A week since we arrived home, and I have been doing daily sketches but not necessarily from life.

Today I took the pencil sketch that I did of Mt Begbie in Sketchaday21 and tried working it up in charcoal, using Strathmore Toned Gray paper which is recommended for charcoal and pastel. I was skeptical at first as it doesn’t have a tooth like pastel paper, but it’s apparently a revolutionary new material that grips the medium – and it seems to work. I’m not too happy with the composition –  I also think I need to work much larger. It’s a practice piece for a project that could take some time to complete, and has to remain under wraps for the moment.  But I guess this won’t give anything away -it’s one of the working sketches. Not drawn from life, I’m afraid. I never did get to see a bear in the flesh.