To make this drawing I visited the location several times and did lots of sketches. The time I prefered to do that was when the sun was directly overhead and the rays stroke the water. As I couldn’t be there physically all the time required to finish the drawing, I also took photographs in order to capture the rapidly changing light.
Generally I work from left to right as I’m right handed and I need to avoid smudging the finished parts. On this drawing however, clockwise worked better for me.
MATERIALS
• Paper – Saunders -Waterford 200 lb, Hot Pressed, High White, Watercolour Paper. • Coloured pencils – I always use various coloured pencil brands. In this particular drawing I used: – Faber-Castell – Albrecht Dürer – Prismacolor: – Van Gogh – Royal Talens: – Inktense – Derwent: – Colorsoft – Derwent:
• White Chalk Pastel
• Derwent Blender
• Derwent Burnisher
• Eraser (preferably pencil eraser for detail)
• Sharpener
• Fixative with UV Filter
STEP ONE
First I drew the outline using Raw Umber with light pressure. I usually work section by section. In this case I began at the left top part of the picture. First I painted the rocky upper part using Warm Grey II as an underpainting. Next I added Warm Grey III at the areas where the rock was darker. Limepeel, Apple Green (Prismacolor) and Olive Green were used to paint the mossy parts of the rocks, then Dark Green and Grass Green at the spots where there the shade was deeper.
At the parts were the moss looked lighter I used Spring Green, Light Green and Sherbet Lemon. I covered the leaves on the right with Light Green, Sherbet Lemon, Apple Green (Inktense) and Felt Green. The leaves that were turning brown were enhanced with Tan and Mustard.
For the darkest parts of the drawing I used Dark Brown, Burnt Umber, Walnut Brown, Dark Umber, Sepia and Bark. Then I painted the sky using Light Ultramarine, Light Phthalo Blue and Light Cobalt Turquoise. The parts where the clouds were, I just left white.
STEP TWO
The way I work puts emphasis on minute detail, so after the initial colouring of the rocks I used Black, Indian Ink and Charcoal Greay to add the details. I used the same colours to cover the really dark background behind the leaves on the right.
Then I added Tuscan Red, Terracotta, Bistre, Raw Umber and Brown Ochre to achieve the colour of the cave. They were used near each other to show the variety of colour rather than covering each other. Shiraz was added sparingly and as highligh only due to its very dark red colour. To make the rock have a more even and natural appearance, I used the Derwent Blender, covering the whole area with light movements and pressure.
Next I continued to the right side of the cave, using the Warm Grey II as an underpainting followed by patches of Limepeel, Cinnamon and Medium Flesh.
Warm Grey III, IV and V and Cold Grey IV and VI were next applied to the crevices and the recesses of the rocks where the colours were darker. After that I added Ochre, with heavy pressure here and there, and also Light Yellow Ochre, Dark Teracotta, Tuscan Red and Raw Umber in patches. Shiraz was again added sparingly and as a detail only. I ended this stage with the Derwent Blender once again.
The trees around the rim of the cave were painted with Yellow Chartreuse, Chartreuse, Apple Green and Olive Green. To achieve the effect of leaves I used black. The lightest parts were highlighted with Zinc Yellow.
STEP THREE
In this step I finished the rocks on the left with the same colours as for their upper part, but used Ivory as an underpainting because the bottom part of these rocks is not as dark as the upper.
Next I focused on the part of the cave right under the opening where the light comes through. It is a very detailed place with lots of stalactites, plants and layers of rocks. First I covered the whole area with Cold Grey I and Warm Grey II. Then I kept darkening and adding detail using Nougat, Bistre, Saddle Brown, Sepia, Charcoal Grey and Black in the order mentioned. I paid attention not to cover the parts where plants were hanging. These are barely seen but they needed to be drawn in detail just as well. These areas I painted with Jade Green, Grass Green, Felt Green, Mustard and Tan.
The part on the left just beside this area has a more pinkish hue, so I used Cold Grey I and Light Flesh as an underpainting in a rough and undefined way. To darken the area I used Cinnamon, Burnt Ochre (FaberCastell), Burnt Ochre (Prismacolor) and Sienna Gold. Then I painted the dark areas underneath the ledges that are formed on the rock and added the details of them. For this reason I used Ink Black mostly, with Sepia, Brown, Walnut Brown and Dark Brown.
STEP FOUR
At this stage I began rendering the water. I started with the lightest of the blues, the Sky Blue Light. I covered most of the area where the water was, leaving only white lines where the reflection of the light was.
Next I covered the same areas with Light Cerulean Blue, Turquoise Blue, Light Aqua and Turquoise Green.
The water of the lake has a very unique colour with an amazing variety, so I also needed to add Viridian, Phthalo Blue Red, Light and Cobalt Turquoise. I gave abstract shapes to the darker parts of the water using the Peacock Blue, the True Blue, the Copenhagen Blue and the Ultramarine. The greenish reflections – characteristic of this lake – were achieved with True Green and Zinc Yellow.
Next I began drawing the rocks on the left where wild fig trees grow. These rocks are in fact a little island in the middle of the lake. I started by covering them with Warm Grey II, Raw Umber, Sienna Brown, Limepeel and Apple Green. The darker parts and the details were done with Burnt Ochre and Dark Umber.
The leaves of the plant on the left side were yellowing as it was autumn, so I painted them using Yellow Chartreuse, Zinc Yellow, Mustard, Ochre, Apple Green and Spring Green.
STEP FIVE
What needed to be done at this step was to darken the colour of the waters by adding layers of all the before mentioned shades of blue plus the darker Indigo, Phthalo Blue Red, Oriental Blue and Violet Blue. The colour of the water on the left side of the lake is darkened by the reflection of the rocky slopes, so I needed to add Nougat, Cream, Ivory and Limepeel.
Next I started drawing the lower rocky slope on the left using Warm Grey II as an underpaint. I continued with Nougat, Raw Umber and Bistre. Burnt Umber, Brown Black and Walnut Brown were also used for the darker parts and Black for the contours of the stones.
The reflections of the leaves on the water were drawn with Cadmium Yellow, Light Yellow Ochre and Raw Umber.
In order to show the light that came from the opening of the cave, I used White Chalk Pastel rubbed lightly with my fingers to make it even. The area underneath the opening where the sunlight makes the surface of the lake shine was drawn with Light Aqua and enhanced with White Chalk Pastel.
FINAL STEP
I applied more layers of the blues used previously, only this time with heavier pressure avoiding only the area underneath the opening of the cave. The left side of the water was drawn with the same blues, but with the addition of Ochre, Olive Green, Walnut Brown and Sepia to show the reflections that the rocky slope casts on the surface of the water.
The transparency of the water at the edge of the rocky slope is shown with shapes of stones drawn with Cream, Ivory, Nougat, Raw Umber and Walnut Brown. Finally, I covered all the area of the water with Derwent Burnisher to make it look more even and shiny.
The rest of the island was drawn using Nougat, Raw Umber, Bistre, Burnt Umber, Walnut Brown, Limepeel, Olive Green and Black. To draw the leaves on the left I followed the same proceedure as with the ones close to them. I finished the drawing with three layers of fixative.
ARTIST’S HINTS AND TIPS
• The key word when working with coloured pencils is layers. As this is a dry medium that is the way you can achieve the desired tones and values.
• As professional pencils can be difficult to erase, it’s better to start with the lightest colours you can see and keep adding layers to darken the areas until you reach the right shades. However, the dark parts of the drawing are better drawn from an initial stage to make the design become more apparent.
• Examining your work from a distance during the process is very helpful. You can tape your paper on a board in order to have a firm surface and lean it against a wall. Try squinting through your eyelashes to reduce the mid-tones. That way you can easily establish the right values.
• You can achieve more realistic effects if your pencil strokes follow the direction of the contour of what you draw. · It’s better to darken an area with a variety of colours instead of a darker shade of the colour you’re using.
• Well-sharpened pencils fill the tooth of the paper gradually and can take more layers. However, a dull point is also useful when rendering a background, such as a large area like the sky, or something that is not in focus.
• You can use fixative as you progress to better protect your work, but bear in mind that areas covered with it become more difficult to erase.
