JD
JD watched this container ship sailing from Point Lonsdale Back Beach coming through the the Heads and chose this as her subject for 'Wet'. She tells me it was too large a work to get onto her scanner, so I assume it is around A3 size or so. The paper is Fabriano 300gsm GSM with a Staedtler 2B pencil. Although the ship is placed centrally in the work, it doesn't dominate but becomes a focal point framed by the swirling water and a cloud studded sky. The roughness of the paper creates a lovely texture to the pencil work. Working on this sort of surface in graphite can be unforgiving, but it is nice to see that JD has not forced it but used the texture to work with her subject. The tonal range in this work is very good, the dark horizon line of the ocean holding the ship well - and that horizon is nice and level. Perhaps the horizon line and ship could have been placed a centimetre or two further up the page for my liking, but that is a just me being picky. JD said she worked quite quickly and this has benifited the drawing - the fast linework and strokes translate very well into the chaotic shoreline and treacherous tidal surges of Pt. Lonsdale. The clouds in the sky mimic this linework, giving us clouds scudding by. There is just enough detail in the ship to pick out the stacks and funnels. This drawing has a lot of movement and emotion in it that works well and JD should be very pleased with the result.
'Container Ship at Pt. Lonsdale' by JD
Silke
Silke works with an urban sketchers group that usually draw on location, but for the past few months have been meeting online and using Google Streetview to create their works. This is Belem Tower in Lisbon, a 16th century fortification that was built on a small island near the Lisbon shore. Surrounded by waves, the wild water crashes into the walls. I am not sure what paper Silke has used, athough I assume it is the sketchbook she has used previously, and it appears to be drawn with a soft leaded pencil like a 4b or similar. Drawn in a circle or orb format there is some recession in the perspective similar to a reflecting sphere drawing. (Think of Escher's 'Hand Holding an Orb.) This makes for an interesting composition and design. To enhance this further Silke could have created even more distortion. The detail and features of the tower are well observed. Good tonal range with shading showing building form well. Soft cloudy sky frames the building. The water is a bit flat in apperrance and Silke says she was a bit unsure how to approach it. I will send her the pdf showing how to create different wave and water forms. A creative and interesting drawing from Silke.
'Belem Tower, Lisbon' by Silke
Jean
Jean has combined two prompts! An Maple autumn leaf with water droplets. She has used 300gsm Arches Cold Press with a 2B pencil. Jean says she struggled somewhat with the pencil on the rougher paper and 'lost' her indenting lines. I think that the overall drawing design composition is good. The leaf shapes are well drawn and typical of a Japanese Maple. The tonal range is somewhat limited however, the leaves are very dark overall. Arches CP is a very rough surfaced paper, scratchy and unforgiving for pencil work. A lighter hand to begin with, then building up with layers of graphite to create the darker areas. Jean could also use a bit of blue tack or kneadable eraser to lift some of the darker areas and restore lighter highlights to her leaves. Perhaps consider using a paper stump to softly blend and even the tones into the rough surface. As well, Jean may find working larger on this sort of surface will help, like JD has done above. A good attempt at indenting, it is a tricky technique to master and I have had to practice it quite a bit to get right and am still often disappointed.
Just a suggestion Jean - did you think of trying this with one of the pastel pencils? Say the red ochre with touches of white? That could be an interesting exercise. Why not give it a go, you have a good drawing here in pencil, excellent shapes and have met all the requirements of the prompt - now go away and have a bit of fun exploring the idea more in your own way!
'Drops on the Maple' by Jean
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