Haystack, the Needles and the Beach

5/31/22 Haystack and the Needles from our hotel room

 

I have no shortage of sketches of Haystack Rock and its surrounding Needles; I’ve sketched them on every trip to Cannon Beach since I began sketching. Almost all have been the typical “postcard” view (like the ones above and below), which is easy to see from our hotel, so I can sketch in comfort and at my leisure at various times of day or in any weather.

5/31/22 Another "postcard" from our room, this time with a secondary triad palette and trying to be a bit looser.

5/30/22 My first few sketches of Haystack are 
just to become reacquainted with its shape and proportions. 

My current attention on composition, however, opened my eyes to wider exploration. You saw some of those ideas in yesterday’s post. I made fewer sketches from our comfy hotel room and instead made more thumbnails from other parts of the beach not visible from our windows. For example, from the south side of Haystack, the Needles look entirely different. I’m always surprised by how far apart they are; from our room’s view, all the rocks look clustered tightly together. In addition, the shapes of some rocks change when viewed from different perspectives.

5/30/22 The same "postcard" at different times of day: Morning, above... 

5/31/22 ... and early afternoon the next day.

6/1/22 This view of Haystack's base and the wet sand is unusual for me. It's one of my favorite sketches of the trip, and I credit the compositional studies I've been doing.

6/2/22 Three views (above and below) of the Needles from various perspectives.

With my back to Haystack, I also sketched the hillside view facing south toward Tolovana Beach. On a foggy morning, that view was especially ethereal.

5/31/22 

6/1/22 Foggy morning

In yesterday’s post, I mentioned that one of my 30-Day Challenge composition studies prompted me to try it as a larger, color sketch. I’ve included that thumbnail below along with the color sketch. I’m happy that the challenge pushed me to try something new.

6/1/22 Haystack

Study for color sketch above