Sunday 22 May 2011

Cornwall, May 2011


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

4 comments:

Making A Mark said...

This has got a real sense of the weather about it. Plus it has distance and scale - great sketch!

Jeanette Jobson said...

Charcoal gives a lovely haunting feel to this scene. The values give a sense of the isolation and age.

Sarah said...

Everyone is in Cornwall! You should have said, we could have met up to sketch. I like charcoal, its a bit of a forgotten medium, suits the wild weather we sometimes get here.

vivien said...

Again we'd got the family there Sarah so I didn't think I'd get away enough to meet up :>(

I'm seriously thinking of coming down in September alone or with friends - NO family! so if it works out I'd love to meet up.

Great that you pick up on the weather and the haunting history of the place Katherine and Jeanette :>)

I'm planning on another charcoal as a pastel society I belong to has a show coming up and charcoal and coloured pencil are also accepted. I fancy putting in a big charcoal drawing.