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| 11/6/24 Japanese maple |
Wednesday, another day focused on self-care, called
for taking multiple walks in the neighborhood, and it was an amazing day for
that. Under a constantly changing mix of clouds and sunshine, colors seemed
especially brilliant, even as most trees were on the far side of their peaks.
The red Japanese maple outside Macrina Bakery (at right), for example, had already lost
most if its leaves, yet it reminded me of how much beauty remains.
Paper notes: Not wanting to carry too much bulk, I had left my Hahnemühle sketchbook at home, so I made do with the tan Uglybook I’ve been using for Pencilvember. Although I love the glimmers of light I can make with white ink or pencil on toned paper (see below), other colors always look dull. Uglybooks paper can’t take much water, so the light activation couldn’t bring out the intensity that’s so easily achieved with good paper.
So now that’s at least two reasons why this tan paper isn’t working for me right now: It’s harder to achieve strong value contrasts with graphite when the paper is already a midtone, and colors look dull. At least while the trees are still glowing, I need to go back to white paper.
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| 11/6/24 Kwanzan cherries |
Too bad the toned paper doesn't make the red leaves pop. They would look great. It seems like many of us are focusing on self-care to deal with our feelings.
ReplyDeleteSketching is one of the best self-care techniques, isn't it? :-)
DeleteI agree that tan paper needs a true black pencil. Graphite doesn’t pop enough. But I love your Japanese maple with the black ink lines, Tina.
ReplyDeleteThanks! My brush pen was almost out of ink, so although I like the dry brush look, maybe not quite this dry! ;-)
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