I was tempted to call this ‘Jogging along the Blue Roads of Denmark’ since blue roads read like water, and the title would alert the viewer that these blue areas are roads, not rivers. But this sketch is more about moving through the serenity of the Danish landscape than the color of the streets and paths.
The yellow fields are a vegetable oil crop beginning to bloom in the farm areas. There are places where the fields dominate the landscape, and I am certain these plants will show up in more of my sketches soon.
Yesterday evening I posted a sketch, ‘Homework under a Tree,’ a painting with a message about friendships, youth, and spring. This morning, I looked at it again and saw that I got way too much of it wrong. I wanted a sketch about spring, and yesterday’s post looked like the end of summer or autumn. Although I hardly ever make significant changes to paintings after I post them, I had to rework ‘Homework under a Tree.’
What was wrong with the original? First of all, I photographed the original in the evening under artificial light, giving an orange tint to the image. The lovely blues and greens of my sketch were dulled out. But retaking the photo outside, while necessary, would not be sufficient because the colors I used initially were the colors of late summer or autumn. Instead of composing my painting with colors to support my message, I had simply copied what was in front of me, including a bank of old straw reeds that had not yet grown its new spring greenery. I should have made choices that supported my message better.
I think this updated version of ‘Homework under a Tree’ with the reworked foliage, new blouses, and more defined figures conveys a stronger story.
I can’t be sure that the project these three were working on so seriously was their homework, but whatever it was, it had their full attention. I wonder, in 50 years, will these three girls look back and remember a spring day in Denmark when their friendship and a mutual project made the time fly for them.
It was a perfect spring day today in this part of Denmark, with intermittent sunshine and temperatures warm enough for comfortable sketching. This is from the nearby Hareskov woods, and I wanted to show the cheerfulness of the day in this little sketch.
I was drawing at Søndersø Lake in Denmark when some children came along and began to play in front of me. In an instant, the sketch changed from being about a spring afternoon along a lake to being about three kids having fun. I could hear bits of their Danish as they played. And although I could not understand their language, I knew that they were having a great time. And that is what I wanted to capture in this sketch.
We flew to Copenhagen three days ago. My Southern California eyes are feasting on the glorious Danish spring. Today I spent several hours in the nearby forest of Hareskov, attempting to capture the suggestion of new green that is budding all across the base of the dense woods.
I think I said in my last post that talking is our main activity, but shopping is a close contender. Oaxaca is a haven for artisans, and the streets and markets are full of beautiful textiles, wall hangings, paintings, ceramics, figurines, and clothing. Among our many purchases, our embroidered dresses are gorgeous and make us happy. I wanted to share this feeling of exuberance in this sketch.
Deliberate Sketching 