Thursday 15 October 2015

Canal Cottages



Back in 2007, to mark my 60th birthday, my family treated me to a day on the canal. Fortunately it was "on" and not "in". The canal is the Grand Union and they hired a barge for the day and I was in my element navigating the calm waters. This stretch of the canal includes the famous mile-long tunnel near Blisworth which, in days gone by, were navigated by the bargee's laying on top of the barges and "walking" their feet along the roof of the tunnel. Fortunately for us our barge had an engine but the tunnel is only just wide enough for two barges to pass, so steering for a novice was exhilarating to say the least.

In my last post I mentioned how I was concerned over my use of hatching, in particular that it looks unnatural .... rigid, clinical diagonal lines ... and this is probably down to my inexperience. To explore this further I decided I ought to try a pen drawing with no hatching, achieving tones in a different, more natural way. I've painted this scene before and it struck me as being ideal for my purpose. I'm not displeased with the result and am happy that there's not one area of regular hatching. Now I'm keen to try another. ;-)

18 comments:

  1. ¡Estupendos dibujos! Me gusta la precisión de líneas y la textura que consigues. Son trabajos minuciosos que requieren su tiempo. ¡Me quedo! Si te parece pasa por mi blog a ver qué te parece.
    Saludos.

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    1. Muchas gracias Antonia, yo aprecio mucho tu comentario amable. Saludos

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  2. John, this is a super pen/ink drawing.. Your drawings always shine.

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    1. Thank you very much BJ and how lovely to see you here. I really appreciate it. ;-)

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  3. You "should" be very pleased with this drawing John. No hatching and still beautiful.

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  4. Well done John, the drawing does have a 'natural' look and is very effective.

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    1. Thank you very much Keith. Still a long way to go ... I guess we never stop learning. Must try my hand at watercolours again one of these days.

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  5. Hi John.
    Fantastic Drawing. There is nothing wrong with your Hatching the last drawings you posted, and this posting is even better. Keep them comong John.
    All the best mate.

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  6. super sketches below John ...love the castle .... can see your enjoyment in this one ...look forward to seeing more pen and ink

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    1. Yes, I really did enjoy that one. Thank you very much Jane. ;-)

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  7. John, excellent. Your work is and always has been top notch. I love the way you captured this scene it is quite lovely.
    all the best to you,
    Keep these coming and I will try to visit more ofter.

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    1. What a lovely comment Joan, thank you very much. All the best. ;-)

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  8. Nice one, John, those sharp edges are softened. I favour a fine line hatching and try to avoid cross-hatching

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    1. Thank you John. I've studied many of your pen and ink pieces (or at least I've tried to within the confines of internet resolutions. If only my magnifying glass would work on my monitor. lol.) and appreciate what you're saying about fine line hatching. It's not that long ago I discovered hatching and cross-hatching and thought it was the bee's knees. Still, onwards and upwards we continue our march.

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  9. Looking forward to have a look at this one on my laptop instead. Need a bigger view, but my son has my laptop at the moment. I seem to have skipt this drawing earlier. :/

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    1. Oh no, another laptop goes to never-never land (never-never get it back LOL).;-)

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