study - SUNSET RAYS © Sharon L Hicks, 2013
Coloured Pencil, 5 x 7
Day 4, and still going strong. This idea of posting a blog every day for a whole month is definitely an interesting challenge, and I do love a good challenge. Let's hope I don't run out of things to say before the end of the month.
This little study is one of my favourites in the series. I just love the understated colours, and the glow coming from the sinking sun, hidden behind that wall of clouds near the horizon, and the silhouetted treeline which increases the drama. This was a very satisfying piece to do.
Satisfaction plays a large part in the artistic process. After all, if something doesn't provide some sort of personal satisfaction, what is the point in doing it?! Exactly!! I could be spending my time doing something more 'conventional', but creating pictures has always provided me with great satisfaction and so I'm driven to continue on in this pursuit.
Back to the subject of the day. The first stage, using cotton balls and pigment scraped from the pencils, took 30 minutes, and I used a timer to limit myself to just that time. Using a timer is more than just a way to keep track of the time - it's a little 'trick', which engages the Left Brain (the time-keeper part of the brain), while allowing the Right Brain (the creative side) to have free reign and translate visual information directly onto the paper.
Here's the progression of how this study developed ...
My photo after 30 minutes after 1 hr
This study followed the original proportions and scale fairly closely, with a few augmentations. For example, on the left side I added a bit of darker tones in the sky to keep the bright area from drifting off the edge of the page, and slightly reduced the height of the treeline. This makes for a better composition. Not that I'm trying to 'improve' on mother nature, but my goal was to create the best possible 'picture', rather than an 'exact replica' of the source.
Join me again tomorrow, when we'll examine study # 5 in the series.
Cheers
Sharon
