Left-handed Sketch: Black-eyed Susans

Tags

black eyed susans, Black-eyed Susan, botanical drawing, colored pencil, Derwent Aquatone, Derwent Watercolor, illustration, water-soluble colored pencil, watercolor pencil

My first left-handed sketch; Black-eyed Susans

The story behind the sketch:

When I knew I’d broken my wrist, I immediately made up my mind that if I suffered ill effects from it later on, such as arthritis, it would not stop me from doing artwork. Thus began my journey toward “ambidextrosity”.

My husband, being aware of my resolution, went out & bought me a Derwent water-soluble colored pencil sampler to encourage me. On my third day of being “one-handed”, I began this sketch from a view of our flower bed through the front door, while relaxing on the couch.

My experience in doing this sketch:

The Derwent pencils were very nice to work with. The “Watercolor” ones can give good sharp detail, and the “Aquatone” can provide a wider stroke, being a woodless pencil. I found I could both sketch &  then brush-over with water to good effect, with either type, & that the were both useful for  adding in more color & detail on damp paper. The Aquatone seem especially well-suited to dipping directly into water & applying to paper.

Working left-handed was very slow, but I think the advantage in it is that total concentration is required, which is therapeutic for me. I think it may activate un-used portions of the brain, and heighten the ability to observe as well.

It took several short work sessions for me to complete this, but that seems immaterial in comparison with the benefits I feel I received in doing it.

The technical stuff

Substrate: Canson “XL” watercolor tablet

Pencils: Derwent Aquatone & Derwent Watercolor

Size of work: Approx. 8x 10″