One time, I returned to a nearby site to sketch the Quonset hut and small silo at Cooley Lake. I’ve been going to this place since long before it was a Missouri Conservation Area; the family still used these wonderful old buildings daily. I’ve sketched these particular structures three or four times now, always from a slightly different angle. This day, as you can see in the ink-and-wash revision, I considered a view from left front and settled on the view from the right. There’s no need to choose the very first thing you see or the first aspect of it. Walk all around, consider front or back, or up close.
1" (2.5cm) flat brush, no. 8 round brush with a sharpened end, assorted watercolor pigments, calligraphy pen with a flat nib, cold-pressed watercolor paper
STEP ONE: Capture the Image
Take a photo to refer back to later.
STEP TWO: Simplify the Details
I used an old calligraphy-nib fountain pen for the lovely thick-and-thin, slightly unpredictable lines, simplifying the details and focusing on the shapes, then laid in wet-in-wet washes. I like the way they bleed into the warm foreground wash.
STEP THREE: Make a Duplicate
Return to the same spot and recreate the same image to capture the differences.