Watercolor Tree Sketch

Watercolor is very nice for sketching. Here is a small crabapple tree, done with a few loose layers of watercolor paints. Simple and pleasant. I did a graphite sketch first. Then drew a few pale lines in pencil on the watercolor paper to act as guidelines for my washes. Mainly to remind me of where the highlights of the branches should be. A few details were added with a small brush. And then a few little background shapes, suggestive of plants or distant foliage, to ground the tree and make it seem connected with Earth.

Eggplant Studies

Here are three versions of eggplant drawings. The first is graphite on Strathmore 500 plate. The second is carbon dust on bristol vellum. The third is carbon dust on Clayboard. This series was really about trying out carbon dust techniques and comparing it to the graphite drawing. I really enjoy working in carbon dust and I have many more drawings planned and started.

Dharamsala Shepard

This was a rough pencil sketch of a travel photo that I took in Dharamsala, India. It is a Tibetan refugee who was carrying this small goat through the town. I plan to complete this study as an oil portrait of the man and his charge.