Snappy Dresser

Yesterday was looking to be a sketch-free day, until I saw a vivid, vertical stripe of late afternoon sun hitting the old dresser in the dining room. I had 30 minutes available until picking my son up; I grabbed a sketchbook and the watercolours and dived in. I decided not to take a photo of the glorious tangerine light on the dark oak – I’d try to remember once it disappeared, as it surely would, and fast. I think that might have been a mistake.

The light was still there, albeit changing, as I sketched the outlines in my sepia fineliner, but finally petered out as soon as I got the watercolours into play. The sun sets so quickly at this time of year. The dining room became too dark to work without a light on, and so what you see here is a concoction of my memory, made under artificial light. Hmmm. Not ideal conditions.

This picture is A5 size, so it was easy to work relatively quickly. I used a lot of burnt sienna and various blues to achieve the browns and shadows. Putting the orange in was fun, but I haven’t achieved anywhere near the glow of the wood in reality. Still, it was good to have a go, and get some more experience of mixing colours with a time constraint.