Finally finished that mountain range I've been sketching since last March

I started drawing this chain of peaks in March after a hiking trip in the Smokies, and last night I added the last shadow line on the tallest summit after 15 tries to get the snow cap right.

2 comments

2 Comments

river_bailey21mo ago

Spent a whole summer getting the same ridge wrong on a drawing of the Tetons. Ended up switching from charcoal to a really fine pencil, like 0.3mm lead, so I could build up the shadows in tiny layers instead of trying to get it perfect in one go. Also started using a kneaded eraser to lift out highlights instead of leaving white paper, which made the snow look way more natural. The whole thing clicked when I stopped focusing on each individual peak and started treating the whole range as one big shape with light hitting it from one direction. That's what finally made the shadows fall right.

phoenixh741mo ago

The 0.3mm thing is key. Switched to those years ago and never looked back.