Rise and Shine
17 Jul 2007 09:29 amI asked ![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mana_trini to wake me up this morning at 6:30, so I could make him breakfast before work and then go have a Field Day Morning, sketching and taking reference photos before it got too hot. I took a camp chair and set myself up in a vacant lot near our house, knowing I wouldn't lack for material. There are several coconut trees, frangipani (that's plumeria for those who know it by that name, ie, the flower in my icon), mango trees, India or Tropical almond trees (aka Umbrella tree), two giant ficuses and another type of banyan, and several acacias, just to name the main ones, as well as the ruins of a mosque (concrete and cinderblock, nothing of true character), charred stumps, midden heaps, zebus, and a rusted, stripped automobile carcass or two.
I first started sketching the banyan roots and got frustrated. I've never been good at fast drafting or plein air art. Because of that and because I went to bed with a headache and woke up with the same, Field Morning became Field Hour, and I wandered around taking lots (180+) reference photos. I may go back and try sketching again tomorrow. And this time force myself to be a) patient, b) looser and more experimental with the lines, etc AND to finish whatever I start.
The first thing I will do during my art lesson on Saturday is a charcoal drawing of a photo selected by Marcel, the artist/teacher. I want to do a bit of serious sketching before that so I don't feel so clumsy and rusty.
On a related note, my m-i-l brought me a book, Drawing and Painting Fantasy Landscapes and Cityscapes by Rob Alexander, and I started flipping through it last night. I got some great photos to skew into something fantastic and am looking forward to trying the ideas in different media.
One thing Mr Alexander stresses in the book is the importance of doing studies; Marcel said the same. I definitely need to learn how to do them. I've never done one in my life. I hate even doing a preliminary sketch on the canvas or what have you before I paint. So much to learn.
At least I'll never get bored.
Here's one of the cool things I saw worth referencing:
mana_trini to wake me up this morning at 6:30, so I could make him breakfast before work and then go have a Field I first started sketching the banyan roots and got frustrated. I've never been good at fast drafting or plein air art. Because of that and because I went to bed with a headache and woke up with the same, Field Morning became Field Hour, and I wandered around taking lots (180+) reference photos. I may go back and try sketching again tomorrow. And this time force myself to be a) patient, b) looser and more experimental with the lines, etc AND to finish whatever I start.
The first thing I will do during my art lesson on Saturday is a charcoal drawing of a photo selected by Marcel, the artist/teacher. I want to do a bit of serious sketching before that so I don't feel so clumsy and rusty.
On a related note, my m-i-l brought me a book, Drawing and Painting Fantasy Landscapes and Cityscapes by Rob Alexander, and I started flipping through it last night. I got some great photos to skew into something fantastic and am looking forward to trying the ideas in different media.
One thing Mr Alexander stresses in the book is the importance of doing studies; Marcel said the same. I definitely need to learn how to do them. I've never done one in my life. I hate even doing a preliminary sketch on the canvas or what have you before I paint. So much to learn.
At least I'll never get bored.
Here's one of the cool things I saw worth referencing:
