This is a small mixed media painting. I’m testing out combining watercolor with colored pencils and pen and ink. I used a toothpick dipped in masking fluid to save out some small details that I wanted to keep as white and then when I was finished and the painting was dry, I rubbed off the masking fluid to reveal the white.
Arches Hot Press Watercolor paper, Kuretake flat waterbrush, Daniel Smith watercolors, Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer Watercolor pencils, Pentel EnerGel 0.5 Black pen. Image is 5×7 inches (12.5×17.5 cm).
I painted on location today in a parking lot. I started by blocking in the midtone shapes in the foreground and the trees in the background with gray and brown ink using a flat waterbrush to pick ink off a paper palette. It’s a good fast way to lay out the scene on the page because you are just putting down major shapes, no detail. I then switched to watercolor and painted in the trees. I used a gel pen to sketch the cars and a brush pen to add the darks on the cars. I used a white marker to add the parking lot lines and the last thing I did was to paint the red tail lights with watercolor.
Travelogue Artist Watercolor Journal, Noodler’s Benenke Black ink and a mix of black and blue Pentel Sign Pen ink applied with a Kuretake flat waterbrush, Daniel Smith watercolor, Derwent #2 round waterbrush, Pentel EnerGel 0.5 black pen, Kuretake ZIG Brushables brown and gray pens, Kuretake #13 brush pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink, and Molotow 2mm empty pump marker with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White ink. Image is 16.25×5 inches (41.3×13 cm).
I did another sketch from one of the reference photos I took on the road a couple of days ago. Oregon has many beautifully scenes like this on its two lane country roads, but unfortunately there usually aren’t any places to pull off and sketch or take a picture. So, I have to settle for one taken from a moving car.
There are many ways to do a sketch. For this one, I blocked in the the color shapes first and then I added some details using a pen. It’s a good way to do it if all you want to do is quickly capture the impression of a place. You don’t waste time painting in a lot of unnecessary detail.
The other thing I tried in this one was to use a tissue to add a bit of texture to the color. I soaked up some watercolor off my mixing palette with a tissue and then dabbed it on the sketch. You can see it in the foliage on the right side and in the bushes on the left.
Travelogue Artist Watercolor Journal, Kuretake large flat waterbrush, Kuretake #13 brush pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink, Pentel EnerGel 0.7 Brown ink pen, Uni-Ball Signo white gel pen, and Molotow 2mm empty pump marker with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White ink, and Daniel Smith watercolors. Image is 8×5 inches (20.5×13 cm).
Watercolor sketch done in my sketchbook. Yesterday I ventured out between rain showers to take pictures of roads nearby. I wanted to test a new photo set-up. I mounted my iPhone 7 to the dashboard of my car and taped a Bluetooth shutter release button to my steering wheel so that I could trigger the phone camera with my thumb while keeping my hands on the wheel. I took 38 pictures on a leisurely drive down Cordon Road to MacLeay, turned north on Howell Prairie Road and heading home on Silverton Road. It started to sprinkle near the end and I had to time the camera between windshield wiper sweeps. I got three or four pretty good shots and used one as reference for this sketch.
Travelogue Artist Watercolor Journal, Derwent #2 round waterbrush, vintage Sheaffer’s Balance Black and Pearl Lifetime pen with 14K gold nib ca. 1929-30 filled with Noodler’s Benenke Black ink, Uni-Ball Signo white gel pen, and Molotow 2mm empty pump marker with Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen White ink, and Daniel Smith watercolors. Image is 16.25×5 inches (41.3×13 cm).
Yesterday I went for a drive in the country. I took some photos from the car and today I did this ink and watercolor sketch from one of the photos. I wanted to try using masking fluid to hold back little bits of white. It worked. The white flecks you see are the white of the paper and not white ink applied later.
I started by drawing the basic big shapes with a very light gray pen. I’ve noticed lately that the pictures I like the best have a simple structure of four or fewer major sections dividing the page. I designed this one to have four horizontal sections – the sky, the field, the dirt road, and the dark weedy foreground. I applied ink using both my finger and a waterbrush working up from light gray to black. I then added a bit of yellow and green watercolor. The brown was done with brown ink. I let everything dry and rubbed off the masking fluid to reveal the whites. The last thing I did was to use a pencil to better define the buildings.
Travelogue Artist Watercolor Journal, Pueen Latex Tape used as a masking fluid, Tombow ABT N95 dual tipped brush pen, Derwent #2 round waterbrush, mix of Pentel Sign Pen black and brown inks, Kuretake ZIG Brushables 010 brush pen, Pentel light gray brush pen, 50/50 mix of Noodler’s Lexington Gray and water in a Derwent #2 round waterbrush, Noodler’s Benenke Black ink, vintage Sheaffer’s Balance Black and Pearl Lifetime pen with 14K gold nib ca. 1929-30 filled with Noodler’s Benenke Black ink, Pentel EnerGel 0.5 black ballpoint pen, Daniel Smith watercolors, and a Pentel 0.9mm mechanical pencil. Image is 16.25×5 inches (41.3×13 cm).
I’ve been scouting places to paint on location near me by using Google Maps. This spot caught my eye. The weather has been so bad lately I decided to just sketch at home today using Google Street View as a reference. My intention was to do a quick, loose brush sketch, but it turned into a more finished watercolor painting.
I started by painting the sky using a mix of Pentel Sign Pen black and light blue ink. I then added the light greens and the gray of the road using watercolor. I then did the midtones and finally the darkest darks. I used a single round brush to do everything including all the narrow vertical lines.
Travelogue Artist Watercolor Journal, Princeton #8 round brush, mix of Pentel Sign Pen black and light blue inks for the sky, Daniel Smith watercolors. Image is 16.25×5 inches (41.3×13 cm).
Today I did another sketch of the backyard. This time I used watercolor. I wanted to compare it with the marker sketch I did yesterday. I prefer to work with watercolor. It has a lot more variation of colors and techniques.
Fabriano Hot Press Watercolor paper, MyArtScape #8 round brush, and Daniel Smith watercolors. Image is 3.75X10 inches (9.5X25.4 cm).
Here’s another quick watercolor study done in one go with a single round brush. I drew with the brush working across the page from left to right. The hardest part was keeping it simple with a minimum number of brush strokes. I have a tendency to over work it and make it into a painting instead of leaving it a simple sketch. Simplicity is hard, but I think I managed to capture the shapes, colors, and lighting of the scene without over doing it.
Canson Watercolor Cold Press paper 5.5 x 8.5 inches (13.9 x 21.6 cm), Princeton #8 round brush, and Daniel Smith watercolors.
I’ve been admiring David Hockney’s watercolor sketchbook landscapes. I thought I would try to do something similar. This time I used a medium round water brush and Daniel Smith watercolors on 5.5×8.5 inch Canson watercolor paper. I looked at a black and white reference photo on my computer monitor that I had taken a few years ago near the Gallon House covered bridge near Silverton. These round brush watercolor sketches are fast and easy to do and I like the sparse simplicity.
Today I’m practicing my brush technique with another quick sketch of Bush park. I worked from a reference photo I took during a walk in the park. I did this directly with a single brush in one pass. I did the blue sky first into wet paper. I then did the foreground on wet paper with a couple of mixed greens, a dash of blue, and a couple of browns. Next, I brushed in the tree trunks working from left to right across the page. Finally I added the background foliage.
Canson Watercolor Cold Press paper 5.5 x 8.5 inches (13.9 x 21.6 cm), Princeton #8 round brush, and Daniel Smith watercolors.
