Part 3 Project 4 Ex 3

Aerial or atmospheric perspective

This section is about another sort of perspective, aerial or atmospheric perspective.  The principle is that the further away the object to be drawn is the smaller, paler and less distinct it will look.

It is almost New Year and although there is still snow on the ground it is sunny and bright.  I'm lucky to have the Idle Valley Nature Park on my doorstep and I thought this would offer me scope for a few sketches and the chance of a walk.  The Park has been developed by the Notts Wildlife Trust from old gravel workings so there's lots of water and all the attendant wildlife.  It's a wonderful place.

This is the start of one of the pathways:

Willow arch pathway

We were lucky enough to see a kingfisher:

....and take lots of lovely photos.

It was pretty cold to be hanging about so I did a couple of 5 minute sketches that I worked on later at home. Each of these were no more than 15 minutes in total.

Looking over the lake at the Idle Valley
Charcoal and soft pastel

Field with fence at the Idle Valley
Charcoal and soft pastel

There's another wildlife haven I often go to called Treswell Wood.  It is ancient woodland again run by the Wildlife Trust. Recently they have bought a piece of farmland that fills in a gap in the wood and I visited to see how restoration work was progressing.

It was another cold, bright day and the view I sketched was looking over the valley.  I completed it at home as my fingers got so cold.

Cottam Power Station from Treswell Wood
Graphite stick, pencil,soft pastel and charcoal

I spent more time on this mainly because it was more involved and I used different materials.  I'm really enjoyed making marks to represent things.  The hedge for instance is just a closed up squiggle.

I'm a glutton for punishment and on New Years Eve I went to the flood bank at Littleborough.  It's a desolate place - wild, lonely and very remote.  Just over the river is Lincolnshire.

The day was another bright and sunny one but the wind from the river was bitterly cold.  I took my small sketchbook and some pencils and did a couple of rapid sketches but I had to give up because my fingers became cold so quickly.  I intended to carry on at home but I really didn't have enough of a basis to work on.  I decided to use my sketches as an aide memoire and supplement them with photos taken from a similar position.

My very quick, inadequate sketch

These sketches show the Folly on the snowy hill and at the bottom of the hill winds the River Trent.

The Folly from Littleborough

I find this drawing too busy.  I drew exactly what was there and I'm beginning to understand that I can leave some things out and get a better result.  I often draw water and I'm going to have to put some work into learning how to do it properly.

Lincolnshire from Littleborough

I like this much better because it's more atmospheric - it looks like a cold day.  In the foreground is snowy, boggy land with marsh grass.  In the mid distance there's the River Trent and the bank followed by a few fields.  In the background indistinct trees and hedges.

I used charcoal and conte crayon and held them on their side for much of the time.  The hawthorn on the left is in heavy pencil. The grasses were done with quick upward and downward movements at a variety of angles.

Until I started to draw the landscape around me I hadn't appreciated just how dominant the power stations are.  It was a bit of a relief to look over into Lincolnshire and see no pylons or looming cooling towers.