TIP 10 Study People In my first tip I talked about drawing from observation. Drawing people isn’t easy, particularly if they are not deliberately posing for you, but the results can be rewarding if you stick at it. A useful tip is to draw people walking about without actually looking at the paper. These can […]
TIP 9 Tony Hart was a childhood inspiration. I used to love watching Vision On and all the amazing artwork they featured. I found this plastic model of Morph whilst walking my dog. The animated Morph used to feature in Tony Hart’s television program Take Hart which was an inspiration to millions of children including […]
TIP 8 Don’t use too many colours! There are at least 96 colours in Winsor and Newton’s Artists’ watercolour range. I use about a dozen regularly which is enough for me. Spend some time finding out which ones you really like and experiment. The arrangement of different paints you can see on my drawing board […]
Top Sketchbook TIP 7 A new sheet of clean white paper can ofter appear intimidating to a beginner, even to someone experienced. to overcome any fears of making a mistake, it can be helpful to lay a pale wash of colour (for example Yellow Ochre or Raw Sienna) over the whole sheet of paper, whether […]
Sketchbook TIP 6 Receive instruction. I always take at least one Sketchbook on a painting holiday. Join a painting class or join us on one of our Painting Holidays You will be with like-minded people who will encourage you and offer constructive criticism. You will also have that regular weekly discipline that is so important to […]
Sketchbook TIP 5 If you want to start adding watercolour to any line work you are doing in your sketchbook, then you will need one with a decent quality paper. I enjoy using the “little black book” now branded by moleskine favoured by artists like Henri Matisse. You can get one with a stiff cartridge […]
Tip 4 Limited Palette Why don’t you try Drawing with a brush and paint with one colour or a limited palette instead of using a pencil. You will achieve a quality of line that will vary in thickness. This will make your brush strokes look far more interesting. You will also become more confident about […]
TIP 3 Be Inspired! If I’m ever feeling dry, I will spend a couple of hours browsing through my reference books of paintings by some of the great exponents of watercolour. Some of my favourites are Winslow Homer, Sir William Russell Flint and Joseph Mallord William Turner. More recently I’ve been studying John Singer Sargent, Arthur […]
Watercolour 2. For more Top Sketch Book Tips buy a small watercolour sketch book. I find that Moleskine do a rather handy size book with decent paper in. Try to paint a sky a day or even just one a week. At the end of a year you will have 52-365 studies that will capture […]
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 […]