The Crowns at Botallack, charcoal sketch, A3, Vivien
It's a while since I posted anything here - sorry.
This is a recent one, done on a very windy day, hair blowing in my eyes and fighting to keep the sketchpad still. It's a mix of willow charcoal, compressed charcoal and charcoal pencil.
The sea was swirling around the rocks below, gulls wheeled past, that cliff goes a long way upwards above the old engine houses that blend into the cliff. The thought of miners walking down there in the teeth of a gale, the waves nearly reaching them, then going down dark narrow tunnels under the sea, lit only by the light of their candle, was in my mind as I worked. A hard life, with a very short lifespan. Charcoal seemed the right medium to express the place and its ambience.
You can see further sketches of the area here
