This is a papercut of Blackrock on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake several miles west of Saltair. John and I several times this summer dragged our children out into the great outdoors to run around while we sketched. The first time it was out in the middle of sagebrush. The kids didn't like that too much. Betsy spent most of the time hiding in the car. She didn't like the bugs, and she was afraid of snakes. They liked going to Blackrock, however. Here was a great big rock just begging to have someone climb it. So, while John and I sketched, the kids clambered their way to the top.
Blackrock was once the sight of a popular beach along the lake shore. On top of the rock, you can still see part of the posts that held a big sign that said "Blackrock" on it. Being there now it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to swim in the water around Blackrock. The lake stinks and is covered with a layer of brine flies along the shoreline. Yes, the dark brown in the picture below is not dirt, but thousands upon thousands of flies packed tightly together. Yuck!
Blackrock was not as easy to sketch as I thought it would be. It looked so much less complicated from the freeway. Going from real life to a papercut was harder than I thought it would be also. I found that I had to separate the real thing and the papercut with several different sketches. This is not my actual sketch but a sketch of my sketch as I tried to simplify the shadows and highlights of the rock in order to translate it into a papercut.
I really enjoyed the sketching that we did this summer. Hopefully, there will be more of that in the future. My goal is to become a plein air artist who uses papercuts as a medium. Is that even possible?
This is a papercut of Blackrock on the southern shore of the Great Salt Lake several miles west of Saltair. John and I several times this summer dragged our children out into the great outdoors to run around while we sketched. The first time it was out in the middle of sagebrush. The kids didn't like that too much. Betsy spent most of the time hiding in the car. She didn't like the bugs, and she was afraid of snakes. They liked going to Blackrock, however. Here was a great big rock just begging to have someone climb it. So, while John and I sketched, the kids clambered their way to the top.
Blackrock was once the sight of a popular beach along the lake shore. On top of the rock, you can still see part of the posts that held a big sign that said "Blackrock" on it. Being there now it is hard to imagine anyone wanting to swim in the water around Blackrock. The lake stinks and is covered with a layer of brine flies along the shoreline. Yes, the dark brown in the picture below is not dirt, but thousands upon thousands of flies packed tightly together. Yuck!
Blackrock was not as easy to sketch as I thought it would be. It looked so much less complicated from the freeway. Going from real life to a papercut was harder than I thought it would be also. I found that I had to separate the real thing and the papercut with several different sketches. This is not my actual sketch but a sketch of my sketch as I tried to simplify the shadows and highlights of the rock in order to translate it into a papercut. 
I really enjoyed the sketching that we did this summer. Hopefully, there will be more of that in the future. My goal is to become a plein air artist who uses papercuts as a medium. Is that even possible?
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