Winter Sketching in my Car

When it's -21 degrees C. with some kind of wind chill and you still want to paint outside, you have no choice but to do it in your car.  I had it in my head that I wanted to do a couple of really great trees. There's a beautiful specimen tree right on Park Boulevard South which is particularly interesting in the winter time when you can see its skeletal form. I also have this thing about willows and wanted to go back to Beaumont Park to sketch the long row of willows that just happens to be right next door to my sister.

Now ... what to take to sketch? I decided on a BEE sketchbook that had black paper in it. I'm doing a pastel course on February 28 in Carmen and was looking for a good subject for a black painting for the group. I also brought along a tin of 5 or 6 Derwent sketching pencils that have really never been used. They had the usual lovely range of white, very dark, ochre and some reddish pencils. I also threw in a few oranges to red Derwent pencil crayons, thinking these were needed for the willows.

In both locations, I parked on the street where I had a clear view of my subject in front of me. In both cases, I was able to work for nearly 30 minutes; running the car for only a few minutes near the end. I worked without gloves. It helped that it was a bright, sunny day so there was some heat gain through the windows. This was so much fun! Making art really distracts you from feeling cold.

Working with soft, velvety pencils is very similar to working with soft pastels. I really enjoy making short, agitated strokes which is probably why I keep coming back to subjects that make good use of this type of mark making.

A beautiful tree on Park Boulevard South of Grant

My favorite stand of willows in Beaumont Park