12/17/24 7:05 a.m. in Maple Leaf
My neighbors to the southeast are among my street favorites
for holiday lights – lively and colorful but not too much. When I made a nocturne last year, I focused on their windmill palm tree (which I enjoy sketching at all times of year). This week I took a wider view to get the
simple string of lights around the roof’s edge and tiny tree on the porch. New
this year are the lights on their back deck (where all the construction was going on two years ago). Their car in the driveway reflected illumination
from their neighbors’ lights.
Technical notes: Shown below is this year’s simplified nocturne kit. I find I really don’t need more than a white colored pencil (currently
a Derwent Drawing) and a few opaque paint markers. I’ve lately been
using these Pilot Juice pens, which are not necessarily better than
Posca, but the “fine” point size on these works well for dots of light. I used
a white Gelly Roll instead of the white in the Pilot set because it’s
less likely to put out an inadvertent, heavy-handed blob. And a black Uglybooks, of course. Newsflash: I got a
new book light for making nocturnes; stay tuned for the review.
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| My simplified nocturne kit |
I like the simplicity of this nocturne. I don't have a view of any lights out my windows. I face trees. I would have to take out my car to do a nocturne, which I may do. I'll have to remember to bring my Poscas with me.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing what kind of book light you got for the nocturnes.
DeleteNow that the sun goes down so early, you wouldn't even have to go out very late to do a nocturne! Our sundown is 4 p.m. these days! Maybe a little later in your neck of the woods.
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