Lieutenant River at Old Lyme, Early Spring

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Lieutenant River at Old Lyme, Early Spring

May 10, 2009 by bmcgurgan

Unison soft pastel and Conté pastel pencil on Twinrocker Calligraphy Cream paper (light cream tone, 9″ x 9″) May 2009 .

This drawing was done from sketches I made and reference photos I took last month on the grounds of the Florence Griswold Museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut. An initial attempt at this composition yesterday went badly and – after more study of the hues and value relationships – I started again and am feeling better about this second effort. I think my next purchase will be some good lighting that I can set up beside my easel and can also shoot photographs of finished work with. Getting a good photo of this drawing was especially difficult despite a bright sunny day here so better artificial lighting is probably the way to go.

Posted in Works | 3 Comments

3 Responses

on May 10, 2009 at 9:00 pm | Reply Jala Pfaff

Nice, Brian! Wonderful composition, it’s all really well balanced.
on May 11, 2009 at 1:59 am | Reply Loriann Signori

Brian, your trees are really quite beautiful…like figures.
on May 11, 2009 at 12:50 pm | Reply bmcgurgan

Thanks Jala and Loriann! I’m planning to do many tree studies in the coming months to strengthen my handling of value, color temperature, and composition. Now that the trees all have leaves again, there’s a whole new set of challenges to tackle – lots and lots of green for starters.