WIPS
Wood Island, about 35 acres in size, lies about two miles east of the entrance to the Saco River and less than a mile from the village known as Biddeford Pool. Biddeford Pool gets its name from a tidal inlet known simply as "The Pool," bounded by Fletcher's Neck to the south and Hills Beach to the north. The light station was completed by September 1, 1807. [[wood_island_light|More information about the Wood Island Light]]
A most noble and exhilarating prospect of sea and shore presents itself at one glance. Here, at our left, comes the Saco from its mountain home; right before us, Wood Island lights the entrance, and Stage Island breaks off the seas that come rolling in toward the river's mouth from the broad Atlantic.
-- Samuel Adams Drake, The Pine Tree Coast, 1891.
I started this project with the intention of giving the drawing as a gift. When I first started the project I drew the sketch on a 50 by 70 cm bristol paper. The sketch took about 5 hours on the larger paper. When I started laying out the way I was going to render the drawing I noticed some flaws in the paper. Because the drawing was for someone I decided to change to a smaller format.
This drawing was done on Vellum Bristol paper - 11x14 (27.94x35.56 cm) 100# (260 gsm). I used my clutch pencils with 3B, F, and 4H graphite. The sketch took around 3 hours and the drawing took me about 35 hours to draw.
I used the grid technique explained in my Grid Tip. I only laid out a minimum of keys to guide me. The detail is in the rendering. I know that one of the more enjoyable aspects of this drawing will be the spontaneous drawing of the ground cover, rock and water.
Although difficult to see in this image, I started with the sky. I laid down a layer of F. The sky is darker at the top then toward the bottom. This gradient of the sky will help to give the illusion of depth.
I then started with the light to insure to get the darkest and lightest values before drawing the house and land cover. It is important to get these values as early as possible to help keep the drawing balanced as it develops. As you can see from the highlights on the light the sun is coming from the right. This light will lighten the side of the house and put the rest of the house in dark shadow.
The house has a roof that descends in two parts. The top portion of the roof in shadow is covered with rolled tar roofing material and the extended portion with the windows is covered with cedar shingles. The siding of the house is also [[Shake_%28shingle%29|cedar shingles]]. The house is partially hidden behind the under brush as seen looking up from the ocean.
This reference photo of the keepers house shows the hidden porch and adjoining building to the light. I have intentionally left out the solar panels and other distracting details.
The Ground cover is typical of an Atlantic Ocean island in that the shore line is often protected by large rock formations covered with seaweed. Above the shore line is long sea grass that is an ideal hiding place for sea birds and their nests. As we approach the land mass of the island it is covered with low growth of bushes, grasses, rocks and other land cover. Beware, you don't walk on an island without proper shoes and long pants. Oh and don't forget your hat too, there are all kinds of wet and smelling things falling from the sky.
The lobster boat and water are produced with 3B, F and 4 H. The steps to drawing the water were to:
- Lay down 2 layers of 3B graphite
- Start to mark the dark part of the small waves
- Pull out the light part of the wave with Bluetak
- Go over the area with F graphite and spontaneously carve the wave detail.
- Use the Bluetak to pull out the high lights of the foam near the shore and around the boat.
The boat was pretty basic but I need to give the lobsterrman some detail even though he is quite small on the drawing. I decided to give him a wool hat and a leather apron. If you look closely you should be able to make out these small details. I try to add just enough clues to fool the brain into thinking these things are there without try to actually draw them.
To finish the drawing I go back over the entire drawing with F Graphite and 4 H graphite for light areas. I will also darken some of the dark areas where necessary. I could tweak the piece forever but at some point it is necessary to say DONE.
Total drawing time for the smaller version was around 30 hours.
After drawing this version of the Wood Island Light, I decided that I needed to go back to the larger version for the gift. Here is a photo of the 70cm by 50cm version. As you can see, the clouds rolled in between versions. The drawing time for this version was around 60hours.
