When we work on the spot, we may need to be prepared to work quickly or change direction. We may have one plan for a page and end up going somewhere else entirely with our images. Our initial subject may move or change position, or weather may chase us indoors. Sometimes I just keep adding until a page is full. Then I either try to pull it all together into a harmonious composition, or I just leave it alone. Either way, it still reflects a moment, or a collection of them, in any given day.
Our sketchcrawls are often full of experiments and sharing. Here, my fellow sketchers offered their palettes to explore different brands of pigments like Quinacridone Burnt Orange.
I made samples right on my page, but then went on to add Don Gore and Vicky Williamson (both of whom are in this book) as we sat in a local restaurant. Not finished yet, I added the fancy brickwork in the building up the street. The green of the building’s trim, the soft green trees and Don’s shirt helped to pull this all together.
I just kept adding as I went along from lunch at one end of the city to the Irish store at the other. I let color and spatter help hold the images together and had the foliage appear on both sides of the stovepipe.
Quite often, people move as we attempt to sketch them, especially youngsters. Nina Khashchina solved that by simply drawing her sons’ various positions and capturing something of the kinetic nature of youth. She did both of these sketches on scrap paper, then pasted them into her journal to keep.