On The Road Getting Inspired To Sketch and Watercolor!

I went on a great trip across 3 of our southern states and saw so many things to sketch and watercolor!!!!  As I drove from east Texas through the hill country, then on to the desert it was beautiful!!!  The images I have in my head are unbelievably gorgeous as the roads rose through the hills and opened slowly into cactus, sand and sunsets.  The individual sketching subjects along the way were so interesting to capture and save for trying different techniques with, maybe charcoals or oils.  I take pictures to look back on, however, I really enjoy how my mind will ‘photograph’ the cactus or oil wells, towers, rocks, etc. and then sends that over to my minds’“sketching side” and begins to layout images of my memories.  Once I am able to lay these images on paper, and sketch with watercolors or charcoals, the pictures I create will take me all the way back to the drive and beauty I witnessed in east Texas without me having to get into my car!!!!  I love it!

Watercolor Sketching Techniques: Reviving My Sketchpad

Watercolor Sketching Techniques: Reviving My Sketchpad:

“Reviving My Sketchpad” struck me as a great title for where I am at in life.  Today, I am 57 years old and have now gotten beyond most of the wonderful chaos challenges of raising kids and letting go…(most of the time). Talking with a friend recently, he asked what my interests are and that got me thinking…me have a personal interest? When did those thoughts disappear?  Marriages?  Babies?  Schools?   Then I began to see through the cobwebs of my mind to a time that I sketched, did watercolors and oil paintings.  I also recalled the piece of serenity the artwork blessed me with in moments of life’s confusing times.

Anyway, I came up with the sketching with watercolors thought because centuries ago, I majored in Art and had a desire to draw, sketch and watercolor all of my life.  I loved attempting to recapture something I had seen or was currently looking at.  I thought the idea of a fond memory on canvas or sketchpad was much more wonderful to have ‘hanging’ around. 

Over time, I have found myself, while traveling, looking at beautiful landscapes, trees, flowers, basically anything and think, “Wow, what an interesting scene to sketch or watercolor”.  I like the idea re-creating the beautiful colors I see in the sky through using watercolor sketching.  My head would lead me into fantasizing the pictures and brilliant ideas all from just seeing a sunset.  Then my mind would say, “Aww, you will get started and then never finish” or “You don’t have time!”  So I would ease into allowing my lifestyle of busy-ness shove my sketching and watercoloring desires aside.

Well, ya know what?  It’s now or never! Now, it is my opportunity to revive those dusty talents and begin learning the new watercolor sketching   techniques offered today.  There are several artistic sketching techniques that have my attention and, besides, I am ready to re-discover that ole’ ‘artist in waiting’ again. 

I am looking forward to getting familiar once more with the various opportunities through art offered by different mediums of choice.  I hope you will give me feed back, direction and challenges as we take this trek together!

Guide to Various Sketching Materials & Techniques

What is Sketching?  Sketching is not just making lines with a pencil to represent a figurative scene. Sketching can be done with tone, line, texture, color, pen, stick and ink, pencil, charcoal, brush, pen, pastel, crayon, in fact almost any medium.

A Drawing we will consider as done in linear color, or a little tinting on a drawing, tonal work other than in paint, or textural work other than in paint. Sketching should not be considered an excuse for a bad drawing, merely a fast and perhaps looser drawing which is slightly governed by constraints in time and has to give maximum information in its limited content. Neither does sketching or drawing mean a photographically correct representation of a scene. Sketching can lean towards the abstract, even decorative.

Materials and Tools: What can we sketch with? Sand paintings are done by carefully sprinkling colored sand. A stick can make a mark in the sand on the beach, or a tattoo artist can design artwork on us.  Not only can all of these different mediums be used on their own for different effects, many can be used together. The items I’m looking at today are the most commonly used and easiest to acquire drawing materials, however, please don’t let this hold you back from creating and trying other things anytime you desire!!

Paper.  For most ordinary drawing purposes with pencils, ordinary white drawing cartridge paper is most commonly used. The term sketch pad refers, usually, to a book or pad of cartridge paper that can be easily taken anywhere for drawing. Some sketchpads or offered in different textures and weight. This is useful if  paint is to be used mildly, also, if heavy use of water with watercolors you may need to get a proper watercolor pad!  Hand made papers are expensive but can be purchased in great textures and surfaces, some including seeds and petals in their makeup. Brown paper (grocery bags?) can also be a good ground to draw on and will allow some lights as well as darks to be used.  To begin with, I’m keeping an eye on my budget and will re-start my sketching in watercolor with reasonably priced (cheap) but strong sketchpads I can quickly buy.

Sketching Pencils.  Believe it or not, pencils are not made of lead, the black coloring is Graphite. This comes in different hardness, the softer graphite giving a darker mark. They are coded with H and B grades. Think of these as standing for H for Hard and B for Black! 4B is very Black and soft 2B is not so soft, H.B. is in the middle and 4 H would be like using a needle to draw with and give a faint line. My goal for now will be to try to maintain a H.B, a 2B and a 4B in my box for drawing and shading. Softer darker pencils can be used by choosing charcoal pencils. These have a much richer blacker mark but lose the silvery depth of the graphite. A pure stick of graphite with no wood encasing is available; it is the same size as a pencil and can be sharpened in the same way. This is simply called a “graphite stick”.

Watercolor Pencils.   When using sketching with watercolor pencils there are some advantages.  Not only are you able to sketch as if using a ‘normal’ pencil, but the colors are laid out and can be damp brushed to your liking or creativeness with a more controlled application of watercolors.  The colors sketched can be enhanced or lightened as you wish.  I really am interested in exploring this particular technique!

Charcoal.  Charcoal sticks are made from thin twigs of Willow, heated with a lack of oxygen (different?). If you feel real adventurous… you could poke around in charred remains of a wood burned fire for a possible lump of charcoal to draw with. It is also possible to find a willow tree stick and roll it up completely in tinfoil and bake it in the oven.  Watch out! The smoke will be horrible in your home!  Different woods will give different effects of charcoal. I think I will simply use the “new fashion” way and go to the store or internet and purchase some!

Stick and Ink.  A piece of dowel or simply a piece of twig from a tree, which is sharpened, then dipped into a bottle of Indian ink, will draw a neat effect for a line.  When sketching moving animals or action sketches this can be great to use.

Pen and Ink.  A traditional way of drawing than if used with waterproof ink can be tinted with watercolor or colored inks at any time. New, fine line pens are now available in waterproof inks and are more easily transported and used – but their permanence is still suspect and after duration in sunlight they can tend to go brown and vanish.

Colored Pencils.  As they sound, simply colored pencils. They are usually fairly hard.

Pastel Pencils.  If softer colored pencils are required, especially for working on sugar or colored pastel paper then these will be useful.

Brush Drawing.  The brush is a wonderful drawing instrument. The Japanese have been taught to write and draw with a brush before a pencil! It gives a versatility of line that cannot be obtained any other way. Used with inks or paints both flowing and textural marks are possible.

Drawing Board, Clips/Low Tack Tape/Drawing Pins.  A board large enough to hold your paper and with a smooth surface. A piece of hardboard is cheap, will do, but a board of one inch thick is better still and it will not warp, (like an older cutting board sanded down) especially if paper is stretched wet onto it. Hardboard will not like drawing pins and is a bit thin for clips.

Rubbers. (Needing Eraser)  A rubber can be used for blending and smudging as well as rubbing out. I would advise a putty rubber as being most useful. It can be cut in half and one half kneaded into a clean point for fine rubbing out and highlights the other for getting messy and blending.

Pencil Sharpener or Knife.  Clearly you will need to sharpen your pencils.

'How To' Sketch Techniques

Have you ever seen sketches either from an artist's sketchbook or in a gallery and there drawings always look really sketchy, there's something about them that you really like and want to do as well.  Sketching isn't about drawing a likeness in a portrait or drawing things accurately, sketching is about being loose and bold and not worrying about making mistakes, letting your real feelings come out.
 
The whole point of sketching can be done in two different ways, one way is sketching as a preliminary to a painting or a finished drawing, the other way is just for the art and fun of sketching which if done with ease can really turn into a work of art by itself. When trying to capture something full of life and moving, you can only achieve this dynamic and rhythmic flow through sketching whether it is with watercolor, oil, charcoal, acrylic or any other medium.

In beginning a sketch, I will draw in scribbles and lines representing a form of the tree layout
or an area that has lights to darks, actually a ‘blueprint of the picture’ so to speak giving me
a ‘guide’ of sort to expound on. The detail looks a mess as I jiggle and jog a figure sketch and then
realize that everything is there that needs to be. Then I begin to enhance, sharpen, smooth the
sketch into the creation I have in my mind. 

To do this sort of sketching you need to relax and let yourself go and not to be afraid of making mistakes. Once you experience forming and shaping an object, try letting yourself go and lose all your inhibitions and preconceptions of what you might think sketching is all about.

By Cathy and help from Roger