next Saturday I'll be winging my way north... off to the Yukon
17 days of blissful contentment
when I step off that plane, out of the air terminal, the earth will gently reach up and wrap itself around my ankles and for the first time in three years I will feel anchored, at one with where I am
only in the Yorkshire moors, near Haworth, have I come close to this feeling
the last time I was in Whitehorse I stayed in a downtown condo with my daughter and grandson... quiet baby-days and each morning there was time for me to do a simple colour study... I chose a different subject for it each day and then painted what I saw; green, grey, brown, blue and finally "flowers"
it was very meditative and looking back on them now I am instantly transported to that place, that view, those thoughts
looking and recording in some manner will do that and I want that again but in a bigger way so I'm planning a daily sketchbook practice whilst there
the trouble is, so much else will be going on and I am still rather new to working in sketchbooks so in order to streamline the whole affair I am practicing now: one hour each day with a different component to tackle during each session
yesterday was scenery and writing - nothing much for my first session other than that... a view and a record of it
I'm using photographs from previous visits - practice for working in a sketchbook on location makes even more sense when working with images of the landscape I am going to be seeing
up in the mountains of the Wheaton River Valley, first stop "Tally Ho"
a typical Yukon gravel road lined with fireweed, mountains all around and scrubby dark green trees dotting the alpine landscape
I had the idea to gesso drawing paper which I can get in large sheets at the art supply store but it did not take well to watercolour so this first painting was a real struggle
at least I know now not to bother with anything other than watercolour paper
today I thought I would work on mixing the colours of the Yukon, namely the dark trees and flowing water
this time, down on the valley floor, the Wheaton River itself
beginning with the trees, Alizarin Crimson mixed with Winsor Green (yellow shade) gave me the beautiful dark green of the spruce trees... a touch more on the crimson side and it throws brown - I learned that today and it's a good thing to know
next was the water... it changes from pale blue-green to deep green-blue to slate in a heartbeat, influenced by sun, shade and wind
Winsor Blue and Raw Umber
and if I lay down a light wash of the Umber first and then glaze that with the mix it's almost perfect
playing with layering the greens, sunlight and shadow and all that... lots more to learn and refine
and because I'm fascinated with abstraction these days, tomorrow's plan is to take a view and capture the essence of it followed by a thumbnail study of various aspects of it, stretching the reality of the view into abstract impressions
nothing like a good challenge to make things interesting!
4 comments:
Oh my…. I have only read this after I sent you an email and your thoughts here are echoing my own. Practising and exploring different ways to sketch what we see… learning a visual language that will help us record our responses to the big beautiful world as we encounter it. After an enjoyable few sketches in the Lakes but with less than satisfying results in the landscape department I too am going to be doing something very similar. If you are anything like me, you will be enjoying the practice as much as the real thing. I already love these first sketches you have created.… and I love your description of the Earth reaching up and wrapping itself around your ankles. Beautifully expressed and I totally understand the feeling.
Enjoy every minute of your trip to the Yukon you know and love dear. Your watercolor sketches are so interesting in the colors you have combined. Happy exploring…
I think if you are going out and about to do this, you need to streamline your equipment as much as possible, so it's good to know that the gesso makes things harder. One less thing to take!
You always come up with interesting ways to challenge yourself! I've never managed to figure out painting and it seems I didn't inherit that particular gene from my mother. Instead my medium has become fabric and seeing what I can create with that. Enjoy your visit!
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