And More Weather, Pen and Ink, 1.5 by 3 inches, 2016
Tools used: Mechanical Pencil, 005 and 02 Micron Pens, Speedball India Ink and Quill (Dip pen) with Hunt #102 tip, Copic T1, T2, T5, W2, Light Grey Zig Clean Color Real Brush, A Small Paint Brush, Staedtler Mars Plastic Eraser, Staedtler Artist's Tape
Notes on line-work and technique:
- When thinking about putting lines down to convey organic subject matter such as clouds, I consider shape and form just as I would with architecture.
- Once shape and form have been considered I'll use lines to show movement. Most often if the image is static, the only movement shown will be perspective lines to guide the viewer's eyes to something. For organic subject matter or more dramatic images I'll use lines to show the direction of wind, rain, snow, or light. It all depends on what the image needs.
- By keeping the direction of the line in mind while drawing you can show the viewer how objects are shaped and how they interact with one another. For example: think of a pile of basketballs and the imprinted lines on each ball. From your perspective, each ball has lines that curve away from the center toward the other side. These lines give the ball shape. Since they aren't flat, you can tell the difference between each ball just by the curve of the lines alone.
- While each individual object's line-work is important, I also keep the whole of the image in mind. If wind is moving in a certain direction how would it affect each of these individual clouds as they move?
- I'll use this same thinking when drawing surfaces such as pavement or sidewalks with tracks or footprints. I will talk more about that in a future post.
Note on the video:
This footage is sped up about twice as fast as normal. I took the longer 1.5 hour cloud video and cut it down to a manageable 20 minutes cutting out sections that felt repetitive.
