I took a walk half-way around Lake Waban this morning for no reason other than to enjoy a perfect Autumn morning. The trees were a blaze of color and the blue waters of the lake sparkled while the sun slanted across to illuminate the shallows where fish roamed. It was marvelously beautiful.
Some may notice and comment (please do) that these drawings are reminiscent of Lorenzo Mattotti's forest drawings (which I think he made in preparation for his "Hansel & Gretel" with Neil Gaiman, TOON Books, 2014). Yes, his work is amazing and memorable. --I met Mattotti at a book signing in Paris in 2009. What a memorable rainy night that was!
When I am not walking around beautiful sunlit lakes or sketching ducks and swans, I am making steady progress finishing the illustrations for a children's book. Several spreads of this book ("Over In The Wetlands" by Caroline Starr Rose, Schwartz & Wade publisher, 2015) feature forest and swampy bayou scenes.
Generally speaking, I try to keep my use of reference to a minimum in my illustrations for various personal reasons. But I'd been procrastinating on these forest scenes and deep down I knew I needed a jolt that only life drawing provides. It's so obvious! So I spent a few minutes on my walk home drawing a small section of the forest. It was actually two drawings that were adjacent to each other --so I joined them into one wide image.
Whatever works! Now I need to stop blogging and get back to painting.
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| The forest around Lake Waban 10-10-14 ink, oil stick |
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| "Over In The Wetlands" spread watercolor |
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| work in progress watercolor, charcoal |
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| "Over In The Wetlands" finished paintings mixed media |
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| The forest around Lake Waban drawing 1 (left side) 10-10-14 ink, oil stick |
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| The forest around Lake Waban drawing 2 (right side) 10-10-14 ink, oil stick |
