Big sky
Posted: May 13, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 8 CommentsI took a little drive out to a more rural setting this morning because I’ve been doing so many street scenes lately and most of them vertical. I was looking for an open field where I could get a big horizontal with 80% sky and 20% land. I tried out my Canson XL paper with a pen and wash sketch and I’m much happier with the paper now. Because it’s so absorbent it seems to need the pen line to define shapes. This area is surrounded by new residential developments — giant houses on tiny pieces of land — but in the middle of all the new construction I found a little spot that still looked like farmland.
I love it Shari… you seem to be getting closer to my neck of the woods (probably not geographically, but topically). One of these days, I would love to show you some very interesting places near here — not urban, but majestically natural! I love your sky, it is very stormy looking. And it actually works the 80/20 ratio land sky… if it had been 50-50, it would have given a totally different drawing. God! You actually “think” before painting this type of theme? 80/20? 40/60? Geez… I still have a really long way to go 😉
Jane, I would love to come to your neck of the woods one of these days to see your surroundings, which I’m sure are spectacular. Yes, I always think about making a good composition before I sketch. That’s what the workshop will be about. Not just watercolour technique but making good decisions when you do your drawing.
Excellent Shari :: I think that I will need “many” workshops — LOL —
There is something very “comfortable” to my eye about this composition… could be the 80/20 split, but I think it is more likely just the almost random array of house, truck, fence posts, etc with that great sky holding it all together.
But there are always some questions… was the truck moving along a road or parked there? And, what is the light foreground? Too warm for snow now, so is that sand or artistic licence?
The truck was parked in the field and I liked it because it seemed to be leaning to one side, as if on uneven ground. And there are rocks and sand in the foreground but that white area is artistic licence. Artistic licence is always white.
“Artistic licence is always white”… that’s a great quote! You should find some way to repeat that in your workshops.
However, it may be only true for watercolourists. For architects, it can be absolutely any colour we want… as long as we can find someone else to pay for it.
What a fantastic sky. And I agree, without the (quite subtle) linework the sky would probably have dominated too much.
Thanks René.