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Cliffside
Nature scene with pencil and copic multiliner pens.
The inspiration for this sketch was the Huangshan Mountains in China.
The original thought was to simply get over the fear of the blank page, by drawing something, anything. Yet, drawing without a purpose didn't feel quite right. I've always loved landscapes and nature, but haven't been very successful with it in my art. The idea then became to practice drawing a nature scene with a variety of elements but not overly complex. That's where the Huangshan Mountains come in. The main element I wanted to practice, was drawing stone. The trees and bushes around the cliff came later. The little character was the last addition to it, as inspiration hit and I began to form a story around the place.
I began the sketch with pencil to form the large stones that made up the cliff and the mountain. I then decided to keep the focal point on the cliff and leave the rest of the mountain be more of a suggestion. I tried to block out where some of the shadows between the stone slabs would be as well at this stage. Once I was satisfied with the initial sketch, I erased it lightly, leaving behind enough to see. I used a kneaded eraser to lift some of the graphite from the paper and lighten the pencil sketch.
Moving on to the Copic pens was the difficult part. Once the ink goes onto the paper there's no going back, and felt a little scary. In the end, I have to practice to get over that fear and be open to making mistakes. Often times, I find that what stops me most from even starting a sketch, is that fear of making a mistake. I like to start when I have a complete view of the final product in my mind, which in the end, stops me from doing anything at all.
The last stage of this sketch, was knowing when to stop. I decided to hold back on adding further shadows and leave it as is. Overworking a sketch to make it perfect can be a mistake. Instead, I stopped and began to find inspiration for the next one.
My next sketch will be a practice in clouds and heavily inspired by country side scenery.
Ciao!