Oops! I Lost My Color Again!

In my last blog post I alluded to the fact that I've been playing with a long lost medium lately.  Well, not long lost so much as neglected.  I think I've tried just about every art medium on the planet so I have a lot of art supplies that seldom get used, charcoal is one of them.

"Midway Barn"

Charcoal on paper, 11.3" X 8.5"

Original - $100

"Midway Barn" is my first complete charcoal drawing.  I used hot pressed watercolor paper.  I have some paper labeled as being for charcoal but the texture was more aggressive than I like and it was a laid texture which means it has a mechanical weave appearance that just doesn't look natural.  I might try Bristol smooth paper for the next drawing. 

There's something about the simplicity of using a single pencil to create a piece of art, it just feels so authentic and meditative while making it. 

The drawing is based on a photo I took in the small rural farming community of Midway, Utah in the Heber Valley on the opposite side of the Wasatch Mountains from Provo.  Midway has lost a little of it's small town charm over the years though, it's become a popular resort area and much of the surrounding area has been developed.  This barn however is just a couple blocks from downtown. I took some liberties by changing the shape of the barn a bit, removing a home in the background, adding a dirt road in front and making the field more "wild".