Unison soft pastel and Conté pastel pencil on Hahnemühle Ingres paper (gray tone, 8″ x 10″) May 2009 .
Last weekend we took a drive out to eastern Long Island and as we passed a large open field I was struck by the golden reddish-brown color of the grain covering much of the open space. The rich color nearly glowed despite – or maybe because of – the diffused light from an overcast and somewhat foggy atmosphere. We pulled over and I set about producing two quick sketches (see below). Since then, I’ve been working my way towards a more finished drawing using this simple composition. The word that’s been stuck in my head throughout has been “restraint” as it seems to me that very little excess in any direction would spoil the emotional quality and chromatic balance I’m striving for in this landscape. As it is, I discovered too late here that I overstated the warm orange quality of the field. While I was able to reduce it somewhat, I decided to cut my losses and go with what I had arrived at rather than risk overworking the colors into mud. The patches of grain also feel a little too solid here, as if they were poured out over the green field like cement rather than being loosely blowing grasses. In any case, I had figured on this being my last study before attempting a larger drawing of the composition, so I’ll now have the opportunity to try to get it right on the larger piece (which is started and on the easel right now).
It turns out I took away something a little less pleasant from this pretty spot apart from sketches and happy memories. That night I found a tick on my leg and will have to be a bit more cautious going forward. While drawing in the field I had thought I felt something small crawling up my leg but figured it was an ant and swatted at my pants to get rid of it. Several days later a little red bump formed on my leg, at which point it seemed an unplanned visit to the doctor was probably a good idea. I’m happy to say there are no signs of Lyme disease but we’ll continue to keep an eye out for it. From now on we’ll be sure to have some bug repellent handy in the car for these impromptu stops – a small first aid kit wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
And for those who are interested, I’ve included below the sketches I did on site (which, in retrospect, don’t really look like much at all - good thing I was there and have some recollection of what the place was like) and two small preliminary studies where I was working out color, value, and proportions – displayed in the order they were completed.
Drawings (from left to right):
- Conté carres and pastel pencil on Cartiera Magnani Velata paper (light cream tone, 8″ x 12″), May 2009.
- Conté carres and pastel pencil on Cartiera Magnani Velata paper (light cream tone, 8″ x 12″), May 2009.
- Unison soft pastel and Conté pastel pencil on Hahnemühle Ingres paper (gray tone, 4″ x 5″) May 2009 .
- Unison soft pastel and Conté pastel pencil on Hahnemühle Ingres paper (gray tone, 4″ x 5″) May 2009 .
Brian – probably no surprise: but I love the saturated colour you’ve used. It moves it towards abstraction. And very successfully so, I find. The composition is striking. I like more and more the way memories stick in our minds of those views, smells and noises – and am frequently amazed how vivid sketches seemingly origin from what my camera shows me as rather ordinary places.
Thanks to for the review of the Kahn exhibition – I am soo envious but it’s great that so much of it is available online
Thanks Gesa. I’m glad you think the composition works well – you’ll see in my new post that I’m still working with it, now on a larger scale.
I’m finding that I’m getting more use of my field sketches these days. Despite the spareness of the sketches I did on site, I referred only to these drawings when working back at home. Although I had taken some phtotos just in case I never felt any need to look at them. As the studies done from the field sketches started to take on a life of their own, they became the primary source for the next drawing. Going back and looking at the photographs now they seem “rather ordinary” as you say, and certainly don’t suggest the feelings I had for this spot.
Wow, nice job Brian.
Thanks, Sean!