Sketching everyday things

Lately, I’ve been revisiting books and artists who inspire me. One such book and artist is The Art of the Affair - An Illustrated History Of Love, Sex, and Artistic Influence by Catherine Lacey and illustrated by Forsyth Harmon. The book is a delightful read - full of information and gossip about writers, artists, and other celebrities from the Jazz Age. But, what I really love about it are the watercolor and ink illustrations by Forsyth Harmon. She uses black pen lines to give definition to the illustrations but does most of her shading with layers of watercolors. Truly inspirational.

I attempted a few Sktchy-inspired portraits with her style in mind. Needless to say, her style is very difficult to replicate!

For our Christmas card this year

In reasearching Forsyth’s work, I discovered her still lifes on her website. I love these drawings of everyday items that seem to have so much beauty and personality to them. It was so eye opening to me to discover so many subjects for art all around me. I also saw the challenge of finding beauty in things that are so commonplace and ordinary that you never really look at them, much less find beauty in them.

So, I decided to start sketching my everyday items around me - starting with Forsyth’s book.

A digital drawing using Procreate and my Apple Pencil

A favorite snack - also done with Procreate and my Apple Pencil

I think I am hooked on drawing the everyday items around me! Have you tried drawing the most mundane, boring items around you?

Stay tuned for my next post on working in Procreate and animating my drawings with Sketchbook Motion.

Getting Back to Sktchy and Exploring Different Media

After coming back home from the Urban Sketcher's Symposium in Chicago - which was hugely inspiring - I had recommitted myself to getting outside and sketching. But, now that I've been back home for over a month and the kids are back in school, I've decided to get back into sketching some portraits from Sktchy and trying some different styles and media.

Here are some recent pieces inspired by the Sktchy app using watercolor with no underdrawing (for the most part):

I've been enjoying going straight to watercolor with no underdrawing, but I wondered if I shouldn't abandon my older style of drawing first in ink and then adding watercolor. So, I decided to attempt the same portrait in my old style.

Which do you prefer? I've gotten mixed responses on Instagram - with a few more likes for this one with watercolor and ink.

Inspired by James Gurney, I decided to try out using the casein paint set that I picked up at the Urban Sketcher's Symposium in Chicago.

Casein in a milk based paint that used to be very popular with illustrators and designers in the 1930s. It is opaque, yet can also be used watered down like watercolors. It is similar to gouache, yet when it dries, it can be painted over without reactivating the older layers. James Gurney has almost single-handedly brought casein back into modern popularity, so when I saw this 12 color set offered in a wooden box on sale at USK Chicago (at a reduced price from when you can get it for on Amazon), I had to get it!

I struggled a lot with this portrait, but in the end, I quite like it. Another example of needing to quiet my inner critic (monkey).

Next, I tried a technique that James Gurney uses quite often - starting with a casein underpainting and using gouache on top.

I feel like I have so much to learn from all of these different types of media! I definitely love using watercolor, but it is nice to mix it up and use ink with watercolor, or an opaque media like gouache or casein.

What do you think? Do you stick with one primary media? If so, which one? If not, what do you like to use and when/why? I'd love to hear!

LK Bing's USK Chicago Symposium Workshop: Spontaneous Creation of Dramatic Atmosphere

Today, I am revisiting the excellent workshop I took with LK Bing at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago last month. I love LK's watercolors - they are so full of emotion and atmosphere that I was really excited for his workshop. The full title of the workshop was "Spontaneous Creation of Dramatic Atmosphere: How to Apply Lighting Concepts with Artistic Strokes."

I attended LK's workshop as my second workshop on Friday morning. As with all of the workshops, we met our instructors at Grant Park and walked over to the location LK selected for us near the Chicago Board of Trade building. LK was very generous with the supplies and instruction he provided us - which included: (a) a printed color booklet/handout with stated learning goals, workshop schedule, his supplies and tools, and his step by step process; (b) three water soluble Snowman markers; (c) two 9 x 12 cm thumbnail cards that are made of mounting boards; and (d) a bamboo knife.

The supplies provided to workshop attendees by LK Bing (the thumbnail cards were provided blank - but these are mine after the workshop)

The learning goals of the workshop were as follows:

In this workshop, the participants will acquire understanding of the techniques of how to make a sketching composition artistically and speedily through:

Applying lighting concepts and depth to express atmosphere.
Creating spontaneous and artistic strokes.
Making value study in order to look for the best composition and to build a library of best compositions for future reference.
Understanding on tools and materials which helps to speed up and simplify the creation of quality sketches.

First, LK showed us his supplies and tools as well as his own sketches and thumbnails. He then proceeded to demonstrate his process of first drawing compositional value thumbnails. Here is a video I shot of LK's demo.

Following LK's thumbnail demo, we set off to try our own. I was able to do the two you see in the above photo of the supplies provided to us. LK came by and gave us individual tips and comments. Thereafter, LK demo'ed painting his full size sketch, reminding us to reserve the white of the paper for highlights. Here is an admittedly unprofessional video I took of LK's demo.

Here is LK's final sketch.

We then set out to do our own sketches with LK's helpful comments. For instance, LK gave me the advice to try to reserve more white space in my sketch, but I could still add in some white watercolor or gouache (or even pastel) later. Here is my final sketch from the workshop.

The view of the Chicago Board of Trade I was sketching

I continued using LK's water soluble pen and his methods to sketch during my time at the USK Chicago Symposium and found it really helpful in speeding up my sketching and loosening up my style. Here are some examples of my sketches from Chicago using LK's teachings.

A sketch I did during an evening architectural boat tour

Our last sketch crawl - this sketch was done in 15 minutes

My sketch with the lovely baristas at Hero Coffee Bar

Sketching on the "El" back to O'Hare Airport

Today, I revisited LK's teachings and used his water soluble pen to do these sketches while waiting.

a sketch of Mount Diablo at the intersection of Ygnacio Valley & North Broadway

I have yet to capture the atmospheric quality and emotion of LK's work, but I will keep practicing. I love how quickly I can sketch with this method and will keep working at it. Thanks again for a great workshop, LK!

Me and LK at the final photo session of the USK Symposium

Stay tuned for my future posts on the workshops I took with Marion Rivolier and Liz Steel, as well as the demo by Stephanie Bower - all from the USK Symposium in Chicago.

Marc Holmes' Watercolor Silhouettes USK Symposium Workshop

My first workshop at the recent Urban Sketchers Symposium in Chicago was one of the most sought after at the Symposium this year. Somehow, I was lucky enough to have gotten into Marc Holmes Watercolor Silhouettes workshop on the first morning of worskshops.

I have already taken a Marc's two Craftsy classes (Sketching People in Motion & Travel Sketching in Mixed Media) and found them to be excellent in terms ofdrawing, watercolor, and urban sketching techniques. I highly recommend them. If you access the courses through Marc's website, you can get a 50% discount on the course. I also really enjoyed his book, The Urban Sketcher: Techniques for Seeing and Drawing on Location.

In this Marc's books and Craftsy courses, he progresses from drawing in pencil to ink and adding watercolor, to going straight to watercolor with no underdrawing. His workshop is a continuation of this progression. Marc has generously posted a handout, An Exercise in Direct Sketching: The Broken Silhouette, from his workshop online . Marc summarizes the goal of the workshop as follows:

THE IDEA IS SIMPLY: Sketch with a brush, straight onto dry white paper, with rich, juicy mixes of paint, picked up as directly as possible from the paint box.

Marc explained this to us as a way to not only draw with your brush, but to create solid shapes at the same time with exciting watercolor effects.

Marc showing us an urban sketch of the elevated train in Chicago

Then, he demonstrated painting a positive shape using this techniques. Here's some video of his demo.

I didn't really understand what Marc wanted in my first try - he wanted more outlining the shape with the brush and filling it it in with lively watercolor mixes. Here, I just added a wash over the statue of the horse and rider.

In my next few attempts, I did a little better with Marc's concepts.

We practiced painting the negative shapes around the statue and then added the shadow shapes within the figure

My final sketch - a panorama of the Chicago skyline and the elevated train - but I ran out of time.

The workshop was wonderful and Marc gave us so much to think about and to practice. I revisited his handout and concepts the other day and worked on using his first technique (painting a positive, isolated shape) to practice painting cars and people (with which I always struggle)!

I started with the parked car on the right and then attempted cars driving towards me on the left

Here, I started with the people and then added the background building

Yesterday, I attempted Marc's other technique - drawing with a background (negative shapes) at the Lafayette reservoir. I definitely need more practice painting negative shapes - so this was fun.

I will keep practicing Marc's techniques over the next few days and will also revisit each one of the amazing workshops I took at the USK Symposium in Chicago. Stay tuned!

Learning from Cathy Johnson

After taking Cathy Johnson's Sketchbook Skool Seeing klass, I picked up a couple of Cathy Johnson's books from the library: Creating Nature in Watercolor an Artist's Guide and Watercolor Pencil Magic. I loved both of these books so much, I purchased Cathy Johnson's Artist's Sketchbook - Exercises and Techniques for Sketching on the Spot from Amazon.

I can't recommend these books more. Cathy is so inspirational and shows that there are an infinite subjects to sketch! Here are some of my recent sketches inspired by Cathy's teachings.

Trailing lantana from my yard and fountain grass from a Broadway Plaza

A recently purchased air plant in watercolor and ink

Trying different mark making methods

I am addicted to taking online art classes. I am planning on doing a blog post reviewing all of the classes I've taken both at Sketchbook Skool and on Craftsy. But for now, I will just talk a little about one of the classes I'm taking - Paul Heaston's Pen and Ink Essentials on Craftsy.

Paul is a master at pen and ink drawings - especially with hatching. For my homework (for this class and Koosje Koene's Sketchbook Skool's Seeing klass drawing selfies), I drew myself using the scribble method of mark making and indicating value.

I really liked this method of mark making as it got me to loosen up and really just pay attention to values, rather than lines.

Next, I used the basket texture technique in another selfie value study. Both of these drawings were done from a black and white selfie photo.

I also liked this method, though it is more deliberate and time consuming. But, it did help me concentrate just on values.

What do you think of these mark making methods? Have you tried them?

Urban Sketching using Marc Taro Holmes's Techniques

I have been loving Marc Taro Holmes's Craftsy classes, Sketching People in Motion and Travel Sketching in Mixed Media. I love how he understands the constraints of urban sketching - especially when people are moving, you're on vacation and your family wants to keep moving, etc. To sketch people in motion, Marc teaches us how to capture gestures quickly with pencil and then move onto fountain pens, brush pens, and watercolors. In terms of travel sketching, Marc teaches us to do single line drawings, then 5-7 line drawings (cinq à sept), use shading and brush pens, watercolors, and eventually, watercolors alone.

I recently practiced these techniques in my hometown, Walnut Creek.

Liberty Bell Plaza -- Main St. & Mt. Diablo Blvd. — Liberty Bell Plaza -- Main St. & Mt. Diablo Blvd.

And practiced these urban sketching techniques using photographs from Sktchy.

I followed Marc's demonstration using watercolors only

I practiced sketching people in motion at Chloe's gymnastic show.

New Craftsy Class!

A Sketchbook Skool and Instagram friend, Minjoo Yoon, who is also a lawyer-turned-artist, posted a beautiful urban sketch and said that it was based on a class she was taking through Craftsy from James Richards. I had to check it out!

Minjoo was taking Essential Techniques for Sketching the Energy of Places with James Richards. I signed up and immediately downloaded the video lessons and started in. James is a great urban sketcher and he gives so many helpful tips that I never would have thought of - including drawing from a one point perspective using a single eyeline as a basis point and shorthand tips for capturing people and crowds. Truly mind-blowing!

I didn't get a chance to go out on location to try his techniques yet, but I did practice them on an urban photo from Sktchy.