A Sunday Sketch

Last Sunday was one of those days with high soft clouds and the sun filtering through for a soft bright day.   It was warm, no rain or wind blowing so I packed up my art tools and drove over to Hammon’s Preserve  to sketch Cultus Bay.  I sat on a bench located at a higher level of the preserve giving me a terrific view of the wild grasses, old rugged apple trees covered with lichen  and bright red apples.  Most of the apples have ripened beyond their peak and dropped in the tall gold grass for the deer and wild animals to enjoy.  The deer had already harvested the lower apples from the trees.

First I just sat on the bench in the warm sun taking in the fresh fragrance of the earth while enjoying the view.  Then I started on the sketch with a soft graphite pencil onto sketching paper.   When I was in my small studio, I did a final sketch of the scene using a Fantasia Sanquine oil pencil onto tinted art paper.  Well the Sanguine was too light with little contrast on the tinted paper, so then I used General’s Charcoal which covered over the oil pencil perfectly to bring out the dark values.