 |
| 5/5/16 non-hairy brush pen, Zig marker, colored pencil |
Walking through Maple Leaf Park, I was delighted to find my
favorite kind of excavator – bright yellow and idle. I circled it slowly to
find the composition I wanted: a side angle with our iconic neighborhood water tower in the background. I thought it would make a nice companion
piece to the red and white excavator
I sketched in the same park last month.
With a light breeze and the sun darting in and out of
clouds, I felt like I had all the time in the world to sketch it on this lovely
afternoon. I put in small marks to set up the composition and had just made
some preliminary lines, when suddenly break time was over. An operator
appeared, drove the excavator away, and a crew of other workers started pushing dirt around. I thought I had lost my chance to sketch the excavator, so I
settled for a few stick action figures.
 |
| 5/5/16 hairy brush pen |
 |
| 5/5/16 hairy brush pen |
But then things changed: Returning from the other side of
the park, the excavator began to dump a load of dirt. It was moving fast, so I knew
I had to, too. Changing gears, I put away my fountain pen and got out a
non-hairy brush pen, which is just right for making broad strokes quickly.
During the next dump of dirt, I added a few details, gave it a swipe with my
trusty “construction yellow” Zig marker, and called it good.
Here’s the best part: Making the initial setup marks for the
incomplete sketch (below) had taught me a bit about the excavator’s proportions
and general shape. The second sketch, made very quickly while the equipment was
on the move, was much easier than it would have been if I hadn’t learned from
the interrupted sketch. It’s one of the many lessons you can learn while
drawing on location because conditions are always changing.
 |
| The sun kept darting behind clouds, so when it popped out, I quickly put a shadow in. |
No comments:
Post a Comment