Rushing stream through a wooded valley on the edge of Dartmoor. coloured pencil and Rotring art pen in moleskine sketchbook

The edge of Dartmoor, a stream tumbling down through a wooded valley, coloured pencil and Rotring Art Pen in Moleskine sketchbook


We'd been exploring up on the bleak high moors, which I love, small herds of wild ponies and sheep, stunted trees and rocky crags, narrow roads and ancient stone bridges.   Now we were at the edge of the moor - lush wooded valleys, streams the colour of whisky tumbling over rocks on their way to the sea - equally lovely in a very very different way.   I stopped to catch the dappled sunlight on this old bridge and the warm amber glow of the peaty water.

It was an incredible tangle of wildflowers and branches, great contrasts of light and dark and not at all easy!  so it maybe got a bit overworked.

 This is the hotel we stayed at - just for a day on the way home - right on the borderline where the wild, bleak, high moor descends into lusher green fields and wooded valleys.  One side of the road is the high moor, the other lusher and green.  (from their website)

Photos I took of the moor.

I think I'll have to do this break in the journey again and paint there more.

Comments

Unknown said…
This is lovely and fresh - not at all overworked! I find it hard to know when to stop with coloured pencil, Usually it's when the tooth of the paper is full, LOL!
12:41 pm
vivien said…
thank you Michael :>)

one thing with moleskine - no tooth! it does get to the point where you can't build any more colour though. I do have a job stopping with complex scenes though - I keep refining and refining .....

I've put a simple, not overworked, quick sketch of a seagull on to post tomorrow morning, just to prove I can keep it simple sometimes!
7:35 pm
harry bell said…
I like your sketch. It reminded me how much I miss my Art Pens, clogged up again this year. Still, their refusal to work made me find out how useful the Pentel Brush-Pen can be.
9:42 am
vivien said…
yes the brush pens are lovely but I find I definitely need to work on a larger scale with them - they are great combined with charcoal too.
9:50 am
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