Monday, May 23, 2022

The Charcoal Grain Elevator

 


When I was a teenager I liked drawing in charcoal. Yesterday I picked up a charcoal pencil for the first time since then, and I drew the great grain elevator at Gallagher Pier.

I was at the outer harbor with my brother Tony and as we were talking, sitting at a picnic table, that is when I drew the grain elevator.

It felt really good to draw with charcoal again!

Like ink, there is no erasing. Different from ink, however, you do not sweat it. When I am drawing in ink I really do take time, at least at first, to plan every line. With the charcoal, I think it was because I had a small piece of paper -- I was using my Long and Narrow sketchbook -- there was not a lot of room for detail. So I just went with it. I absolutely did not sweat it. I was surprised I ended up liking my drawing. I thought I was just horsing around.

Something is fitting about drawing an industrial building with charcoal. It just calls out for it, you know?

Now I have to get a charcoal pad. 

Haha ... I never can remember the name of this particular grain elevator, as many millions of times as I have sketched it. I just Googled it, and what came up? My own ink drawing of it. One of them, anyway.

It is the Cargill Pool Grain Elevator, at least that is the name I went with.

The ink sketch is very different from the charcoal sketch. That particular ink drawing is the most delicate drawing I have ever done. It is a line drawing. I left it that way because I liked it.

I also like it in charcoal.

Rough and ready!

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