Category: Sketch (page 4 of 4)

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Sometimes at the end of the day I’ll relax by doing a sketch. I had moved the potted geraniums out of the greenhouse to the back porch for the summer. I sat down and practiced my brush technique. The method I used is called Direct Watercolor. You draw the shapes directly without first laying out the scene with pencil or pen. I first painted the major shapes in lightly with a watery mix of colors and let that dry. Next, I added the midtones putting two colors on the brush at once so they blended on the page. Finally, I added a little very dark color to make it pop.

Strathmore Series 400 Watercolor paper 5.5×8.5 inches (14×21.6 cm), 1 inch flat brush, medium size round waterbrush, Daniel Smith watercolors.

This method is fast but difficult because you are doing everything at once on the fly and there is no going back or making corrections. It’s like walking a tightrope without a net.

Jim

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We have small pots of flowers on our back step. One of them has a group of small pansies and when I went out to relax on the back porch after a busy day, the pansies caught my eye. So, I sketched one of the blossoms because the color combination was so striking. I had been thinking about trying a technique where you draw each color shape with its corresponding color in colored ballpoint ink which is waterproof and then fill in the shapes with watercolor, and that’s what I did. If you look closely, you can see the outlines in colored ink.

Sketching is like jazz improvisation. You invent something new each time you play and the piece evolves as you go.

Strathmore 400 Series cold press watercolor paper 5.5×8.5 inches (14×21.6 cm), Zebra Clip-on Multi pen, Daniel Smith watercolors, and Caran D’Ache round waterbrush. Image is about 5 inches square (13×14 cm).

Jim

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We went to see Schreineer’s Iris Garden on Mother’s Day. I did a sketch (the top picture) using a fountain pen with grey ink and discovered when I added watercolor that the ink was not waterproof. It bled into the yellow paint. Oops.

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May is flower month in our garden and in public gardens around the area. I did this watercolor and Listo Marking pencil sketch in our backyard a few days ago and this morning I joined the Salem Sketchers at Egan Garden north of town. It’s a beautiful garden with large greenhouses full of wonderful potted and hanging plants. I did two sketches – one with brush pens and one with ballpoint pen.

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After lunch it was such a beautiful day I went for a walk in the Oregon Garden. What a relaxing, peaceful place. I walked around taking a few pictures along the way, and after about a half hour I sat down at a picnic table near the wetlands, ate a snack and did this small sketch.

Stillmann& Birn Zeta series pocket watercolor sketchbook, pencil, Kuretake #13 brush fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink, Platinum Plaisir fine nib fountain pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink, Neocolor II watersoluble crayons, and Caran-D’Ache round waterbrush. Image is about 3.5×5.5 inches (9×14 cm).

Jim

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I’m testing Faber-Castell Gel Sticks. These watercolors in gel form are meant for kids. They are like a twistable crayon and come in a set of 12 colors. I thought I would try them out on a flower sketch.

Fabriano 8×10 inch (20.3×25.4 cm) Studio Watercolor Hot Press paper, Faber-Castell 12 Gels Sticks, Arteza flat waterbrush, Molotow 2mm Empty Pump Marker filled with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White.

Jim



I drove Kris to an appointment at the Casey Eye Institute in Portland and did this sketch in the lobby while waiting. I used a General Sketch & Wash watersoluble graphite pencil and a little bit of Daniel Smith watercolor.