Art by Wendy: ink and graphite

Showing posts with label ink and graphite. Show all posts

May 5, 2016

Get out of the Studio! - Plein Air and Drawing Tips for Sketchbooks

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Grab your stuff and shut the door! Time to work from life.

Heron on the River- ink, pencil and watercolour pencil (dry)

Don't get me wrong, I am love my studio and on a wet, gray winter day it is my favourite place to be. But now the temperatures are rising and the days are longer, it is time to be outside. Hiking, canoeing, camping and sightseeing are awesome activities to inspire you. With camera and sketchbook you can the capture the light, excitement and memories forever. I guarantee, any drawing or painting you do on the spot creates a lasting memory of the moment. The wonder, the smells, the emotions are stored up in that picture.

Okay, you are thinking "I can't draw. It takes too long, my partners won't wait for me. I can't . . . . "

It is easy to come up with the "I can't's". However, I am not talking about creating a masterpiece. (Although, you will be surprised what you can create in a very short time) Your sketchbook is your friend. It is not judgemental, very forgiving and waiting there just for you.

But to be successful you must be prepare.

To really get into the sketchbook habit means you must be VERY portable. For 'masterpiece' plein air painting you need a car load of paints and brushes but your sketchbook puts you on easy street. Small pack, minimum materials, smaller format - ready when you are. It doesn't have to be limiting. My last two posts have talked about several different mediums one wet and one dry that are light and portable. Today is both: wet and dry.

Fishing Shack on the Newfoundland Coast - Ink and Watercolour (wet)

Watercolour pencils. The secret ingredient. They are can be used dry, like a coloured pencil or touched up with water to give them a whole new life. They can be used straight or mixed to get endless colours. They can also be mixed with ink. You just knew I was going to get that ink in there somehow. Here again, you can take a bucket load of supplies but I recommend you Keep It Simple. A warm and cold blue, yellow, red and a black. A 03 Pigma Micron pen (or any other permanent ink pen), a 2 B pencil, kneaded eraser, pencil sharpener and a water filled watercolour brush. This can fit in a small bag with a sketchbook.

My pocket sketchbooks. I got tired of trying to find a one size fits all so made my own. They will hold all your supplies and more. Best of all they fit in a large zip lock back for quick dry storage in your pack. See them here.

Endless combinations are possible with this little pack. Pencil and ink, pencil, ink and coloured pencil, ink and coloured pencil, and pencil and colour. The watercolour pencils are very versatile, smooth value changes wet and rough texture when dry. They invite you to mix colours as glazing and laying are so easy to do.

Detail from Fishing Shack on the Newfoundland Coast - notice the rich blend of colours using several layers of watercolour pencils and the rich, deep dark with the ink work underneath. (I really love the combination. But I know I am that crazy ink loving person!)

An added a bonus with the watercolour pencils, to speed things up you can get your sketch together, add the colour and later go back with a wet brush to finish things up. Your traveling companions with be amazed at what you can do in 15 or 20 minutes!!

Humming Birds at the Feeder - watercoloured pencils (dry)

Time to sketch, grab your friendly book and get on your way.

Do you have a favourite medium or practice for sketchbooking in the summer? I enjoy my books and I would love to give it a try. My books are always crying out for new projects.

Looking for a starting point? I will be happy to set you up. Call me now and set up a few lessons to get you on the road to a summer of fun with your art. Your sketchbook will soon be full of great memories and inspiration for the winter.

I have a few more tricks to share on sketchbooking. Next week's post is a guaranteed minimalist approach but has lots of colour and life. It often becomes a crossover too. (Definition of Crossover: it moves into the masterpiece section and ends up being sold.)

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Have a great artful day, Wendy

Apr 28, 2016

Whoa!! Catch the Creative Spirit!! - Plein Air & Drawing Tips for the Sketchbook

NEW WORKS FROM THE STUDIO OF ART BY WENDY

Tired of the confines of the studio?

Wanting to to make a break?

Run with the wind and let the colours flow?

Definitely how I feel in the spring. Don't get me wrong, when the rain falls in January I am happy as can be. My brushes are wet, my colours are flowing and my pencils are dancing. Ideas are flying. I can't even begin to keep up! Being up all hours finishing a piece is just part of the mix. But . . . . When the sun shines and the temperatures rise, I am done!! With my sketchbook in hand I am gone.

Little Tree Standing - ink and graphite - love the view of the Coastal Mountains from Vancouver Island. This is at Bennett's Point, just south of Campbell River.

To really catch the light, and be ready for action one needs to be prepared and travel light. In my last post "Getting Loose and Free" I talked about the free and lively line you get with a pen and adding watercolour to the mix. But there are other combinations that can be quick and dirty too!

You can have lots of fun with a pen and pencil. Yes, just a nice 2B graphite pencil. The ink gives the strong line and dark tones and the graphite gives a quick, beautiful range of values that will seduce even the most hardly disbeliever. Trees, logs, birds, water, all come alive with this combination. Sometimes I sneak in a 5B for it's really rich tone. Using it means you get great darks but still keep the texture of your paper.

High Tide Mark - Ink & Graphite - A quick sketch while beach combing on Texada Island.

With your pen work you can quickly capture the main ideas of the area, then use your pencils to shade things in. I love to do some crosshatch as well. When you put graphite over the crosshatching you get intriguing texture.

Detail from Little Tree Standing - the crosshatching in the shadow areas with graphite shading gives energy to the shadows.

However, the real pleasure is in the pen work. You will find that your pen is full of energy, dashing about on the page. Your mark making will become loose and free. You won't worry about shading as you know you can jump in with a pencil.

Detail from Little Tree Standing - Let the pencil and ink work talk to each other, going outside the lines gives a greater value range and more interest to the work.

When you add the pencil, don't feel that you need to shade every little thing. Like watercolours (see last post), the graphite can be inside and outside of the lines giving a loose and free flow to your work. I love that tension created by the line telling the story but the shading echoing it rather than religiously following every stroke.

Long Beach, west coast Vancouver Island, BC. - Capture the Memory!

Your good friend, your sketchbook, is waiting, grab a pencil and pen and hit the streets or bush, wherever you like to sketch.

Looking for a starting point? I will be happy to set you up. Call me now and set up a few lessons to get you on the road to a summer of fun with your art. Your sketchbook will soon be full of great memories and inspiration for the winter.

In my next post I will have a few more ideas for that sketchbook of yours. It will soon be crying out for a lot more attention!