Day 28: Volo Bog

from January 28, 2012

Volo Bog, a soft pastel on 8x10 tan Mi-Tientes Touch.

1. After a quick sketch with a Conte pencil, I blocked in the water, grassy masses, and the dead tree in the foreground.

2. The second layer involved adding a few bare tree branches, scumbling strokes to build the masses, and extension of the grass patches.

3. As the tooth of this Touch paper fills up quickly, follow-on strokes ultimately need to be quite intentional and heavy. My tendency is to build a piece up in all areas relatively equally, and for this step, I was working at filling in midtones.

4. Following the midtone application, I applied a few more of the darker and lighter values to build up depth. I also opted to use stippling to create the foreground leafy foliage that carries the full range of fall colors and the glancing rays of sunlight.

5. To finish out the composition, I added in more tassels on the tops of the grasses, a few more colors spattered around the composition to tie it together, and more heavy stipples in the foreground brush.