Prepping Your Sketchbook for Fun and Travel - Drawing & Painting Tips

Spring is in the Air!!

Boats at the Dock - Sketchbooking - Prepping our Sketchbook

  

I know, I may be a bit premature, but every time I go out and walk in the sunshine I feel we are creeping closer and closer to SPRING.  There is a clean crisp smell to the air, birds are chirping and their numbers seem to be be increasing.  And if you check the sunny spots on the ground,  there is grass growing and bulbs peeking out. 

It's time. . . . .

It's Time to prep your sketchbook for fun and adventure. My fun and adventures are centered around Outdoor Sketching.  It could be on a hike, a kayaking trip or a simple day trip.  It's getting out of the studio and drawing and painting life.  Capturing a part of that special Moment. 

(NB: I have a video version of this post on YouTube:  "Prepping Your Sketchbook for Fun and Travel" ) 

Simple Doodles and Stamps can set up and interesting page that invites you to draw and journal

The Colours on the Lake - Pictures and symbols added ahead of time. For me they add a Joy and Sparkle to my page. Themed to my trip - travel in Yellowknife, NT. 

Why Prep Your Sketchbook?

Your book is your own special place.  It is there for you.  Just imagine being out on a mountainous trail, settling down on a mossy rock, looking out at breathtaking view, opening your sketchbook and finding . . . . a little gem on your page.  I guarantee it will bring a smile to your lips, a sparkle to your eye and spot of inspiration to your work. 

Stickers, Doodles and Collages can add a special touch to your page.

What are these GEMS on your Page?

Gems are special notes, pictures, colours, doodles that you have added to your book.  It can be simple things like your favourite inspirational phrases or words written on the side/top/bottom of the page.  Words that are important to you.  

Shapes and Doodles are some of my favourite things to add to my pages.  I flip through book and periodically pick a page.  I might doodle down the side, in the corner or make a border across the bottom.  The doodles may become a divider for a picture or writing.  (I quite often like to journal about my sketch and what was happening at the time.)

Some of the little page decorators I used for my Kayaking Trip - These were prepped ahead of time. Colour to be added when I paint the pages.  

Themes are often part of my Sketchbook Prepping.  For example, this spring I know I will be off on a kayaking trip to the Interior of BC for a few weeks.  On my pages,  I will add little images of birds and animals we will see on our trip, symbols of things we will do and of course, a few Inspirational Phrases. 

Fishing Shack at Peggy's Cove - Colour added ahead of time

Splashes of Colour, Stamps, stickers, collaging are also ways to adding a special touch to a page.  Its really open to your imagination.  (NB: The watercolour wash for Fishing Shack at Peggy's Cove and Boats at the Dock, at the top of the page, was added weeks ahead as prep.  On my sketching day I opened the page and drew my picture.  Awesome interesting effects with the colour, eh?!) 

Rest Stop near Kamloops - I like to colour the doodles when I paint the page.  It seems to give a better flow. 

Things to think about as you Add those GEMS 

- you don't have to do every page

- use permanent ink pens if you plan on using a wet medium later

- don't colour your drawings, colour them when you draw on the page to better integrate them into the page. ( This is a personal choice thing.  Sometimes it is nice to have that shiny coloured image in the corner.  You decide) 

- mix it up.  Put some on the top, some on the corners, borders on edges or as dividers) 

- don't prep all your sketchbooks.  I have several books on the go at any time and they all have their own focus.  My travel books are always prepped but my books that I use to plan or experiment with are not.   

Right now, when it is cold and dreary, it is a perfect time to get prepping your sketchbook.  Challenge yourself to stretch your imagination as you create those little gems.  Your Sketchbook will be a Joyful, Happy Place, just for you, with lots of little surprises buried in its pages. 

More Information:

Video on YouTube: Prepping Your sketchbook for Fun and Travel with Wendy Mould

 Move your work to NEW LEVELS?  

Contact Me for:

1. Private Drawing Lesson: (3 Sessions 2.5 hr each $250)  North Langley, BC (Walnut Grove) 

Do you want your animals to breath, your flowers to sparkle or your people to walk?  Whatever subject your like to paint or draw I can build a drawing program for you.  Private Lessons allow you to focus on the skills you wish to develop.  Wendy is a experienced teacher, providing a calm, relaxing experience as you learn how to use the principles of drawing.  Beginner to Advanced are welcome.  Special rates for younger students.  More info here.

2.  Online: Teaching, Mentoring or Critiquing Your Work - Don't live in the Fraser Valley,  I would be happy to tailor a program just for you online.  Drawing and Painting Lessons, Mentoring you on your Art Journey or Critiquing Your Work with an Eye to Move It Forward.  Drawing & Painting Lessons: 1.5 hr sessions $75.  Mentoring or Critiquing 30 minutes sessions $25.  Flexible schedule and sessions can be longer or shorter depending on your goals. 

Be sure to like and share my posts.  You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email 

Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy

Let Ambient Light put a Sparkle into Your Work - Paint & Drawing Tips

Who doesn't love the Soft Glow of a campfire in the Evening Light?

Everything feels warm and cozy.  Everything tinted gold.  

AFTERNOON TEA - watercolour, 16 x 20  - Note the rosy glow on the hummingbird

When we were in Maui, I always found it amazing how many people gravitated to the beaches when the sun was starting to set. But I guess we all felt the same thing.  As the rosy blush of the sunset washed over the world, everything felt just right. 

This is Ambient Light at its best.  . . .

The rosy red colours of sunset are light rays bouncing around.  The colour tinting everything it touches.  It is easy to see.    

However, there are more subtle forms of Ambient Light . . .

Even as the sun gives light,  each object below, does as well.  As artists we are not really concerned with the physics involved with bouncing light rays but rather how it affects everything we paint. 

(NB. There is a video version of this post with more information on YouTube: Let Ambient Light put a Sparkle into Your Work )

The Subtle touches of  Ambient Light  . . . .

 Looking at this green apple note the shadow side of the apple. This is the view we all see and remember. 

Green apple with White Background.

Now watch what happens as I change the background colour to blue.  Can you see the difference in the colour of the apple.  Especially in the shadow area.  

Green Apple with Blue Background

Another colour change.  This time an orange background. 

Apple with an Orange Background

As the colours change beside the apple you can see the colour of the apple changes as well.  It still is green but there is colour reflected by the background.  It is not a direct light nor a bright one.  It is the ambient reflected light from the neighbouring object.  Neat eh?!  

Arbutus Tree on the Bluff - Ignoring Ambient Light when painting

Ambient Light in Action

I have here a little landscape painting, the kind of thing I love to paint when Outdoor Sketching.  An arbutus tree standing proudly on the rock bluff, scraggy shrubs fighting to survive on the rocky cliff all beneath a summer sky.  

I started the painting keeping each subject as separate as possible.  Greens for the shrubs.  Grays for the rocks. Reds and browns for the arbutus tree.  And blues for the sky.  A pretty scene for sure. 

But what happens if . . . ..

I add the reflections of Ambient Light for each of the elements in the scene.  That means the reflective light of the green shrubs onto the rocks, the tree, the sky.  The reflective light of the reds of the tree onto the shrubs, rocks and sky.  The blues of the sky reflected on  . . . .  Letting each element have its own mini reflective light play out in my picture.    

Close Up showing the large rock and ground before and after the colours of the ambient light are added

Above your can see the ground now carries some reds, browns and golds from the tree and the blues of the sky.  I really like how they add a sparkle to the ground cover.  Even the rock takes on a new life with the greens, blues, reds and browns reflected into it.  

Before and After - Arbutus Tree on the Bluff 

Can you see the sparkle in the After Picture.  Even the sky has more life with the bits of red, yellow and green added to it.  Including the Ambient Reflective Light in your work adds that sparkle but also integrates your pieces and makes them come together.  

My Favourite example of Ambient Light in a Portrait . . .

An artist's whose work I really enjoy is Harley Brown.  He is a Canadian Artist that has won many awards and lots of recognition for his pastel portraits of Indigenous People.  I love the way he uses his background colours to bring his portraits to life.  Not only alive but infused with colour.  Sometimes in a subtle way but other times very bold and bright.   

Have fun adding the Ambient Reflective Light to your paintings and see if put a Sparkle into your work.  

NB.  There is a video version of this post with more information on YouTube: Let Ambient Light put a Sparkle into Your Work 

 Move your work to NEW LEVELS?  

Contact Me for:

1. Private Drawing Lesson: (3 Sessions 2.5 hr each $250)  North Langley, BC (Walnut Grove) 

Do you want your animals to breath, your flowers to sparkle or your people to walk?  Whatever subject your like to paint or draw I can build a drawing program for you.  Private Lessons allow you to focus on the skills you wish to develop.  Wendy is a experienced teacher, providing a calm, relaxing experience as you learn how to use the principles of drawing.  Beginner to Advanced are welcome.  Special rates for younger students.  More info here.

2.  Online: Teaching, Mentoring or Critiquing Your Work - Don't live in the Fraser Valley,  I would be happy to tailor a program just for you online.  Drawing and Painting Lessons, Mentoring you on your Art Journey or Critiquing Your Work with an Eye to Move It Forward.  Drawing & Painting Lessons: 1.5 hr sessions $75.  Mentoring or Critiquing 30 minutes sessions $25.  Flexible schedule and sessions can be longer or shorter depending on your goals. 

Be sure to like and share my posts.  You won't miss a single post if you Follow by Email 

Have a great Artful Day,

Wendy