James I IV Oak Branches in Sunlight
“James I IV Oak Branches in Sunlight” [1st February 2023] by Matt The Unfathomable Artist,
drawing with H, HB, 4B, 8B, sky blue, sunlight yellow and bright red pencils,
signed in black ink on 280gsm 250mm x 300mm gesso primed canvas [pad],
digitally edited image 3201 x 2752 pixels.

My sketch composition shown above is from a photograph taken 19th May 2020 in the afternoon.  My sketch is a fair impressionistic view of the photograph.  I could make this sketch ‘more spectacular’.  I decided to stay true with the original image.  This is how I see the sun shining.  Simplistically beautiful.

Drafts took 35, 22 and 18 minutes each.

My writings regarding the sketch:

“new draft last night late. haven’t sketched in one of the branches yet. might add a sun ray later. it looks nicer on the canvas. it made me happy doing this. i will keep this one sketchy raw prolly.”

“Second draft done under 22 mins. Not prolly doing much more on it. Might add sunshine ‘vortex’ lines. idk. might. i like it. am deciding what more if much to do.”

“btw third draft done. seems underwhelming, like people might prefer the spectacular. yet it is a fair impression of the photo. do i make it more than what it is or keep with the composition as is? idk. i feel its honest. like, this is the way the sun shone that moment 🎨”

“with latest sketch i walked in with my tea food and saw it. the sun looked so honest and real. i couldn’t change it after that. wiping out its branches didn’t feel correct to do. it would be more ‘visually’ spectacular. its just i wanted the branches to be the stars of the sketch 🎨 to me this is spectacular ♏ nb the sun colours remind me of my mid school family tree colour i used in art. a yellow reddish mixed colour i always love. almost a mustardy brown with obvious yellow and red. even then i had the idea my family tree should look old.”

Here a spontaneous image using a diffused torch in the dark of my room:

“Experimentation with a Torch shining upon my Sketch”, making me really, really, really happy. Super happy.

“it looks even better with the torch light direct, its just too bright to photograph. i have had the idea to shine a light on artworks (like my cutout portrait) for sometime. i believe with perfect lighting this artwork reveals the sketch beauty of tree tones with a bright sun. almost like installation art. the idea with an artwork ‘shining’ for just a few minutes of the day (or same so randomly) with light. this is the perfect way for this artwork, interactive.” – bold added, giving reason for a diffused [light] photograph.

Here is the photograph inspiration for my sketch, shown immediately below:

“James I IV Oak Branches in Sunlight – photograph” taken on 19th May 2020 at 1443hrs.

Do you see the sun the way I do?

Story outline – “You walk into an exhibition or museum, passersby admire a simple sketch over a number of hours. Suddenly with random or perpetual order a beautiful light fleetingly glows upon the sun of the sketch. For whatever reason only you and a few others whom happen to be near you get to see the artwork in this wonderful new way.”

Please enjoy 🙂

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