First Sketches of the Year

 I decided to challenge myself to spend more time in my sketchbook this year, here are my first sketches of the year.

This pen and ink sketch is based on a photo I took somewhere in rural Utah, I don't remember quite where. I used a fine liner pen, a brush pen and diluted ink in a water brush.

Sketch No 2 is based on a photo I took in Hanksville, Utah of an abandoned and partially disassembled vintage Ford pickup.  I used a brown ink applied with a dip pen and a brush.

There was plenty of brown ink left in the palette so I used it for sketch no 3 as well which is based on a photo I took while hiking in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah.

I used the dip pen and brush again but with black water soluble ink this time referencing a photo I took in rural Fountain Green Utah.

Sketchbook Wednesday #3

 These week I'm sharing a couple pages out of my daily sketchbook.  I've been developing a habit of sketching first thing in the morning.  This week I decided to do multiple small sketches on each page based on photographs from a magazine consisting of custom cars and hot rods.  

These sketches are only for my own practice and to add to my visual library.  I start each sketch with a fine black pen with no lay-in, just straight to it.  I pick a shape, draw it and then start drawing and adjacent line or shape until I've sketched the whole car, then I shade the sketch using gray brush pens.

More Sketchiness

 More sketches from my multimedia studio sketchbook.

"Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 3"

I don't remember for sure where I took the reference photo but I beleive it was somewhere in Morgan County Utah, about as rural as it gets. It's an image that's always interested me and one I've sketched and drawn a couple times.  I guess what's so interesting is that in spite of the derelict appearance of this barn or shed with the dying tree in front of it, even blocking part of the opening it is still in use and full of hay bales. Like the first two sketches and next three I started with charcoal then applied watercolor washes with a simple, three color palette of muted colors and then finished off with soft pastel to add more texture, detail and color.

"Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 4"

Another derelict barn, this one larger and apparently abandoned altogether or maybe just used to store scrap wood in that section on the left. The reference photo was taken in the small rural town of Midway, Utah on a crisp autumn day. Unfortunately Midway isn't quite so rural anymore, newer developments around it have a distinctly upper-middle class suburban feel.

"Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 5"

I don't remember where I took the reference photo but it was pretty much just like this, an antique Case farm tractor sitting abandoned near the road in a large open area in rural Utah.

"Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 6"

I believe I took the reference photo for this somewhere in Sanpete County, a very agricultural rural county in west/central Utah.  This field appeared to be an abandoned farm field left to return to nature.  

Yet Another New Sketchbook

 This is the last new sketchbook for a while, I promise.  This is the third dedicated purpose sketchbook I started recently, this one dedicated to exploring abstract compositions and techniques.

I started by making two at a time with the same basic color scheme using red oxide, teal and yellow.

"Abstract Sketchbook 1 Sketch 1"

"Abstract Sketch 1 Sketch 2"

I started by applying gesso tinted with red oxide acrylic paint in both cases. I then splattered teal and yellow paint and went over that with a roller.  I then applied some collage elements, pattens, text, etc. Then more paint was applied with a narrow roller creating textured rectilinear shapes.  More shapes were added using stencils and then some deliberately placed rectangular brush strokes and some stampings. Then the compositions were topped off with some oil pastel strokes and shapes.

"Abstract Sketchbook 1 Sketch 3"

"Abstract Sketchbook 1 Sketch 4"

The second set of two were made with similar process but a different color scheme using red, magenta and orange.

Getting Sketchy Again

 I've been really, really lax about my sketching practice for a while now, I've decided to get back into it and in a bigger way.

My primary sketching medium before was mostly line and wash or just pen, before then just graphite.  I've decided I'd like to move in a somewhat different direction yet still keep it simple.  I want my sketches to be more free, more loose, more suggestive and I figured charcoal is the place to start with that.  But what about color? That's usually where things get complicated and where it's easy to create a chaotic, disharmonious mess so again, I wanted to keep things simple.

My goal with this is also to come up with a simple, yet functional kit for plein air (outdoors on location) sketching.  While the photo shows my full watercolor palette I decided to try using only three colors to keep things also and maintain color harmony.  I used yellow ochre, burnt sienna, and paynes gray and just one brush, a large round. I used only one charcoal pencil and one piece of compressed charcoal. I also picked out a selection of lighter pastel pencils and hard pastels.  I knew I wouldn't use all of those colors but I wanted a selection to chose from. 

Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 1

I used a 9x12 Strathmore cold press watercolor sketchbook for my first.  The rough texture was a bit much, I'll probably use hot press or multimedia paper next time. I laid down all of the charcoal defining the entire composition making sure to work quickly and loosely.  Then I watered down the entire paper and applied loose and heavy washes of color.  After the paint had dried I went into it with the pastels to add brighter color and lighter areas but being mindful to not get too carried away and keep the colors harmonious.  The composition is straight from my imagination.

Studio Sketchbook 1 Sketch 2

I used the same process for this scene based on a photograph I took on the outside edges of the small rural Utah town of Fountain Green in Sanpete County.  This sketch will most likely soon will be used as a reference to make a painting.  Besides the good drawing practice that's another good use for a sketchbook, to test composition ideas for painting.

Now I need to start a plein air sketchbook and I'm also considering making a painting sketchbook, in which I'll actually paint with acrylics in the sketchbook, something I've never done before but after watching some YouTube videos I can see the value of doing that. Stay tuned!