From Westgate, Staithes (Watercolour and crayon in A4 sketchbook)
Later in the day, after I'd been on the valley top, the weather turned wet. It wasn't the torrential rain we'd been told was coming, but wet enough to make us stay indoors for the rest of the afternoon. While the others worked on things they'd done earlier, I stared out of the window from my chair by the dining room table. Eventually, I figured I might as well have a go at drawing what I could see.
I have to say I didn't much care for this drawing when I'd finished it, but I'm coming round to it now. It started with a 2B mechanical pencil, then had watercolour washes added. Finally, I tried out some crayons I'd bought years ago and not used and which I discovered this time I don't really like at all.
The box says they're "Special Guitar Artist's Crayons - especially made for tropical use". I guess the reason they're suitable for tropical use is that for wax crayons they're horribly short of wax which makes them go on in an unpleasant dry manner. I think I might get rid of them and accept that the "24p" price still visible on the box is something I can afford to lose.
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10 comments:
Despite your frustration with the crayons, the colors in this are wonderful.
Thank you, Jean. I do like some areas of colour in it.
To me these Staithes drawings, particularly the first one, are reminiscent of some of Escher's 1930s woodcuts of Mediterranean villages. Perhaps it's the hilly terrain and the densely packed buildings that force a certain perspective on the artist in each case.
Here's a site I hadn't seen before, from a recent Escher exhibition at the Alhambra, which groups all those images.
Good link, Bill, thanks. Those are the images of Escher that I've always liked. More than the puzzles, really.
Harry the sketch below is fabulous, it is so evocative of the area. Staithes is an old haunt of various of us in my family and we love it. It is so Frank Sutcliffe-y! But you're right - it's usually freezing cold!
Thank you, Sheila. Staithes has a wealth of subject matter that I think may take us back there again next year. Maybe it won't be *quite* so cold.
I love it, trash can and all! The colors are bright and it doesn't look like you had any trouble with the crayons at all!
Harry,
Do these 'curvy' streets betray a Hockney influence?
Kev
Timaree -- Thanks again. Some people would leave out the wheelie bins, but I like their shapes and their bright colours. I think I just disliked the scratchy feel of the wax crayons.
Kev -- I think the curvy streets owe more to the local geology (talk to Brian, he'll know). To be honest, I drew this one simply because it was what I could see from my seat by the window every day. I really, really didn't want to draw the bay windows on the left, but there was no way of leaving them out.
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