Work in Progress Update, Eatonton, Georgia, Residence, Update 2

            In this Update most of the House in inked in. Using the lightbox saved a great deal of time and increased the accuracy of the drawing. Inking went fairly rapidly, using a T square, triangle and a drafting ruler. Very little measuring had to be done. I merely determined what size the House needed to be for the drawing, enlarged it and printed it out. Then, using the light box on my drawing table, traced it. After drawing in the House I went back and drew in freehand all the landscaping and trees.

            My first task was to ink in the House. For that I used a Rapidograph 3X0 pen. What took the most time was filling in the shutters and the front door. The shutters are framed out, with slats in the center, so I drew them in that way. I filled in the outer frame fully, then lined in the slats, leaving only enough light to show indicate light hitting the edges. I did the same for the front doors. I drew in the interior details, then filled in the doors with ink, leaving only enough white to indicate the detail work.

            After completing the portico I was a bit anxious to see what it would look like with watercolor added to help the shading, so I painted in some washes of Paynes Grey. Also added some washes in the windows. Although it added much to the drawing, more shading will be added later. I think the upper corners need to be a bit darker. I found that there was no danger of the ink bleeding out when water was washed over the lines, even when I brushed on a couple of washes. There was some concern that I’d have to leave the ink dry for 24 hours before applying a wash but that seemed unnecessary.

            After the House was pretty much finished, I started on the brick walk. Prior to inking, I first drew the walk in with pencil completely, then went over it with pen.

            Finally, all the surrounding landscaping was inked in. All the boxwood was done first, then the trees.

            When adding watercolor, there is always the question of how much ink work should be done first. How much shading should be done with ink and how much with paint? The ink is of primary importance and the watercolor plays a supporting role. This is a pen and ink drawing with watercolor, so pen and ink does most of the work. Since the House is the center of interest, I put the most pen and ink detail into it. The surrounding trees and shrubs frame the House but are support, so they will lack the detail the House has. I indicated some shading on the trees in the darkest areas only and then to bring out the House. More pen and ink can be added later if it’s needed.

            So, with the pen and ink work pretty much finished, I will be adding the watercolor.