Over the last few weeks I’ve been doing a number of watercolour demonstrations for various art clubs throughout the region. One of the tips I tell the students to help them improve on their painting skills is to practise drawing in their Sketchbook. A great discipline is to make observational drawings of some of the masters. Just 20-40 minutes drawing a day will help ones confidence when it comes to painting.
I find that making studies in my moleskine sketchbook is a terrific (and enjoyable) way of creating passion and inspiration for future painting projects. There are no short cuts to doing good watercolour paintings, however there are disciplines you can do to speed up the process of learning. Regular drawing is one of them.
Try to create a habit of going to an art gallery every month with your sketchbook. Make quick drawings of some of the paintings on view. If it’s a complicated painting, focus on some detail. Make notes of the artist’s use of tone and colour. If getting to a gallery is too challenging, then copy a drawing or painting from an art book. I have a comprehensive collection of books about John Singer Sargent. I have dozens of charcoal drawings in my sketchbooks of his portraits and figure studies. These have been instrumental in helping me develop my drawing skills.