Friday 24 October 2014

Forth Rail Bridge


I've often thought of drawing the Forth Rail Bridge but never seemed to get round to it. When I saw a photograph taken by my good friend Ingrid Ormestad on a misty, murky day I was intrigued at the way the bridge gradually faded away into the distance and appreciated the challenge in trying to capture that with pencil. This was drawn on Smooth Bristol Board. I know a lot of artists swear by it but I wasn't that impressed. I prefer more of a tooth but I felt the smooth surface was essential given the amount of detail. I think I need to try a few other smooth-surface papers.

I actually finished this drawing about three weeks ago but, just at that time, my 96-year old father became poorly. A week later, on October 12th, he passed away. Apart from the last couple of years as Alzheimers slowly started to take him from us, he has had a good life, being married to my mother for 68-years.

Now that my easel is empty and things are slowly returning back to normal, whatever that is, I'm thinking that my next serious drawing should be a portrait of Dad. Watch this space!!