An Urbansketching Field Guide

TIPS AND TRICKS TUESDAY - By Angie Hauch

I LOVE to draw in nature. When I'm outside, I never run out of inspiration.  The solitude and tranquility of the outdoors allow me the luxury of close observation.  And when I'm not satisfied with my reference or imagination, I turn to a nature field guide to fill in the gaps and give me some background behind the beauty of what I'm drawing. 

In the past couple of years, I've expanded my sketch-cersizing to urban settings.  Traffic, commotion, claustrophobia, and the anxiety of drawing in public can quickly cloud the beauty the city has to offer.  It's not always easy to experience the same natural peacefulness when drawing in an urban setting.  When I feel the frustrations of urbansketching setting in, I've found it helpful to mimic my outdoor art-making rituals.

Field Notes # 1  Getting Started

Often I start by... simply starting!  I walk around a bit, but I don't let myself get caught up seconding guessing the location, scenery, or problematic perspective... I just start. In this image, I drew the house "blindly" if you will, not thinking about what was important.  After looking at the sketch postmortem, I wanted to know more about the meter reader.   On the following page, I zeroed in on my subject of interest and tried out a few texture techniques.

Field Notes # 2  Challenge Yourself with a Close Up

When my sketch starts to develop, there's usually something; an object, or person, or area on the page that I keep coming back to.  Sometimes I overdevelop it, sometimes under... not knowing exactly how to translate the imagery into my book. Subconsciously in almost every sketch, there is something my brain is forcing my eyes to re-examine.  Instead of overworking an area, work out your curiosity on a new page, or utilize the blank space of your page to create a collage of close ups.  Field guides often revisit an idea multiple times on one page showing different sizes, angles, and levels of detail.

Field Notes # 3  It's art, not science.

If you haven't picked up a field guide in a while, go check one out at the library.  

  

The detailed line work and accuracy of field guide sketches are simply amazing, but don't let them intimidate you!  These books are meant to be factual and scientific.  As urbansketchers, we have the liberty of interpretation.  Don't miss out on the potential for growth because you want your page to look pretty or professional.  An artist's sketchbook/field guide might include things like color palettes, ink splats, texture try-outs, and value scales.  

In this image I needed to see the palette literally right on the page.  Even after drawing 8 tomatoes, I still wanted to show something even more bulbous. 

What would be in your field guide? Comment below and share your sketches!

Why and How of the Waterbrush

Tuesday Tips & Tricks:

Have Brush, Will Travel

There are countless little things to be thankful for every day. One of the little things for me is the waterbrush. I don’t know who invented the waterbrush or remember who introduce it to me, but I owe them a debt of gratitude! It is my go-to-brush whenever I’m traveling or sketching on location. In the studio, I use a variety of brushes, but out-and-about, it’s a waterbrush for me. There are quite a few brands out there. They all work in the much the same way, similar, though not exactly, to a fountain pen.

How to Use a Waterbrush 

The brush has three main parts:

1. The plastic barrel that contains the water reservoir.
2. The screw on ferrule connects the bristles to the water supply
3. The cap keeps the water from leaking.

Need more water to moisten the paint in the pans, to make the paint run, or to wet the paper to paint wet-on-wet? To increase the flow of water to the brush just squeeze the plastic barrel! It’s that simple. Want to change colors and clean your brush? Squeeze the barrel and wipe the brush on a tissue or paper towel. I use the cuff of an old white sock. I wear it on my wrist. With a little practice controlling the flow becomes second nature.

Filling the brush varies a little from brand to brand. Some you just unscrew the barrel and hold it under running water. Others use the suction principle. Squeeze the barrel, submerge the opening in a glass of water and release. Easier yet, hold the barrel under running water, squeeze and release. It’s surprising how much water the barrel holds and how long it lasts.

Benefits of the Waterbrush 

“Keep it simple” is one of my mantras and when you’re sketching on location you can’t beat the convenience of the waterbrush. I don't leave home without it. There's no need to carry around an extra water supply for clean water. The cap protects the bristles and fits on the end of the barrel to lessen the chance of losing it. Waterbrushes are available from art supply stores including Dick Blick, Cheap Joe’s, and Jerry’s Artarama.

Do you have an art supply that you’re really thankful for? Tell us about it!

How I started sketching in public

Tuesday Tips and Tricks

I discovered Urban Sketching in 2009. This whole idea blew my mind! I subscribed to Urban Sketchers blog, friended Pete Scully, Rob Carey, Gabi Campanario. Then I bought a sketchbook. I wanted to sketch this city and its people and its happenings. I wanted to sit in cafes and draw, go to museums and work in my sketchbook. I wanted to be a part of that, but I was afraid. 

If you ask me now what I was afraid of, it would be hard for me to formulate exactly. I suppose I was afraid of being judged. I was afraid that people would look at my drawings while I sit there in public and recognize me for a fake that I am. I was a afraid of failure, my drawings never came out like what I meant them to be, instead of beautiful proportions and delicate value gradations, my results looked grotesque and wonky. Plus, I never went to art school and thought that it would be immediately obvious to anyone who looks at my scribbles. Aaaaa-nd, when I was in the middle school, my father did all my art homework because I was too busy with my math and history. You see - I had many reasons. I can probably remember a few more if I concentrate.

So I would go to the Art Institute, my sketchbook in my bag, and walk gallery after gallery trying to summon my courage to sit down and draw something. And then I would go home with my sketchbook having never left my bag. Weeks passed, then months.

That one Tuesday I was in the Art Institute again and heard uncharacteristic noise coming from the main Impressionist gallery. I went there to see what’s going in. There were kids there, 2nd graders, having their art class in the museum. About 40 kids, very loosely chaperoned by their art teachers, were sitting on benches, lying on the floor and copying Monet and Renoir and Degas and Cezanne onto sheets of paper. They were laughing, squealing, pushing each other and having enormous fun. When they saw that I was interested in their drawings, they gathered around me and started showing me their masterpieces. The drawings were what you would expect of a 2nd grader equipped with a #2 pencil and a sheet of printer paper. The fun that filled the gallery was over the top. They were so happy and proud of their work! And I was almost crying from envy. I too wanted to be part of that. How come they are not afraid, I thought. How come they are having so much fun, and I am about to leave the Art Institute with my sketchbook still unopened in my bag. Enough!

I walked to the right of the main Impressionist gallery, sat on a bench and got my sketchbook out of my bag.

Gaston Lachaise - Woman (Elevation) - Bronze - 1927. Art Institute of Chicago 

Nobody laughed. Actually nobody paid any attention. In a few days I came back and drew again. No-one cared.

Randolph Rogers - Nydia, The Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii - Marble - 1858. Art Institute of Chicago

I went to a local coffee shop and sketched a view from the window. A man looked over my shoulder and said, “You are so brave to draw in public like that, I don’t have the guts.” I thought, “If only you knew!”

Color - Part 3 - Contrast

Tuesday Tips and Tricks

I hope you remember that we started talking about color theory in previous TTT posts. It was a little while ago, so I will remind you with links: Color - Part 1 and Color - Part 2. Today we will continue talking about color and will discuss contrast.

Contrast is an easy concept to understand. Renaissance painters mainly used value contrast; the Impressionists relied on temperature contrasts. But there are more contrasting relationships available to artists, we will talk about severn different ones.


1. Hue Contrast

Strong intense colors placed side by side produce powerful and dramatic contrast. Children and artists working in style called Primitivism use this contrast very effectively. Use as many colors as you like as long as they are pure and bright. If you add an olive green or a mustard yellow to the mix, the combination will stop working.

Hue contrast

2. Value Contrast

The squares with greater value contrast capture attention. The lighter squares seem to be filled with light and darker squares appear somber.

Value contrast

3. Color Key

Color key brings drama to artwork. High-key colors, like tints and middle tones at the lighter end of the value scale, are usually pure colors that suggest bright illumination, making the work cheerful and optimistic. Low-key colors, such as low-intensity and dark values, indicate dim illumination, create serious, sad or pensive mood.

Sketch in high color key by Alex Zonis

4. Intensity Contrast

Pure color stands out against neutral gray and low intensity background. The contrast decreases against the same hue background

Intensity contrast

5. Complementary Contrast

Complementary colors are the opposites on the color wheel. Placed side by side they enhance each other. Mixed together as paint they neutralize each other. Tertiary complements make unusual color combinations as they are less common.

Complementary contrast

6. Temperature Contrast

It may sound strange to talk about temperature of color. However experiments demonstrated a difference of 5-7 degrees in subjective feeling of warm and cold in rooms painted blue-green and red-orange. On the color wheel Red-orange is the warmest color and blue-green is the coolest. We can achieve multiple effects working with color temperature:

Cold - Warm

Shadow - Sun

Sleepy - Awake

Airy - Earthy

Far - Near

Light - Heavy

Wet - Dry

Impressionists relied on temperature contrast rather than value contrast to suggest light. Warm and cool contrast provides movement around the form, because warm colors appear to come forward and cool colors recede into the background.

Temperature contrast

7. Quantity Contrast

Quantity contrast is a powerful visual tool and one of my favorites to use. It is like an exclamation point in language, used right it is very expressive and impossible to miss.

Henry Matisse - Icarus

The Gift of Foresight

Give yourself the gift of foresight.

Sometimes in urban sketching we stumble upon something that needs to be captured in the moment. Other times we know a general type of thing on our sketching menu. For instance you might consider that you'll be in public transit a good deal for the next few days or perhaps you know you're meeting a friend in a park with joggers.

When you know what type of thing is coming, give yourself the gift of foresight. What does that mean? Well mainly it means taking time between sketches to practice techniques for capturing something you anticipate seeing.

Do you struggle with quick sketches of people? Does your lighting source chance too often in a long sketch? Do you have trouble scaling objects on your page?

If you know an area you struggle with is on your sketching menu take a little time and practice at home. By giving yourself a set time to practice one of your trouble areas on a something in your house or even from a photograph you can try out new techniques without the pressure of your subject escaping.

Bent-nib fountain pen sketch

This weekend many of us will be meeting up at Cloud Gate – The Bean – and frankly sketching reflective metal is not high on my skill list.

So one evening I found a metal water bottle and tried out a few different techniques for capturing the reflective element that always alludes me. This time I only worked with techniques I generally use for sketch outings. While there are benefits to trying new techniques, I wanted to see what was and wasn't working with my standard methods.

watercolor without sketch guides

First I worked only with a "bent-nib" fountain pen (by Sailor) loaded with black ink. Next I tried watercolor in only black and blue and without a base sketch. Finally I sketched the bottle again with a fountain pen and wet the ink with a touch of blue watercolor to see how the colors would shade.

Fountain pen sketch with watercolor

Trying out several techniques on the same object helped me pin point the strengths in certain approaches so that when Saturday rolls around I'll be better prepared to sketch without hesitation.

Have you every planned ahead when it comes to what you practice? What else do you like to practice before a sketch outing?

Urban Sketching Inspiration and Social Media

Tuesday Tips and Tricks 

Where do you find artistic inspiration?  How do you pick the perfect sketchbook, pen, watercolor palette, or travel sketch kit?   Looking for books on Urban Sketching?  (Yes, there are books on urban sketching.  In fact, many of them, filled with incredible sketches from all around the world).  How do you connect with the global sketching community?  Whether you are a veteran sketcher or completely new to urban sketching, this post will introduce you to all of the different ways that USk Chicago uses social media, outside of the Facebook group.  USk Chicago has a blog, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest account.  Each account is used in a slightly different way to help you develop your skills, provide you with resources, and connect you to our local and global sketching communities.

As an artist and urban sketcher myself, I have found social media extremely beneficial to my artistic growth.  I use social media on a daily basis.  I encourage you to read below for a brief introduction to the accounts, a brief summary about what each account is used for, how to use each account, and how your participation with them can help create “buzz” for our Chicago community and for this summer’s Sketch Seminar.

BLOG (http://urbansketchers-chicago.blogspot.com/)
If you are reading this, you've found our blog.  This blog is managed and regularly updated by several contributors from our group.  If you are new to the group, this is the perfect place to learn about Urban Sketchers, find contact information, learn how to participate with our Chicago chapter and read several of our ongoing series of posts.

Here are several of the ongoing post series:

-TTT (Tuesday Tips and Tricks) – This is the newest addition to our blog.  Each Tuesday we post a new tip related to sketching.
-Sketchcrawls – After each sketch meet, we post pictures and a short re-cap from the event.

-Miscellaneous announcements/ updates / information

TWITTER (https://twitter.com/usk_chicago)
Follow @USk_Chicago

Twitter is a short form blog where users make posts called "tweets".  Tweets are 140 characters or less.  Users can be followed by other users, and can follow other user's tweets.  When someone you follow posts a tweet, it will show up in your news feed and vice versa.

What it's used for:

• announcements (new blog posts, sketch events, sketch seminar updates etc...)
• following other people, groups or organizations (individual urban sketchers, other urban sketchers groups, artists communities)
• post text or photos ("tweet")
• sharing other's posts ("re-tweet")

How it's used:

• tweet from mobile device 
• tweet from computer

Examples of Tweets

• "Heading out to sketch with @USk_Chicago today"
• "A sketch from today's @USk_Chicago sketch meet"
• "Found this @USk_Chicago blog post helpful"

Re-Tweet
A re-tweet shares another user's tweet with your followers.  For example, USk Chicago could re-tweet one of your tweets like the ones above.  If you have a personal sketch blog and we follow you on twitter, once you announce a new blog post, USk Chicago can re-tweet your tweet announcement.

Hash tag (#)
Hash tags make your post searchable and will create buzz and increase readership for you and USk Chicago.

• When a hash tag is placed in front of a word, that word is sent to a virtual pool of search terms that can be viewed by anyone searching for that word.
• For example, #urbansketchers.  Other urban sketchers around the world use this hash tag when they tweet.
• When you search #urbansketchers you will find thousands of other tweets related to urban sketching.

INSTAGRAM (https://instagram.com/uskchicago)
Follow @USKCHICAGO

Instagram is another type of short form blog dedicated to posting and viewing photographs and short video clips.  Unlike Facebook where you can make folders to organize images, an instagram account hold all of your photos in one location.  You can be followed by other uses, and you can search for people to follow.  Several USk Chicago members have already started using Instagram and share their sketches here.  

How it's used

• Download Instagram App on your smart phone
• Instagram your urban sketches or pictures from sketch meets 
• Hash tag your posts with #USKCHICAGO (and other sketching related tags) in the caption.
• Mention USk Chicago in your post with @USKCHICAGO.  This notifies USk Chicago that you made a post related to USk Chicago.

PINTEREST (http://www.pinterest.com/USkChicago/)
Follow "USkChicago"Pinterest is essentially an electronic bulletin board.  USk Chicago's Pinterest account is filled with different sections (called "boards") where several of our administrators regularly pin and re-pin everything urban sketching related.  For example, USk Chicago has a board called "Books We Like." Here we pin books related to urban sketching and art techniques.  Another popular board is the "Sketching Tools" board.  Here we post all sorts of ideas of different pens, paints, paper.  The highlight of this board is all of the creative sketch travel kits that people create.  There are tons and tons of ideas to help you research and investigate all of the different "sketching tools" there are to chose from.  Some of the other boards we pin to are "Urban Sketchers Global," "Urban Sketchers Chicago," "Tuesday Tips and Tricks," "Hints and How to's, and "On the Road Sketching."  

How it's used

• download the Pinterest App on your smart phone or use on the computer.
• Follow Urban Sketchers Chicago's boards.  Every time USk Chicago adds a new pin to one of their boards, it will also show up in your news feed.  
• If you like the pin, you can re-pin it to one or your own boards.  
• Create a board with you own urban sketchers.  Let us know that you have an account so we can begin to follow you and re-pin your sketches.
• Pinterest rewards activity.  Images, repins, likes and comments affect where images appear and the amount of exposure they get.  Images with a title are more likely to be repinned.  More followers=more power.

What to pin (just a few ideas to get you started)

• Your sketches
• Other's sketches
• Tutorials
• Books you like
• Your sketching kit

If you are completely new to our community and to these social media accounts, I hope you find this post helpful.  Please comment below or email us with any questions you have at urbansketcherschicago@gmail.com.  We will be more than happy to answer questions or help you get set up.

Andrew Banks