This week, I've gone on a couple of sketching outings to get more practice at loosening up my drawings. As I've been participating in Inktober this month, I find that my pen and ink drawings are much tighter than I'd like them to be. I would like to loosen up a bit, so I've been watching videos and reading about urban sketching, which is very similar to the mini-watercolor paintings I've been making in my pocket watercolor journal. I've been making photographs of the scenes that I want to paint as I've seen them on my outings around town, but I want to try to get out there and create on the spot pen and ink and watercolor drawings. This is going to get more difficult as fall and winter approaches, leaving less time in the evenings to get out there and sketch. I also still have my film photography hobby, but again it's getting more difficult to get out there and shoot. I've been trying to combine the two hobbies, which even my manic bipolar personality is overwhelmed with. But here, are a few of the sketches I made this week, with a walk around Hanover's Mt. Olivet Cemetery last weekend, and a lunchtime trip to the Walters Art Museum this week.
Earlier this week, Brenda and I took and evening walk on the Hanover Trolley Trail in Spring Grove, PA. This recreational biking/walking trail that goes from Hanover, PA to York, PA is in progress and two sections have been completed. The trail follows an abandoned trolley trail that originally connected Hanover and York. This section is approximately a mile and a half long and passes beneath a railroad bridge. Future plans call for the entire distance between Hanover and the Heritage Rail Trail in York to connect. I took the Nikon FG-20 SLR camera that I bought at the Rinely Yard sale last month with a newly acquired Nikon Series E 50mm 1.8 lens. I shot with Kodak BW400CN black and white film, one of my favorites, which has been discontinued. I still have a few rolls tucked away in the fridge. The next morning I developed the roll in a Unicolor C-41 kit purchased from the Film Photography Project store and the photos above are the result. I liked this film because I could get it processed for a couple of dollars at the local CVS, which I would scan myself and get some nice quality black and white images. I was very disappointed when the local CVS stopped processing film in the store and I don't think I've been back since. I've resorted to processing my own film now, which can be done anytime I have a few minutes, including 3:30 in the morning when our beagle wakes me up for breakfast.
I finally went outside to try some outdoor sketching at Lake Marburg over at Codorus State Park on Saturday. I found a picnic table underneath a shade tree by the shore and started creating my sketch. I began with a light pencil drawing and then drew in the basic line art with a Pigmamicron pen. I had my pocket watercolor set with me and decided to try out the new flat waterbrush I had just gotten. I was using a larger sketchbook than I normally carry and thought the wider waterbrush would be better suited for the larger watercolor sketch. Once I started adding the watercolor I had to work fast so that it didn't dry before I could drop in some other colors. I found the waterbrush worked pretty well for me but eventually I want to experiment with tube paints, palettes and larger brushes. I liked the process of creating an outdoor painting, the weather was beautiful and it was very relaxing to focus on the sketch. I want to try more of this to see if I want to invest in a Plein Air setup.
