I’ve been seeing some really fun holiday sketches online the
past few weeks – Santas, decorations, special tree ornaments and their related
stories (see Joan Tavolott’s blog for
a great series!).
12/23/15 colored pencils |
As I’ve enjoyed them all, I’ve tried to think of something
unique from my personal holiday traditions to sketch. You’ve seen my record-breaking Santa series, of
course, but I was trying to think of something in my home to share. I rather
hastily sketched our Christmas tree a couple years ago, and in 2012 I included some Christmas tree stories along with the sketch. Other than a tree, I don’t
do much holiday decorating . . . what could I sketch?
One food-related tradition for Christmas Eve is that Greg
and I pick out some extravagant cheeses, smoked fish, champagne and other
favorites that we don’t generally indulge in the rest of the year. The past few
years we’ve been getting Dulcet “double cream” cheese from Beecher’s, a local cheese maker that started out in Seattle’s Pike
Place Market (there’s now a store in NYC, too). The reason we can’t indulge in this
cheese the rest of the year is not so much because of the cost (although it is
a bit pricey); it’s the fact that it contains so much fat that our arteries can’t
handle it more than once a year! Dulcet is, by far, the best cheese I’ve ever eaten
(well, except maybe in France).
We’re also going to have some really sweet local
pears and juicy satsumas to neutralize the fat in the cheese. (HA!)
So – before we gobble them up tonight, here’s a still life
of some of our holiday goodies. Merry Christmas!
Technical note: I sketched this with Caran d’Ache Supracolor II and Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer water-soluble colored pencils. I decided to use water only
on the cast shadows because I like the texture of the paper showing through on
the fruits. One thing I really like about sketching with colored pencils is
that I can draw the initial contour lines with the same color that I will be
filling in the contour with (rather than a black pencil or pen), so the contour
line fully disappears. Another thing I love
about colored pencils is how easy it is to blend a mix of colors (see photo below
of all the colors I used). What I don’t like is that it takes me so much longer
– this little sketch took a full hour, and I’m sure I could have done it with
watercolors in less than half that time.
This all looks so yummy! When better than the holidays to indulge? lol Thanks for the link to my blog. I have one more ornament post to tomorrow. Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteSounds like you and Greg know how to enjoy Christmas eve. My wife and daughter will watch Xmas movies, something that couldn't be more boring to me. Bah humbug :-)
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas Tina.