Sketching in Danville, VA and Yanceyville, NC
The weather was miraculously cool and breezy this weekend. It seemed stupid to spend this kind of weather indoors. So I abandoned other work in progress and I packed up sketching supplies and a folding chair and headed north.
I recalled that I loved the area by the river in Danville, VA, and there was a lot of aging red brick. This is what I found, with the sketch below it. Sketching is more a way of seeing, for me, than it is a way to produce finished artwork. To some extent it doesn't matter to me if I finish a sketch, as long as I'm done looking. The sketch below was about an hour of looking. 9 x 12 inches. Pen and watercolor.
On the way back to Hillsborough on NC 86 you pass Yanceyville, and I stopped because I recalled the courthouse (Caswell County's) is a beauty. I forgot just what a confection it is - practically wedding cake beautiful. I spent over an hour in the shade of a crepe myrtle in full bloom drawing it, then had to go. Below the photo of the courthouse is the sketch. I took an extra minute at the end and quickly drew in my car, which was the only vehicle in front of the courthouse on Sunday around 5:00 PM. 14 x 17 inch Strathmore sketch pad - pencil. The camera always pinches tall things at the top, while my sketch emphasizes the generous eves and overhangs on this tall, unique building.
