Many people seem to feel they need to go somewhere exotic to sketch: a grand vista, the mountains, the ocean, foreign climes or exotic islands. If I waited for the trip of a lifetime to get out and sketch, I’d still be sitting here! The world is full of inspiration, even right on our doorstep.
Consider the way the light hits the trees on the far hill, the sparkle of sunlight on an icicle on your porch, your old dog lolling in the sun, or your child playing in a sandbox or napping on a blanket. How about a strange new wildflower that appeared in your fencerow for the first time, or an unfamiliar mushroom that sprouted after recent rain? What’s that strange pod you found in the park, and what bird dropped that gorgeous feather? What’s going on in the neighbor’s garden down the street, and what kind of architecture is that house on the next block?
My very first art how-to book was called Painting Nature’s Details in Watercolor, and many of the people who read that book or attended my later workshops told me their eyes were opened to painting subjects all around them. They said they’d never again be bored or think there was nothing worth painting. I hope you’ll feel that’s the case now, as well. Painting on the spot doesn’t have to mean travel!
I noticed all of these various traces of tiny life going on all around me—a real record of our shared environment. When doing a study of this sort, I often prefer a fine-line ink pen. It’s crisp and descriptive, and it lets me really catch the detail.