Documenting, Experimenting, and Learning. And a Black Pencil I am LOVING.
Also, new workshops, online and in-person to sign up for!
Just a quick note to say I’m going back to all my public newsletters being free.
The first newsletter of each month (like this one) will include sketching tips or process shots like the series below. The other newsletters will collect blogposts I write into one place to make them convenient to read.
That doesn’t mean the “Sketching Together” Club for paid subscribers is going away!
Read the note at the very bottom of this post to find out more about it.
DOCUMENTING TO LEARN
I’ve been trying to document the in-between stages of my work, especially while trying something new. It’s tougher than I expected because creating using new (to me) processes means I can forget to pause and take a photograph. However, I managed some shots that I’m sharing with you.
I knew I was headed out to paint a field of red poppies, so I pre-painted a sheet in red acrylic ink, which is very vibrant and waterproof when dry.
2. The drawing and sky were blocked in with this big blue Liquitex marker.
From there on, I built up the piece in layers using (mostly) Neocolor II crayons.
4. Below is as far as I got on location.
Back home, I felt like the piece needed a few things: more clarity on the poppies, and some compositional adjustments. This is where it finally landed.
What am I hoping to learn from documenting my work like this?
- When painting, I work intuitively, making marks and responding to what appears on paper. Sometimes that makes it hard to recall the transitions between the start and end of a piece, so these process shots help me see that.
- I’m also hoping to teach myself when to stop. This one is hard, but I think I can get better at it if I look back at my piece in transition.
Which brings me to an interesting question:
When do YOU think this piece was done? (I have my thoughts near the bottom of this post but share yours before you check that out)
UPCOMING WORKSHOPS
Gateway to India 2025 has one last open spot!
Use this link to learn more about this urban sketching adventure in India and write in if you want to grab that spot!
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Color That Pops (Online Workshop with Personal Feedback)
I taught this workshop a couple of months ago and I’m running a repeat session, this time with the additional bonus of personalized feedback on your work. If you’re looking to find more joyous color in your work, this workshop is for you!
Details and Sign up here.
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Color and Mixed Media in Santa Fe, 2025 (In-person Workshop)
Maru Godas and I loved teaching the 2024 version of this workshop last month. It filled up completely, so sign up soon if you want to join us in May 2025 in Santa Fe. It will be an amazing week! Details here.
When do I think the red poppies piece was done?
I think there was a point somewhere between Stages 4 and 5 that would have been a good place to stop: I did want a little less red and a little more readability on the scene after Stage 4, but Stage 5 got a little too “safe” for where I wanted the piece to land.
That’s not to say I dislike the piece: It was a lot of fun to create, and it still captures a good bit of the magic of the place.
SUPPLIES I LOVE
This pencil!
I’m loving a lot about this Pitt Oil Pencil: how black it is, how it feels to draw with it, and how it draws over almost any medium.
It’s the black pencil I used in both of the pieces below and you can see how it can go from a super-dramatic black to a range of greys.
Last but not least…
The “Sketching Together” Club and where that’s going…
Paid subscribers have access to a monthly in-person Zoom session where we all create a half-hour sketch from a single reference. This is not a teaching session, but rather one in which we share our different solutions to capturing the spirit of a scene in a quick sketch. Some members join in person but many watch the recording at their leisure.
Instead of clubbing together posts for this club wiht this newsletter, subscribers will receive a separate mail with the image reference and Zoom link for these sessions. If you are a paid member, that separate email should be in your inbox sometime today.
I love all the textures in the sky! This is such an interesting question to ponder. Sometimes I love a scrappy sketch and feel like it's done, then sometimes I want to fill every square inch of a page with tons of layers. So I it depends on my mood. 😆 Brilliant idea to document it as you go!
Really neat seeing the stages, thanks for taking the time to do this