Pencil and paper

Living on a boat offers many magical moments.
When I have time to relax my favourite spot is in the wheel house. A bird's eye panoramic view. It's like sitting in a tree with a dominate 360 angle look-out over the surroundings. You can watch people passing by on the tow path, fish jumping and basically have a very agreeable time.

So as to not waste these precious hours posted in the wheel house, I'll grab a sketch book and pencil, choose a view from one of the windows and start to draw the scenery.
As we move the barge up and down the rivers and canals, there is always something different to draw.

Not that I'm a good artists, not at all, I never even show my sketches to my wife. I'm also impulsive, so I only use coloured pencils which saves me the time of having to set up all the equipment if I was painting. I just open my pencil case, flip a A4 page and draw.

I remember the basics of using perspective from TD lessons in school, but some expert advice from a specialist would be very helpful.. The regularity of the canal with the tow-path, trees lined up like soldiers and the rolling distant hills are easily traced with a sharpened HB. I love the way the canal can be either so straight, vanishing into a far away spot, or serpentine with slow curves taking their time to meander along the slopes.

Shadows and shading are also interesting, changing with the seasons and hours. In Autumn the shadows are long and pronounced as the sun lays low in the sky line, or very dark and short at midday in the hot summer.

Up to this point, things generally work out well. Where my skills fall down to childlike drawings is when I try to trace peoples’ faces.

There are so many characters in the Burgundy countryside, with expressions, wrinkles and smiles, and I’m incapable of translating them on to paper. This is where I could really take a course in an Art School and benefit from some teaching, I’m even considering taking some time to take a course on line. If only I could trace the red wine stained nose of the lock-keeper, his puffy cheeks and that gapping smile with missing teeth! Or the rounded body of Miss ???? as she leans against the rails of the lock door. If only... then my drawings would come alive. Perhaps I should just stick to taking photos of these people and give them justice.

Talking of cameras, I’ve encountered an American who spends a lot of time in the Auxois region and is a professional photographer. Mike Long is displaying some of his photos on the web, if you have a few moments take a look and see how he has captured some of the magic of the canal, reflections in the water and the colours. Burgundy is not as spectacular in offering natural light as the Provence, but it is a second best. Anyhow, if you’ve not had the chance to visit this area or know the canal like the back of your hand, have a look.