Friday 2 December 2011

A lucky shot

As some of you know, aside from my art I also enjoy photography. When I was holiday in Yorkshire in October, I spent some time in Whitby and went 'walk-about' to get some photo's. Having conquered the 199 Steps I headed out along the harbour wall. As I strolled along taking the occasional shot of a passing Seagull  and considering the best viewpoint for a shot of the lighthouse, I suddenly became aware of the sound of an engine.

I glanced over my shoulder and saw this Jet-Skier travelling at a fair rate of knots. There was no time to think about the best settings for my camera, I just swung round and took the shot. Given the speed of the Jet Ski, and the instant in which everything happened, I felt sure the picture would be rubbish, When I looked at it later I was thrilled to find that my shot was actually quite good. A few weeks ago I did a small drawing of a surfer and enjoyed trying to create the spray of the breaking waves. This picture appealed for the same reason.

This is the first drawing I've done with some new leads I bought for my mechanical pencils. The lead is by Pentel and is called Ain Stein. It is made using a new process which Pentel claim makes the lead stronger and blacker than ever before. I have 2B leads in sizes 0.5 and 0.7mm and can report they were a joy to work with. Highly recommendable.

15 comments:

  1. Great piece, John! You've captured the spray beautifully. Will look out for those new pencils xx

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  2. What a great drawing - spray is difficult to get, but you have caught it there just right. Like the sound of those pencils:)

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  3. Lucky catch, John. Love the drawing.

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  4. Thank you Pat. I slipped up in my post and called them pencils but they are actually leads for mechanical pencils.

    You're right about that spray being difficult Ann. I'm not that happy with it but I'm glad it stands up.

    Lovely to see you here Carole and thank you for the comment.

    Thank you Rose - the job was made a lot easier by the fact that the rider had long hair. LOL.

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  5. This is really great John, you totally get the feeling of the person plowing through the water, and the water spray is perfect. Great job!

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  6. jet ski is beautifully rendered john nice darks new leads look good . ...love the quick PC sketch below .

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  7. Wonderful pencil work, John. I love the feeling of speed in the piece ... beautifully captured here. Oh no, not more art supplies to drool over and spend my money on :)

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  8. My - the spray looks incredibly convincing! What a tricky subject to tackle, and yet you have managed it perfectly! I do have a mechanical pencil but I have never tried it! :0)

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  9. Jane, thank you for your lovely comment and I'm glad you think the spray is ok ... I keep looking at it and feel like having a fiddle. lol.

    Thank you very much Jane (Minter), yes, those leads are good. Glad you liked the result of my moments frustration with the auditors. ;-)

    Michael, I know what you mean about drooling over art supplies but thankfully these won't break the bank. Thanks for the nice comment. ;-)

    Thank you Sandra for your lovely comment. Oh give that mechanical pencil a try ... they never need sharpening and with 2B leads they take a bit of beating. If I could get them to erase their own errors they'd be perfect. lol.

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  10. This drawing came out beautifully, John. You definitely captured the spray of the breaking waves...and the jet ski is done perfectly!

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