Cemetery Sketchcrawl

The weather was gorgeous today...75°, overcast, with a nice breeze. It was perfect for sketching outdoors. Met Miz Dee at the old Presbyterian cemetery. It has an awesome collection of wrought iron fences and gates around gravesites.

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RUSTY GATE
Started this first sketch and 20 minutes into it the sky began to spitter rain. Couldn't draw because my waterproof pen wasn't so waterproof as to draw through big raindrops on the page. Dee and I retreated to the shelter of an ancient magnolia tree.

I was happy to abandon this sketch at the time. I had chosen too large a pen to draw such intricate details. Plus the scale was too large so the top got crammed into the sketchbook's gutter, it wasn't symmetrical, and I left out some important bits. It was quickly going into the weeds and I was highly frustrated. Thank you rain for the timely intervention.

I'll talk more about its resurrection in tomorrow's post, "Can This Sketch Be Saved?"

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UNDER THE OAK TREE
Since I had chosen too large a pen for the first sketch, I decided to go with a small pen on the next sketch, back away from the subject so I wouldn't get caught up in the details and do a really sketchy sketch. All that stuff worked out fine. Then I got out the paintbrush. Right into the weeds again. Phooey.

Resurrected this one after I got home. It will be Part Two of "Can This Sketch Be Saved?"

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ESTELLE
This fence surrounded a single grave. The only thing on the stone was "Estelle." No last name, no dates. Since Estelle (the boat) is now a member of our family, I had to draw.

Decided my only hope of creating a decent sketch was to break out The Magic That Is The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. Actually, I should just throw out all my other pens and use the brush pen exclusively.

When I finished drawing this I realized the pattern of the fence panels didn't line up. Looked at the real thing across the way and that's how it appeared. Got up to investigate. The near panel was off its posts and sitting on the ground. Ohhh...

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UNDER THE VIADUCT
Grew tired of drawing intricate gates so I turned around and drew the viaduct.
Actually I just wanted to draw all the electric lines, but that wouldn't have made sense in a sketch. Not the way I draw anyway.

There was a viaduct over the railroad tracks in my hometown. We always pronounced the word VIE-dock. I have to pause before I say viaduct to remind myself not to call it a viedock.

Showed this sketch to Hubby. He said I made the underneath part look too "park-like." Oh well.