I was housebound last Saturday after a night of freezing rain and snow. It was treacherous outside, and I was more than happy to stay warm and cozy inside, make a cup of tea, and spend a few minutes drawing. I haven’t sketched much for the past month, since the holiday busyness caught hold of me, so it felt really good to get back into it.
Our cats spend most of their time outdoors or in the garage, but on really cold winter days, they beg to come in, and I can’t turn them down. Then they find a nice, comfy chair and settle down to snooze the day away. Here’s my sketch of a lazy afternoon with Hoover, Genevieve, and Buckley …
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| Watercolor pencil, 9″ x 12″ |
I used a Derwent chocolate brown watercolor pencil for these rough sketches. I really enjoy fooling around with water soluble colored pencils, because you can do a quick line study, then take some clean water and paint over parts of it to make nice washes for the shadow areas. It gives me good practice in not getting too fussy with a drawing and makes me pay attention to light and dark contrasts.
It’s always good to mix things up a bit and try out some different materials. I think I’ll be doing more watercolor pencil drawings – I like the sketchy look, and they’re really quick to do.
2 Comments
I like the look you've achieved with the watercolor pencil. I sometimes use a water soluble ink pen, but this is a softer look since it is brown instead of black.
I like how you've sketched these critters as well. Nice to know what you used since I have a bunch of those Derwent watercolor pencils. I'll have to give this type of sketching a try. Thanks for another great idea.