Drawing the same scene over and over

Late last month, I spent a few hours drawing the same scene again and again and again. The scene? This lovely photo I found online of the Kepler Track.

I picked this image because I really liked the interesting shapes, colours, and perspective. I knew I could draw it several times and still find it interesting which was exactly what I wanted.

Also, I'm doing the Kepler Track soon and I want to make sure that the materials I take with me, are actually going to do what I need them to do, and not just weigh my bag down.

I've accumulated a lot of art supplies over the years and some I find that I don't really use, or rather I haven't given them a fair chance. Usually because I've been too busy or caught up in creating something else that they've been pushed to the side. But I want to use them - I still really like them

As my studios too hot to be in right now (being that it's peak summer and my studio is my garage), I collected supplies and brought them into my house where there's air con and I won't pass out from heat stroke. I had a bit of everything - things I use all the time, things I use a little bit, things I have never really figured out how to use in a way I like, and things I wasn't really sure I liked at all.

Drawing with watercolour markers, acrylic markers, neopastels, pan pastels, and pencils

Drawing with chalk pastels and neopastels highlights

Drawing with neopastels and pencil

My thoughts:

For me, my watercolour markers have their place, but their place isn't really working here. They work well for me with figure sketches, but here they're just mostly garish and harsh against the pastels. I do love the soft green colour and the mustard colour though, those ones might sneak in...

I like the chalk pastels, but I get so messy when I use them that I think I might leave them home this time. They are light though, so would have been great in that regard.

I think the neo pastels are the winner for me here. They're what I've taken with me previously, and they're the most versatile. I can use water with them for washes of colour, and use them dry for detail.

I just need to create a limited colour palette before setting off, which will be the next challenge.

Written by Raewyn Pope

1 comment

V interesting! Did you use them much on the trail?

April 29, 2024 at 2:16 pm

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