Raspberries Graphite Sketch

2B mechanical pencil

Our raspberries are fruiting so I thought I should drop everything and make a quick sketch. I've decided drawing in graphite is a bit like golf - if you haven't done it for a while your body quickly loses its skill. This is my first graphite drawing for quite a while and if I'd realised I was going to get caught up in it I'd have worked on better paper instead of my 'cheap' sketchbook. I really do need to practice more leaves.

I've just had the luck and pleasure of meeting the delightful Margaret Saul, a wonderful botanic artist and teacher who has come to live in Tuscany. Margaret is planning a special program here next year. A wonderful opportunity!

Cloistered with Van Gogh

This is the Cloister of the Church of San Francesco here in Castiglion Fiorentino. Rebuilt at the beginning of 1600, it has a Tuscan-style double loggia in a rectangular plan. I began this time with a pencil sketch which I inked over using a fountain pen with Pelikan Brilliant Brown Ink. It was a relief to discover that even Vincent liked to give himself a pencil outline as a guide. I tried to replicated many of Van Gogh's marks and the little bird in the sky is a tribute to him. I'm rather pleased with this one!

I can't go on aping Vincent forever but what I can take away from this project is the realisation that there is more than one way to make a mark. I hope that in future the marks I make will give my sketches a great deal more energy.

Since the pencil sketch took so long (I find arches really difficult) I scanned it and printed a copy to practise my marks on rather than risk spoiling the drawing. I am now going to use the scan to play around with this image with some watercolour pencils. Since I originally posted this I have replaced the scanned image of the drawing with a photograph, which shows the true colour.

See the link in the previous post for more about the Fine Line Artists Van Gogh Project.