Saturday, February 28, 2009

Colored Pencil Landscape - Feb VSD

colored pencil drawing Lake Louise Canada
Lake Louise
6" x 4" colored pencil on matboard
Stacy L. Rowan

I wasn't sure if I was going to get to the Virtual Sketch Date this month. As it is, I am squeezing my entry in under the wire. This month's lovely reference was provided by Debbie Later. Thank you Debbie!

Two things caught my eye in this reference. First was the variety of beautiful blues. From turquoise to peacock to cerulean - it was a bonanza of blue.

The second thing I noticed was the play of vertical and horizontal lines. The trees on the mid-ground mountain provide the verticals and the striations on the background mountains along with the reflections in the water provide the horizontals.

I decided to simplify my drawing to basic shapes in order to focus attention on the colors and direction of the pencil marks. It was a different approach for me and I'm still trying to decide what I think of the end result.

Please remember to check out the VSD results post and the VSD Flickr group to see all the other entries.

11 comments:

Anita said...

I really your simplistic approach to this VSD. Lovely quality,

I missed this month - grrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Anonymous said...

Good job Stacy. Everything you do is turning out nice. Can not wait for the workshop.
Love Dad

Ann said...

This is lovely - I think your instincts were right on. Nicely done!

Ramana KV said...

I like your simplified version of the reference..

It was a sweet bonanza of blues as you mentioned :)

Wonder how it would have turned up in watercolor.

Jennifer Rose said...

lovely colours and line work :D

Stacy said...

Thanks Anita! I hope you can join us next month.

Thanks Dad!

Thanks Ann! It was an interesting exercise.

Thank you Ramana! The reference was so beautiful that I didn't feel I could improve on it with watercolor.

Thanks Jennifer! It was fun to experiment.

Rose Welty said...

This image really looks good done graphically like this...well done. I like the simplified green patch in front...the flowers seemed a little out of place to me.

M J Muir said...

I love what you have done with it.
Great job Stacy! Nice pencil work!
I am sorry I didn't make it this month.

Jeanette Jobson said...

There is a beauty in simplicity and this technique works well for this image.

The lines mirror the shapes and the blues are lovely.

Anonymous said...

A lovely landscape! The colours evoke such quietude and I agree with Jeanette, the simplicity of the composition just adds to the beauty.
Ronell

Anonymous said...

I like the interplay between verticals and horizontals in this drawing!