Braving Bradgate.

Just a quick update this week because there is another (slightly different) post coming tomorrow. This week was the 'infamous Bradgate Park Game Art romp'. And yeah it was pretty horrible. It was worse for the Monday group but on Tuesday it was still not a lot of fun. Huddling over your sketchbook to keep it dry while you desperately try to scribble down something legible is...difficult working conditions. 

Still, it was a bonding experience I guess and I had some really tasty white chocolate flapjack from the local cafe so it wasn't all bad. The park itself is very interesting and in a way reminded me a lot of Dartmoor back home. The diversity in the trees is astonishing and the whole park is inhabited by vast numbers of deer.

Thanks to the rain, wind and some distracting wildlife; I only got about half my work done so I organised a second trip to the park on Thursday. With 2, 8 seater taxi's booked for 10am and a promising forecast; it was set to be a good day. Happily everyone turned up on time and after a short taxi ride we were greeted with a completely different scene...

Compared with Tuesday, it was a wonderfully successful and productive day. I got my thumbnails done in no time and just being out in the countryside in the sun felt like a treat. I'm also really happy with my final piece. While I could have spent more time detailing it, I felt like I reached a point where I was overworking it and I'd already sunk enough time into the drawing.

I applied what I learned last week and arrived at a drawing that effectively demonstrates my understanding of atmospheric perspective. While shading and lighting were my primary focus this week, I was careful not to neglect other fundamental lessons. To improve the drawing I could've spent more time detailing the rocks and working up the textures. Next week I will try and improve my drawing speed as usual but focus on allocating my time better.