Profound Lesson, Simply Taught (Plus Inktense Update)

 

6/3/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

The first time I took a nature drawing class with Kathleen Moore, we met every week in a different city park to draw from life. All of us sitting at Green Lake, she put a foam sphere on the grass, and we were to render the sphere’s light and shadow. Eager to get on with drawing trees, I was feeling impatient. Then she showed us how the crown of every tree across the lake had the same light and shadow pattern as the sphere we were drawing. [Insert brain explosion emoji here.] It seems so obvious and straightforward that the sun is a single, consistent source of light, but knowing the facts is not the same as understanding and learning. That was in 2018, and I still think about that lesson when I draw a tree.

On a walk last week, I spotted a plant covered with red berries, each tiny sphere reflecting the nearly-noon sun and a corresponding shadow. I suddenly remembered Kathleen’s lesson and looked for a nearby tree: It, too, showed the same direction and shape of light and shadow. A good teacher explains profound lessons in simple ways that stay with me forever.

Inktense update: Making this sketch reminded me that I need to update my review of
Derwent Inktense pencils. Although I was aware of this annoyance at the time of the review, I didn’t have a sketch showing evidence of the issue, and then I forgot. It has annoyed me often enough that I have now updated the review.

Tell-tale blue marks left by Inktense barrels.

Here’s the issue: When I’m applying heavy color to large, rough areas such as foliage, I often use the side of the pencil’s core. When I do this with Inktense pencils, the paint on the dark blue barrel rubs off on the paper. I started to see blue marks as I colored the trees above, but they fell on a spot that was easily covered by more color later, so they aren’t visible. I have not encountered this issue with any other colored pencil. I can avoid the marks by keeping the point at a slightly more acute angle, but anything about a pencil that makes me have to be conscious of its angle is a drawback.