwork and can’t get motivated. I was looking on-line for something to get me motivated and these drawings are doing it.
Thank you so much for posting them.
Dee Collins
Dee it is nice you started with the jumpstarts, they were the first thing I started doing on the blog and their purpose was to get people going when their creativity had been truncated by inactivity. Give some of them a try I think they were very useful