Sketching the Holidays

In a few weeks we'll be thinking about 2016 and what we want to change or how we want to improve our sketching practice in the next year. But right now, it can feel like the worst time of the year for sketching.

Here are a few tips to help you reconsider your reasons for not sketching this Holiday season.

"I'm going to be traveling a lot…"

Perfect! 

Sketch of girl waiting at Midway Airport

Airports are famously good places for the Urban Sketcher to capture scenes. Whether you sketch other passengers waiting to board, people running past your boarding area to their own flights, your in-flight snack, or something else you spy, air plane travel is a great time to sketch.

collage of faces from a looong car ride

If you're traveling by bus or riding in the car, you're also in luck. This can be a great time to practice quickly capturing people. One year on our long drive home I filled a notebook page with faces of the drivers and passengers of the cars around us. Or if people aren't your cup of tea, why not make thumbnails of the landscapes whizzing past? (Please don't try to draw while driving. I know it is tempting, but it's not worth it!)

"I'll just be sitting around with family or something…"

Lovely!

If you'll be seated around a table for hours, why not use paper place mats? Less washing for the household, and great opportunities to sketch those around you. As an added bonus, other folks around the table might want to make their own renderings of the company!

When we celebrate holidays with my husband's family things go back and forth between wild, when all twenty-something folks are in a single room, and quiet in the evenings or mornings while folks are sitting around talking. If you're at similar events, take advantage of those times: try gesture drawings of the full moments and more thoughtful sketches when things quiet down.

Sketch of Grandpop in between stories

"I don't feel comfortable just drawing people I'm in the room with…"

I was just studying shoes, but the dog stole the show!

Well, part of being an Urban Sketcher is overcoming your fear of sketching in public. But, if you need some extra help this year, why not try having a theme? Maybe make this a time to practice drawing the folds in clothing, or maybe more specifically the way pants fold near the shoe. If you have a hard time with hair, sketch everyone's hair. You won't have to worry about trying faces or hands (unless that's what you want to focus on!) but you'll be helping yourself feel more comfortable with drawing people in the future.



Ok, so you really, really can't draw anything on anyone this year? Urban Sketching isn't just about people, so why not try another approach. Instead of sketching the people in the room, why not sketch the room. Just remember, when we sketch, we're telling a story about the place. So, leave in the crumpled wrapping paper or even the dirty dishes on the table.

Do you have a plan for sketching the Holidays? If so, I'd love to hear it & either way, I'm looking forward to seeing glimpses of what your Holidays look like over in our Facebook group, or on Instagram.

Who Reflections Show

So you like sketching on public transportation?

As some of you know, Ted Gordon hosted a great class at the 2015 Summer Seminar on Urban Sketching Undercover. He had great tips on how to sneak a sketch in public.

Ballpoint pen sketch from Red Line train

But what happens when you end up with a window seat on the bus or train and a neighbor who is blocking your view of everyone else?


If it also happens to be night or just dark, look out your window because you are in luck!

Wait – what?

Because CTA buses and trains have lights on the inside, the windows reflect what is around you. It isn't a perfect mirror, but it's a great way to get in a bus sketch. If your neighbor is blocking the view, this distortion can be especially helpful as it will often stretch the view to include more of the bus than you could comfortably see without it!

In the photos above you can see a  sample reflection from the bus window one evening. Notice that in these two photos there are at least three subjects for sketching without having to sketch the back of a bunch of heads! 

 This technique is also helpful when someone is starting to suspect that you might be sketching them, just look out the window for a bit and sketch them from there!

Sketch from bus Jan. 2015

 In this sketch the fellow started suspect that I was sketching him. By the time I finished he was a lot more than suspecting and had actually taken photos of me sketching him!

He was a great sport about it and we discussed the importance of the arts over a cup of coffee the next day (Meeting great people is an amazing benefit of Urban Sketching). But for some people that sounds terrifying. Even if it doesn't sound terrifying, there are times when you'd just prefer not to be noticed, right?

Well as you might be able to tell, this gentleman was sitting in the same spot as the fellow in the driver's hat from the photos above. If I had realized it at the time, I could have sketched him from his reflection instead and avoided the encounter. Neat, huh?



So what about if it's bright out? Well, as far as I can tell you're just out of luck if it's a sunny day. Do you know otherwise? If you have any tricks for gaining a sketch-able view by day, I'd love to hear them!

Architecture Guides & the Urban Sketcher

Ever felt overwhelmed with everything around you while you're Urban Sketching? Or maybe despite everything going on around you, you can't seem to see a story in your surroundings?

When I'm stuck at either of these extremes I find that an architecture guide can change what I see. Whether by focusing in my attention like a microscope, or giving me a sense of something larger like a telescope, the context these guides provide revitalize the city to me.

Ooooh, there's a helicopter landing on that building!

Chicago offers several guided architecture tours that walk, ride, kayak or segway around the city. These options can be rich with hidden stories about the city, but as a part of a group, you can't stop and sketch whenever you like.

Thankfully there are other great options!

Books:
There are always standard tourist guide books. These books are full of fun stories about people and places in the city to jog your creative juices, but to those who have been in the city a while or just want something a little off the beaten trail this might not be best. There are also books like Walking Chicago that offer routes in a given neighborhood. Sometimes themes emerge on a given route and you realize you've been walking by 4 first attempts at various architectural elements for months without knowing. Another publisher offers 50 of these routes on individual index cards – perfect to tuck into a sketch kit.  But be warned, these haven't been updated in a few years so restaurants have changed! Though I have not personally tried their tours, I've heard good things about Evisitorguide.com and the free tour maps and information you can download from their website. Of course there are always things that are left out from these books (and website), but they can add a lot of fun to your sketch outings!


Apps:
The problem with books for the Urban Sketcher is that they can be heavy and a pain to carry with you at all times. Thankfully, there are multiple apps for that!

Several of the apps for sale look great, but the only app I've tried is a free one called 312 Go! With locations services turned on on your smart phone, the app will point out interesting things around you. The narrator will say things like "On your left is The Rookery…" then go on to tell you fun tidbits about the place. Using this app with headphones also helps prevent unwanted conversation with by-standers while giving you an inside scoop on the stories around you.

Looking to try one of these out? Itching to keep practicing the techniques you learned this summer? Perfect timing! October 17th-18th is Chicago's Annual Open House Chicago, where great buildings will be open to the public free of charge. Last year USK Chicago made it into several hard-to-visit buildings during the event, I can't wait to see where you all go!




Have you ever used architecture guides to help your sketching in Chicago? How about when you're in other cities? What other tools do you use to help you "see" your surroundings again?

Mixing Peachy Flesh Tones

Portrait by Charles Reid

Last year shortly before the first Sketch Seminar, I first came across the beautiful watercolor portraits by Charles Reid. If you haven't seen his portraits before do yourself a favor and go remedy that at once!

Photos provided by "Watercolour Fanatic"

Until that point I'd been using a water soluble crayon in something like a peach tone for my sketches. There is is just something about the way Reid's colors melt into one another that made me feel like I had to try his method.

After a little digging in search engine results I came upon a video clip where he shares his color recipe. You can watch it here.

washes of this recipe in various intensities

Reid's basic recipe:
2 parts cadimum red
1 part cadimum yellow
dot cerulean blue (worked out)

Now I haven't been working with watercolors very long so there are some colors that just baffle me! Yes, that is to say that I don't own cerulean blue. Instead I subbed my cheap phthalo blue. I think it worked well – when I remembered to work out the pigment before adding it to the mix!

Photo taken from Gurney's Blog Post

I really enjoy using this mix of colors in combination with this guide for color points I found on James Gurney's blog. (Another artist worth investigating!) Of course there is a way to use this guide that looks suspiciously like a clown, but with moderation and enough water things tend to level out. Below is a study I did with Reid's color mix and Gurney's hints.

Even though I still over work my paint relatively often I greatly prefer this method for peachy tones to my crayon. Why? Well, with a dash of yellow ochre or raw sienna can really shake up the tone. Mixing these tones instead of using a pre-made color brick is also great because it gives a gradient between colors that really shows off the benefits of watercolors.

What about you, do you prefer premixed colors or mixing your own? Why? Do you have a favorite peachy recipe? How about other skin tones?

Pocket Palettes

My first pocket palette from an Altoids tin

My love of pocket palettes began in the early summer of 2012. I was preparing to visit France and was enamored with the idea of painting Paris. But being very new to watercolors I wasn't sure how to travel with them. A friend mentioned using an Altoids box for a palette, and as I started looking for options I fell into the world of pocket palettes!

These wells are bigger than full pans!

That summer I made my first palette and it went to France with me stocked with very cheap student watercolors. I sat in parks sketching statues with it and there painted the first watercolor painting I was proud of. Now I know how huge the wells were, but overall I loved the thing. While I've since seen great tutorials ranging from using empty half-pans with magnets to soldering wells into the tins* this construction was easy to construct in an urban apartment and I didn't have to order any supplies.


*This tutorial has since been removed.

Mixing area as extra "lid"

The wells and mixing space were shaped with Sculpey^TM polymer clay inside the tin and baked there according to directions. After cooling, I painted the wells and mixing area white with acrylic paint to help seal the clay and to make the colors more visible. With use, the mixing area detached from the lid. Instead of gluing it back, I found that it fit well as an extra "lid" over the paints. After three years of use the tin is beginning to rust in a few places, but given all I've put it through a little rust doesn't seem like much.










After finding USk Chicago, I upgraded to a 24 color Field Kit of Koi watercolors made by our sponsors Sakura. It is a great kit with little details that really take it up a notch! (If you've been wanting to try one, be sure to join me for Supply Speed Dating at the seminar in July.) But I'm always looking for ways to change up my sketch kit.

Makeup case pocket palette (with two additions)

Last summer just before the seminar, I learned a new mix for skin tones and wondered how my sketches might change if I mixed all my colors. I planned to rework my Altoids palette but was too busy painting to think about a layout. That's when I noticed the eyeshadow box I was about to throw away. After cleaning out the remaining makeup, I had eight empty slots about the size of a half-pan! I painted the inside of the lid with clear gesso to make it a better mixing surface and put in my colors. At less than half the thickness of my tin it is truly pocket sized!

I love the Quinacridone Gold in the top left, but needed the tamer Yellow Ochre too

I used this palette for all my sketches at last summer's seminar, but latter added in two other slots for variations in my primaries. When I just go out with my smallest watercolor kit, I choose this little palette and a water brush. It even fits in the tiny pockets of women's dress pants!

But as always, I'm still looking for a better pocket palette to carry with me. Right now I'm considering making a trip to the Chicago Public Library to make a 3d print of this insert for a pocket palette.

Have you tried making a pocket palette or even several? What makes a watercolor palette ideal for your urban sketching? What's the smallest palette you've ever worked with or seen?

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?

Ruin Your Watercolor Sketches!

Wait, what?

That's right, I said to ruin your watercolor sketch.

In my opinion there is no other sketching experience to compare with the horror of watching your lines unintentionally smear. 

I vividly remember the horror of the first time I put watercolor paints on a sketch in water-based ink. The sketch was in a Moleskine pocket watercolor notebook and I'd spent about an hour placing the fountain, shadows, and luscious leaf canopy. The green I was adding for the copper fountain smeared with purple from the black ink. I'm pretty confident that I threw away the pen I used that day. 

But following last week's tip and looking through my old sketchbooks I realized that I really liked my "ruined" sketch! Well, at least part of it.

Frustration with my disappointed ideal had kept me from exploring the potential of water-based inks in watercolor sketches. So I invite you to join me as I begin exploring intentionally challenging my ideal of hard lines.

Statue from the Field Museum on Stillman & Birn Zeta in water-based ink

Last week I tried two methods to help me play with this technique.

1. Add watercolors (or water) to a sketch you aren't happy with or didn't finish – regardless of ink!

I took some watercolor to an unfinished sketch from our outing to the Field Museum. I'd begun a sketch of a statue but lost perspective and stopped. Normally I'm happy to splash on color and see how things take shape, but I'd done this sketch with an ink I knew was not water resistant.

I added watercolor any way.

The water didn't suddenly fix all the problems with my sketch, but it did change it.  As my lines smeared I realized water on water-based inks was a whole new technique I hadn't considered.

2. Test the variations of water resistance in your favorite sketching pens

This week I sketched the same building with three different pens, just to see.  I used blank note cards from Paper Source. They are inexpensive and hold watercolor fairly well considering they aren't watercolor paper. That means they are just about perfect for sketching in my opinion!

Building sketch on Paper Source blank note cards  in (L – R): Micron .5 , Uniball, and Sheaffer Skrip ink in a Lamy EF nib

Here are the pens I used from left to right:

A. Micron .05: Generally when I sketch around the city I use a Micron .05–.005. I like the level of detail it allows for and it dries quickly without the risk of smearing – by hand or water! Some folks find the smaller tips too scratchy to enjoy.  I like the way my .005 occasionally skips to give me some line variance.

B. Uniball micro roller ball: These pens were the first ones I ever saw suggested on a sketching blog. They are advertised as having fraud protection ink (for checks). In theory they are water resistant, but depending on the paper I've found they will sometimes smear. Also, these skip badly regardless of the paper. I love their line, but they skip too much for me to use all the time.

C. Lamy Safari (EF nib): I used a rich black ink I inherited from an older relative in this pen. Shaeffer Skrip black ink (date unknown) to be precise.  It flows without skipping from the EF nib, but it takes a long time to dry, and if it once had water-resistant properties they have not stood the test of time.

Sketches with watercolor

I used the same three colors on all three paintings and tried to use similar "wetness" in each piece to see how the ink would respond. As expected, the Micron and Uniball did not move much. Because I let the ink dry for about thirty minutes, the Shaeffer ink didn't smear as much as I expected either.

However  I was surprised at what a difference the moveable ink made when I was blending colors on the paper! The undertones in the ink made a marked difference. In some places this blending had a muddying effect. In other places it seemed that the ink colors added to the pigment of my paints.

Detail from above, right.

You know what else I discovered? 

I liked the painting with the smeared lines best! What I had thought would ruin my sketch turned out to be a technique I want to continue using.

Do you ever intentionally mix "un-mixable" elements in your sketches? How do you feel about intentionally ruining your sketches? What makes a "ruined" sketch for you?

Tackle your Toolbox

Ever put the wrong color on your sketch? Realize you didn’t bring along any water-resistant pens? Forget which pen skips on watercolor paper? Stare at a completely blank sketchbook afraid of making the first sketch? Or maybe you hoard art supplies and can't remember which palette has your favorite yellow? (Oh, maybe that's just me.)

Today’s Tuesday Tips and Tricks is my favorite way to help prevent some of those bumps in happy sketching. It’s especially fun because it involves using your tools!

Sketch & originals of my current palettes and tools

That’s right this is about sketching your tools.

 My solution to help prevent all these problems? Sketch my tools in each sketchbook.

Tools on paper over back cover of S&B Zeta Sketchbook

Depending on the book’s purpose, I like to chart out my tools in the front or back of the notebook.  With my first Stillman & Birn sketchbook, fear of a huge stack of nice blank paper kept it that way for nearly a month. Finally I decided to sketch my palette on the back of the front cover to help me get over my fear. It worked and I’m happily filling it with paintings! However, in the smaller watercolor sketchbooks I carry for Urban Sketching, I prefer to make a chart or drawing in the back. When I’m out sketching I find it easier to reference a chart in the back than in the front. In my Zeta series Stillman & Birn sketchbook, the endpapers are so close to the rest of the pages that I sketch my tools there. Those of you who received sketchbooks at last year's seminar should check the end papers in your sketchbooks--unlike other sketchbooks I've used, these are high quality and can often hold watercolor!

How to get started? Well, you can always just jump in and get started making up your own method. For those of you who less inclined to experimenting, there are great examples by other Urban Sketchers, like Liz Steel with USK Australia, who sketch their tools often. Here are some ideas to get you started and examples from my sketchbooks:

Here I only draw one pen & pencil to represent multiple variations

Pens:

• Draw one pen to represent multiple pens of the same type in different widths. Draw a line from each pen coming from the tip or under the pen and label its size.
• Draw your pens and make a line coming out the tip of each. After all have dried, take a wet brush or q-tip and run it over the lines so you can see (and refresh your memory about) how each pen handles water.
• Draw only your top three favorite pens. Sure your favorite may change in a month or so, but this will help you see which types of pens you like best over time.

Watercolor Pencils:

• Draw a watercolor pencil and a swatch from each color under it. Label each swatch with the color name on the pencil, then wet half of each swatch to see the color wet and dry.
• Make swatches of your pencils inside a rectangle or square to keep your pencils together. Label each swatch with the color name on the pencil, then wet half of each swatch to see the color wet and dry.

This was my first watercolor chart in the back of a pocket Moleskine

Watercolors:

• Draw the palette you want to take on your next sketch outing and fill in each pan with the appropriate color. Leave the     colors flat to see how they’ll look on the paper or practice shading to show the texture of the paint.
• Draw all of your palettes to help you remember which ones have certain colors without having to test them all again.
• Paint a stroke of each color on the page where it would appear in your palette. This quick method is still a great reference in the field. 

What about you, how do keep track of your tools? Are there tools not mentioned here that you bring along to sketch with?

Snow? Into the Field!

Narwhal facsimile (on watercolor moleskine)

Itching to sketch during this snow pile-up but hoping for something more dynamic and...well, warmer than the snow?

I was on Monday, so I trekked downtown to the Field Museum of Natural History. If you've never sketched at the Field Museum, take my advice and don't wait for the meetup at the end of the month!

female ruby-throated hummingbird (on Stillman & Birn Zeta)

Whether you prefer sketching people, animals, objects, or architecture, the Field has amazing exhibits to suit a sketcher's fancy.

On this visit I explored part of the "Ancient Americas" exhibit -- stunning artifacts and a life-size replica of a pueblo interior. But to be frank, I barely got beyond the "World of Birds" exhibit. Between bird-song playing all around and vibrant birds in replicas of their habitats, I was proud to not spend my entire visit in front of a single display case!

 For those who feel self-conscious about sketching alone in public, the Field is a great "sketch alone" location. The other guests are so involved with the exhibits that unlike subjects on the CTA, hardly anyone realizes someone is sketching!

woman reading by water buffalo exhibit (painted in watercolor molsekine)

The Field is also among the most artist-friendly museums in the city. Pencil, pen, watercolor, and nearly any other media are welcome (excluding acrylics and oils). Many exhibits have strategically placed seats, but if you don't want to risk not finding one near that perfect scene, artists are welcome to bring their own chairs. (I brought my folding chair, but ended up taking advantage of provided seating and an excuse to practice sketching while standing.)

Still need a reason to go sketch at the Field? Basic admission is free to Illinois residents the entire month of February!