Luzy by Leslie D’Allesandro Hawes (c)
Derwent Artists colored pencil
4″ x 6″ or 10.2cm x 15.2cm
Here are photos showing the step by step progression of my drawing, “Luzy”.
The first photo, below, is a color printer copy of the Google Maps Street View reference photo that I took of the scene.
I actually photograph the computer screen with my digital camera when I locate something I want to draw, then manipulate the digital photo in Microsoft Picture Manager, and print out my result on copy paper to use as a reference when I make the actual drawing. Here is the link to the Google Maps Street View scene.
The next photo, below, shows the Derwent Artists colored pencil colors I chose for the drawing, the Alphamat Artcare color, “Dover Grey” #8515, for my background, the smooth taupe colored area on the right, and the reference picture copy on the left. Pencils from left to right: Chinese White, Silver Grey, Gunmetal, Flesh Pink, Orange Chrome, Scarlet Lake, Raw Sienna, Venetian Red, Copper Beech, Emerald Green , Mineral Green, Smalt Blue, Ultramarine, Imperial Purple and Ivory Black. Light Blue and Zinc Yellow colored pencils were also used, but are not in this ‘materials’ photo.
In the first photo below, #1, (if you hover the cursor over the photos, it should give you the photo numbers) I outline the general shape of the buildings and the river. Smalt Blue, Silver Grey, Scarlet Lake, Ivory Black, Mineral Green, Raw Sienna, and Chinese White were all used in this light outline.
In photo #2, below, I have added the first layer of Silver Grey to the sky. I used Light Blue for the distant hills just visible at the bottom of the sky…(that’s one of those colors that sneaks in once the drawing starts, and wasn’t shown in the color lineup in the materials photo!) Smalt Blue for the building roof on the right, and a combination of Scarlet Lake and Ivory Black for starting the tree on the right, using a squiggley pencil stroke to indicate the leaves. Raw Sienna in those three splotches over Scarlet Lake in the center building. ‘Splotches’ is an artists’ technical term, as is ‘squiggley’.
In photo #3, below, I have done two layers of ‘squiggley’ strokes of Scarlet Lake and Ivory Black for the tree on the right. The house with 4 windows is colored a layer of Silver Grey gone over lightly with Raw Sienna. I am lightly coloring in the roofs with Ivory Black, and Scarlet Lake for the ‘orange’ colored roofs. Raw Sienna and Emerald Green on the tree on the left, Mineral Green for the tree reflection in the water, and Silver Grey for the water. Zinc Yellow in the bottom left corner. It, also, wasn’t in the color lineup in the materials photo.
Probably the most important part of my drawing technique is that each layer is done very lightly, so that I can add more light layers of different colors. I rarely use a color just by itself, a good example being the tree on the right. It’s almost impossible to see, but I have added tiny bits of Imperial Purple to the tree to tone down the Scarlet Lake and to warm up the Ivory Black. It’s in there, really. Really.
In photo #4, below, I added another layer of Ivory Black to areas of the trees, both right and left, and Zinc Yellow to the foreground shoreline on the right. Smalt Blue to the river water in the foreground. At this point I am repeating the colors in an overall light layering to deepen the color and define the shapes.
Photo #5, below, more layers of everything. Silver Grey over the Smalt Blue in the river. The horizontal direction of my pencil strokes for the river help to make the water look flat and reflective.
After I deepened the color of the tree reflection on the left, I went over all of the river, lightly, horizontally, with Silver Grey to make it look like slight water ripples. The finished drawing, “Luzy”, is shown below. It measures 4″ x 6″, or 10.2cm x 15.2cm.
It is for sale, here, on Leslie’s Drawing A Day blog.
If you ever have any questions about what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, send me an email at leslie at lesliehawes dot com.
Leslie
