Time to get my hands a little dirty, so I decided to pick up some charcoal and oh yeah, did I make a mess or what – but it was a lot of fun drawing with this medium again!
Meadow Light (8×10), was drawn with charcoal and carbon on Strathmore Bristol Vellum paper. For this drawing I wanted to keep the meadow and background trees/shrubs soft, muted and non-reflective of the light, so both soft and hard charcoal were used for these two areas (and a lot of smudging). The foreground tree’s bark is quite rugged with deep ruts so a variety of carbon pencils were used allowing for the deepest darks to carry this massive structure. Other tools used were tortilums and a kneaded eraser.
The values were really important in this drawing, especially distinguishing both the foreground tree from the others. I can’t tell you how many times I stepped back to examine the progress, or how many pictures were taken – both helped me to analyze the work for perspective, values and other technical elements. I learned a lot from piece.
The light in this scene is what attracted me to draw it – perfect for getting a feel for charcoal again ~ click onto the image for a larger view.
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Oil Pastels by Mary 
Love the deep and dense feel of it.. 🙂
Thank you for your kind thoughts on the drawing!
love this painting! Perspective, depth, the relation of lightness and darkness are fascinating!
Thank you so much Ana – love your description! Glad you enjoyed the drawing, it was a great piece to work out in charcoal.
I really like the bark on the tree. Nice work! ~Rita
Thanks Rita! The carbon is a great medium for tree work – lots of value ranges can be achieved.
You are so good at capturing texture and shades, Mary. Congrats.
Thank you so much Cynthia – it was great fun working the textures in this scene.
Lovely!
Hi Elena, thank you for your nice comment!
beautiful painting, Mary! great ratio of light and dark… love it!
Thanks so much Ana – glad you enjoyed the contrasts, they were fun to develop. Nice to see you ~
You’ve really captured the light Mary. Nice piece
Thanks Outside! much appreciated ~
Loving all that detail on tree bark!
Thanks – the tree took many layers to develop, the more I played with it, the more the textures came out. It was pretty cool – thanks for mentioning!
Good Morning Artist
Thank you my friend – hope you have a beautiful day!
Wow who knew you could get so messy making something so beautiful. My charcoal work was not like this when I ten 🙂
Awesome to hear from you Eunice – thank you! Looking forward to seeing your latest work.
Perfect work ❤
Thank you Leyla!
That is unbelievable! So lifelike!
Thank you so much Elizabeth!!
I love the movement in this piece, Mary. I’m feeling a breeze through the grasses there. Love the detail work and the tremendous range of values. So much light in this piece. Really beautiful job, my friend.
Thank you Laura for your thoughtful words for this scene. The contrasts of the lights and darks, harsh and soft edges is what caught my attention to try this drawing in charcoal.
Beyond beautiful, Mary! Gorgeous piece!
Thanks Johannis – glad you enjoyed this drawing!
I can’t tell you how much i liked this one…the best way to learn is to try and you are doing that well 🙂
Thank you so much Alok for your thoughts and generous comment.
I love this drawing, Mary! The lighting is beautiful and you can feel the shrubs are gently moving by the soft wind. Thank you for continuing educating us to appreciate your beautiful drawings. 🙂 ❤
Thank you Amy – your thoughts and words hold much meaning and are very appreciated.
Lovely mixtures of textures, Mary, particularly on the tree.
Thanks very much Graham!
Mess I can do very easily, Mary, but no way in the world I could make something this beautiful! 🙂
Thank you Jo – creating a mess and then cleaning it up is very freeing! Charcoal is known for her messes!!
This is beautiful. I almost expect a Jane Austen heroine to wander around the tree, book in hand, dreaming of Mr Darcy…
How much fun is that Silver! Loved your description, can you image Miss Jane being outlined with the back lighting hitting her form – yes, Mr. Darcy would be “awe-struck!”
Such a moving nature view, Mary, on so many levels. 🙂
Thank you Jet!!
I agree with the others – and I am also a tree lover…so this is perfect.
Thanks so much Ann-Christine. Trees are magnificent forms with great character aren’t they?
They are. And I love the idea of them getting more beautiful the older they get..
You always play with the light and shade perfectly! Beautiful work… 🙂
Thank you so much Maniparna – glad you enjoyed the drawing.
I like the contrast between the whispyness and the detail on the tree truck. 🙂
Thank you Frank, I liked your description because it was my intention to create soft edges against a hard and solid form and you saw this. Really appreciate it!
Woo hooo … hooray for me catching one of your aims! 😀
I like the way the messy meadow balances the tree. Very satisfying.
Thank you so much Prospero – I really enjoyed reading your perspective on this piece.
Such inspirational works and here again…lovely.
Beautiful, thank you so much!
This is so lovely!
Thank you Fiona!
Mary, this is so beautifully done! There’s so much happening in there… Bravo, my friend! 🙂 xx
Thank you Marina – it was the best of scenes to work on and I loved each of the challenges that were presented. I missed charcoal, will stay with the medium for a while I think. Thank you again and I hope you have a wonderful Thursday evening my friend.
Mary, you never cease to amaze me with the challenges you set for yourself. And it seems to me you meet, indeed more than meet, all of them.
Thank you so much Gallivanta – the challenges are fun and help me move along in trying new things. Thank for you mentioning, I really appreciate your kind compliment. Was thinking about you with the recent earthquakes – hope all is well.
Quite well, thank you. Just shook up mentally more than physically.
Sorry it’s been such a trying time – good to hear you didn’t get hurt. Take care Gallivanta.
🙂
Superb rendering of light
Thank you Derrick, very generous and always appreciated.
Beautiful drawing Mary – fabulous textures and such a sense of depth. Charcoal is indeed a wonderful medium!
Thank you so much Anna, loved your description here. I forgot how much fun it was to draw in charcoal – thanks again.
This is in a way a “very rich” work of art Mary, value wise, detail wise absolutely magnificent, fabulous, splendid. It makes me happy when I look at it, you put so much soul into it, it totally reflects back your disposition! Love the light sweep, it’s inviting and you brought it into not only your work but into our souls as well. Perfectly executed, glad you got down and dirty, I kinda missed this medium from you so this is a happy occasion to celebrate your “light”.
Thank you so much Eva – loved reading your thoughts on this scene. The charcoal handled the soft atmosphere I was looking for with morning light as it glanced over the tall grasses. I could feel what was happening, the energy of this scene the whole way through – you are really perspective on that one. It’s been a while since I’ve drawn with charcoal and it’s been a happy return.
The ability to capture light…you amaze me! Beautifully expressed, Mary.
Thank you so much Audrey – the light drew me right into the scene and was hoping I could capture the same feeling when I drew it.
Mary, Isn’t it fun to get charcoal all over you. 🙂 It was certainly worth it, your drawing is great.
Thank you so much Janell!!
This is splendid work, Miss Mary
truly splendid..one of your very best
Big hugs
In Admiration
uncle john
Thank you so much Uncle John for your most kind and thoughtful comment, you know I always appreciate your encouragement and support of my work – means a lot.
Wonderful work Mary!
Thanks Nicodemas!
Worth getting your hands a little dirty!
So funny and was a whole lot of fun too!! Thanks Coastal ~
Wow!
Thank you Susan!
Your charcoal/carbon work is amazing. Have been enjoying everything you’ve done in this medium. ❤ ❤
Thank you for your generous comment – can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. This scene was made for combining both mediums and working the values. So glad you enjoyed the drawing!
You’re spectacularly talented, Mary. I’m proud to be part of your blogging experience.
I agree with Cynthia – yes, lovely range of values. Expertly done!
Thank you Cynthia for your thoughtful comment. I love finding ways to work the charcoal to get the most out of the values – the carbon was very unforgiving in any hopes to make changes. Thanks again!
You may have made a “mess,” Mary, but the end result is fantastic! Great job, my friend!
Thanks so much Jill, my hands were black and thank goodness it go all over!! Thank you for your reaction to the piece – made my day!
I really like the full range of values, from blackest black to whitest white….especially sensitive are the tiny wisps of white on dark and dark on white in what seems to be grasses and bushes….a lovely piece, Mary.
Thank you so much Cynthia. Loved reading your reaction to the values, because it was like discovering the range of values all over again working with the charcoal. Carbon is so interesting to work with, while I have B, 2B, 4B and 6B – the pencils are all so dark it didn’t take much to develop the darks on the foreground tree. Thank you again – I really appreciate it!
Really fine piece of work.
Thanks very much!
I love the way the light sweeps through the center before landing definitively within the grasses.
Hi Resa, thank you – the light rays were the best aspect of the scene to create. Glad you enjoyed the drawing. I’m late catching up with everyone’s blog and looking forward to seeing the latest murals you’ve been finding – we’ve been working outside the last five days or so, time to see what everyone has been up to. Thanks again!
Fabulous Fabulous Fabulous!!!!! I love how you handled the medium and the way you portrayed the light behind the tree. I’m sure you had a wonderful time creating this piece Mary!
So cool Rhonda, thanks very much. It was great getting back to charcoal and this scene offered some really great elements to it – the light was interesting to develop, it seemed to take form all during the process and then at the end I took a good healthy swipe with the kneaded eraser for the rays blast. Thanks for always being encouraging and supportive!!
This is beautifully rendered…..Charcoal is a wonderful medium, however few people use it successfully…..You most definitely have. Bravo. Janet:)
Hi Janet, thank you for your generous comment. I agree with you charcoal is an awesome medium to draw with – great loose strokes, lots of value range possibilities within a scene and you can nearly draw anything. Thanks again, I really appreciate your compliment.
Good morning, Mary…you are most welcome…HOpe you have a creative Thursday. Janet:)