I do small plein-air watercolor sketches in a moleskine sketchbook. I'm trying to find resources or advice on how to improve the quality of my sketches: maybe some wash techniques, ways to simplify my palette, or just ways to generate a better image in general... literally anything.
I'll post some recent sketches.
The pages are really really small, hence the messy brushwork, which is something I know I need to work on. Tips appreciated.
3/4
This one's from today
4/4
oh nevermind I found some more.. gonna keep posting
more last year
different places
last one i could find on my computer
your work is great I would love to talk with you
>>2579569
These are nice af, senpai.
You should check out the forum Sketching.cc. It's not very active but a lot of people there have similar styles and it's a comfy supportive community of older people from all over the world.
>>2579569
could be more clear, but it's nice.
>>2579635
you should do an AMA on /ic/, your stuff is amazing,
>>2579569
Thumbnails are pretty legit (especially >>2579588
), reminds me of James Gurney
>>2579657
If anyone has questions I can try to answer them here. I was just here to look for help myself.
>>2579724
Whoops lost the name after switching to mobile.
>>2579687
Him, Marco Bucci, and Nathan Fowkes are huge to me.
>>2579768
Theyre all really nice water colors. Definitely don't stop friend.
>>2579724
>>2579768
I might not be the best person to give you advice on watercolors, but perhaps look at planning out the work a bit longer before painting so you can get in the little details to level it up just a bit further
stuff like James Gurney's cable lines, sign boards and weird ways of creating textures such as light with crayons and bricks with a slightly dry brush
other then that I love your stuff keep going
>>2579784
More Gurney
>>2579787
g u r n e y
>>2579789
>>2579794
>>2579796
He actually takes quite a bit of time planning, I myself have yet to obtain that patience
>>2579803
Yeah, he measures everything really accurately. Mine are kind of, "this looks about right".
Also I didn't want to make this a Gurney thread, but to his videos, I wish he went into more depth into his process. His sketches are always so crisp and his palettes are minimal. I would like to find other narrated watercolor sketch videos to gain some more insight.
Would anyone be interested in me creating some myself?
>>2579835
That was probably my fault, it was refreshing to not see a meme thread so I tried to bump it up a bit.
I'd def. be interested but do what you want to do, I always like the videos that shine with the authors personality
I'd love to learn how to paint scenes like this, they're beautiful.
>>2580110
Alright, I'm sure you're not the only one. Here goes.
These are the materials I use:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FHOMVU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
First and foremost, this is my watercolor box. It is really small, and would fit in most pockets. I carry mine in a small pouch of a hiking daypack. It holds 12 half-pans.which can be found here
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006FHORHE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I use a lot of watercolors, but on the flat metal fold-out piece, I keep a five different globs of gouache paint. I also make room for white gouache. White gouache is important for making strokes with more weight and opacity. Gouache mixes very well with watercolor. The two can perfectly compliment one another.
The colours I use are (ranging from more important to me, to less important):
- Cobalt Blue: When applied in thin washes over blank white paper, this is great for sky. It also mixes with white gouache to create a good sky colour on sunny days
- Payne's Grey: I use this instead of black. I find black to be too overpowering, and it doesn't mix very well with other colours for some reason. Payne's grey has a cool tint, but imo darkens colours nicely. I've been using it for my darkest values since I started, and I've never felt like switching.
- Raw Sienna: This is a burnt yellow colour. I usually do my underpaintings in Raw Sienna. If you have a shadowy region that isn't completely dark, raw sienna can give a great impression of reflected sunlight on lighter-coloured surfaces.
- Burnt Sienna: This is a dark orange colour. It's also great for underpainting. It's almost brown. It's great for mellow warm accents.
- Ultramarine Blue: Great for shadows, great for water, great for places where you need varying greens like masses of plants/trees.
(continuing)
- White gouache: This mixes well with any watercolor to provide lighter colours where needed. Squeeze out some fresh white gouache when you need to make some excellent highlights.
- Cadmium Yellow: I use this all the time. Mix it with cobalt blue for your greens. Don't buy green paint.
BRUSHES:
I use a very small flat brush most of the time. I also use a small round occasionally. Just do whatever feels right. Sometimes I even use a half-inch flat. Doesn't matter what you do.
TECHNIQUE:
I always do a less-than-detailed drawing in pencil of the scene before drawing. This helps me keep the painting proportional, and lets me know where everything is when I'm doing the block-in phase of the painting.
(continuing)
Last, look out for Moleskine's watercolor sketchbooks. They're in most art stores. They're portable, and can clip to your watercolour pan if you have one of those black metal clips with the skinny.. metal things that fold back. IDK what they're called.
Your water should come out of a closeable container. I just went to a pharmacy and asked if they could give me a wide-mouth pill bottle with an easy-open lid. If they think you're a sketchy autistic fuck, then go for a film-canister you can get at your nearest walmart or wallgreens or whatever the fuck. Either container is watertight and should work perfectly.
You can take this setup anywhere. It's the most portable plein-air setup I can think of, and with practice, you can paint just about anything. Don't forget to bring a napkin or paper towel or something to wipe your brush off onto when you need to clean it between washes or whatever.
>>2579569
volvo s70?
>>2580678
Yes, my 98. I love it.
>>2580650
>- White gouache: This mixes well with any watercolor to provide lighter colours where needed. Squeeze out some fresh white gouache when you need to make some excellent highlights.
You mix Gouache with watercolors? as in actual mixing or just mixed media?
>>2580696
As in actual mixing. Gouache is water-soluble, and perfectly compliments watercolor. Where watercolor is generally transparent, gouache is a bit thicker and opaque.They work very well together.
>>2579569
Are you doing this because you think gurneys sketches are below /ic/ tier?
>>2581038
No... what are you talking about
>>2580669
Thank you so much sempai.
As for your sketches, I don't use watercolours like that but the girl in my class that does will take pictures and add in the detail later, one the watercolours has dried and she goes back to it with a wet-on-dry technique.
I have also seen her with that stuff you use to "reserve" (sorry, am French) areas on your painting, some sort of translucent stuff she puts over it ,so the watercolour don't go there. She uses it for an area that HAS to say white to add detail later.
