Watercolour Paints

Whether you are a keen painter or simply a beginner who has been given a box of watercolour paints for Christmas, here are my top 10 Sketchbook Tips to help improve your sketchbook work. Drawing is and always will be the main foundation of my creative process. Many visual artists and painters do rely heavily on photography to pull together the material from which they paint from. There’s nothing wrong in that, however I do feel that the discipline of drawing and observing from life is a valuable tool that can enrich the flow of creativity.

Sketchbook

1. Carry a sketchbook and biro at all times so that if you have time to kill, you can quickly draw whatever is around you. Drawing from life sharpens one’s technical ability in terms of being able to draw and will increase one’s visual awareness.

There’s always something nearby to draw. If you’re really struggling for subject matter, draw your hand! Watch this short YouTube video that I did to encourage hand drawings. I’d also encourage you to read this blog post I did about Drawing which you may find interesting.

Moleskine

I find the moleskine brand of sketch books very handy. They are small, discreet, have a decent paper inside that can even take paint and have a useful inside pocket for tucking things away. The advantage of using a biro instead of a pencil is that you can’t rub out mistakes. It forces you to think more about the lines you are making before putting pen to paper. I often enjoy drawing with a fountain pen for the same reasons. The nib also gives you an interesting quality of line that is fun to experiment with.