Fig Tree in Fall

I am continuing to sketch a lot with my Neocolor II watercolor crayons. I think they are a good match to the paper in the Stillman & Birn Alpha series sketchbooks; I really like using the 7” × 7” Alpha sketchbook and a new one of these just arrived for me today.

Here is a sketch of the yellow leaves on our fig tree which I did as an experiment in sketching light subjects against a dark background. This is very hard to do in watercolor without resorting to various forms of masking. I’m pleased with how this turned out via drawing with the watercolor crayons and activating the pigments with a small wet paintbrush to create the wash. The crayons I used were lemon yellow and yellow for the leaves, umber, light gray, and white for the branches, and emerald green and Payne’s gray for the leafy backdrop.