Monochrome

11/22/14 India ink, twig, Canson XL 140 lb. paper

The afternoon turned out drier than expected, so after lunch with a friend, I drove through the Crown Hill neighborhood looking for a sketch.

Although most of fall’s colors are gone, and I certainly miss them, I also love the stark beauty of bare trees – and I love to sketch them. The 5-Day Black & White Challenge a couple weeks ago taught me that making monochrome (or mostly monochrome) sketches of bare trees forces me to stay focused on the harsh, brittle shapes the trees form against the white sky. I sketched the same tree twice – once with India ink and twig, and once with a cool gray ink and tan colored pencil.

11/22/14 Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun ink, Caran d'Ache Museum water-soluble
colored pencil