There is something so immediate, so personal, so beguiling about working on the spot. Unlike working from a photo or from one’s imagination, everything around us informs our sketch. It becomes part of it, lending it a depth and a freshness that studio work seldom seems to achieve.
We notice things that may have nothing to do with what we’re sketching, but we remember them years down the road, every time we open that sketchbook or journal. We respond on a deep level, whether we fully realize it or not. Our emotions join our intellect and memory to appear, as if by magic, on the page. A sense of peace or wonder may envelop us, or a flare of anger as we remember the damage done by vandals to a favorite picnic spot. I can still smell the tang of broken, rusty metal and old campfire ashes that were present when I sketched the old stone barbecue in our local park.
I like to let my emotions show in my sketches. In this case, the bold, black marks made with a brush pen served much better than a delicate rendering of this stone barbecue.
We discover things we never thought to look for when we set out to sketch a delicate feather that teases us with the mystery of its owner, a tiny Irish bistro set in an alley in a bustling city, a bakery or fish market that’s been in the same family for three generations, a magnificent tree deep in the forest or a wildflower we’ve never seen before, right in our own backyard.
Australian artist Alissa Duke creates the most delicate, wondrous duck feathers with watercolor pencils.
Sketching on the spot doesn’t necessarily require being “out amongst ’em.” We don’t have to set up in a public place or deal with anxiety or discomfort. You can sketch on your own front porch, from your window, from your car, alone in nature or in your studio from some interesting item you’ve carried home. “The spot” refers to where you are. It means working from life.
We may find plenty to draw in our own backyard, or we may take off on foot to El Camino like artist Jennifer Lawson, or to the High Sierras like Kolby Kirk. The world is out there, near and far, waiting to be discovered and drawn.
We may find a tumble of stone ruins in Ireland or towering palm trees in the Sinai. Irish artists Róisín Curé and Shevaun Doherty share their sketches from their explorations at home and abroad, and invite us along. Laura Murphy Frankstone sketches wherever she is, whether she’s depicting the flowers in her own garden, Norway’s frozen fjords or sunny Italy. Roz Stendahl delights in traveling with as little gear as possible as she sketches standing up at the Minnesota State Fair. Nina Khashchina takes us on an artist-in-residency in Alaska and shares how she prepared for the trip of a lifetime. Warren Ludwig’s wide-reaching interests take him from air shows to dinosaurs.
My own sketches-on-the-spot range from my Missouri bird feeders to the Pacific coast, to the tide pools of Maine and the arid Southwestern desert.
This is not a book on plein air painting, though there is some of that. We are more focused on sketching, capturing our impressions, honoring our passing hours and responding to whatever we see, indoors or out.
Like any good trip, wherever you go, the secret is to be prepared but not too prepared. Leave room for serendipity, for thinking on your feet, for surprises and delight and flexibility. You may discover a new approach or a new tool that will become part of your artistic vocabulary for a lifetime. You may find yourself “stuck” in a place you hadn’t intended to sketch, and find the most interesting subjects!
Medium really doesn’t matter that much. There is no right or wrong, and there is no magical tool. We’ll look at a number of favorites: graphite, ink, colored pencil, watercolor and gouache, and we’ll explore their uses and capabilities, their pros and their cons.
We’ll also consider sketching with whatever is at hand, whether that’s using a freebie ballpoint pen and the back of an envelope, painting with the water from the lake you’re sketching, or drawing with a twig you pick up off the ground. I once did a quick sketch with a piece of charcoal from a long-dead campfire that I came across in the woods.
Creating the sketch is far more important than what you use to make it. However, if you plan to sketch on the spot in a journal or sketchbook that you will close, you’ll probably want to stick with a dry medium, or one that will dry completely without smearing or being sticky. The mediums previously listed are popular choices.
Roz Stendahl used a full spread in her sketchbook for this rooster.
If you work on a board or canvas, or even a watercolor block, you may enjoy acrylics (which can make journal pages stick together even when dry) or oils. It’s up to you, but the latter two will be mentioned only in passing rather than covered in depth.
In this book, we’ll take ourselves sketching on the spot in deserts and deep woods, cities and small towns. We’ll sketch alone, with a sketch buddy or in a crowd. We’ll look at ways to decide on a subject, to simplify or to work as slowly and contemplatively as we want. Plus, we’ll suggest tools and materials to make your sketching expedition a cache of lifetime memories that are both pleasurable and safe!
Come along and join us from Alaska to Australia to Asia, from the Midwest to the Middle East and points between.
Most of my sketches you’ll see in this book are from my journals—my favorite way to sketch on the spot. This was done with a brown ink pen and my little converted opaque watercolor set on tan paper.