For this prompt; Process Insight, I have decided to show a step by step demonstration from my sketchbook. I took some materials out with me into a field nearby, I made some quick sketches and worked from them in my studio. I used charcoal in my initial drawings, for the final sketch I used chalk, charcoal, paint and ink. I decided to sketch some trees at the top of a field. The field sloped upward. The field was framed by trees and hedges, apart from where I stood. I got down the basic composition, I didnt need every detail. Back in the studio I chose to work in my hardback sketchbook which had thicker paper; ideal for mixed media work. This is a Seawhite sketchbook which are really good value and have a lot of pages, they are available in different sizes. I had initially packed this sketchbook but it was too heavy. To start with I drew out a pencil border and applied masking tape strips for the ploughed field. I then roughly went over these with charcoal. At this point I was putting down the first layers which didnt need to be neat as they would be worked over again. I removed the tape and fixed the charcoal with spray, it didnt matter that some of the charcoal had got under the tape. Once dry, I covered the black stripes with more masking tape to scrape a layer of white paint over the surface. I left some of the paper untouched and when dry went over with charcoal again making this the third applied layer. I built up the layers with compressed charcoal, this goes on much darker, then I used an old teatowel to reveal some of the layers underneath. The white paint acts as a resist. I decided to have a defining edge to the top of my field. This was to break up the composition, a sharp edge amongst the chaos. I added more tape and blended more charcoal. The next step was to put tape on again to seperate the 'field' from the 'sky'. Then I applied more chalk and pastel without loosing the crisp line. So far I had only used scrapers, a teatowel and my hands to build the layers. The next step was to loosly add detail to the edges with charcoal and ink and start adding in the trees. The ink was applied using natural found materials on my walk to the field, I wanted a scratchy finish rather than perfect lines. However, when it came to the tree detail ( second image) this wasnt working right. I was able to wipe away the detail I had added in for the tree tops as it was ink and charcoal. I wasnt too precious about this, afterall this was only my sketchbook. I liked the marks left behind and I decided to leave this in to add some movement. A happy accident. It was only at this point I reached for a fine brush to create the trees.
Stephanie Croydon ©2020
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