Week 2 of Sketchbook Skool

The theme for this week was to work outdoors and in public. I've completed the first half of that challenge and will be working on the second half of it later today when I'm out for lunch with my painting buddy Carol.

This is the journal page that I'm submitting to class. It was done on a property southeast of here called Otter River Farms. Saw four baby raccoons that have been rescued, a cat and some chickens but no otters. Of course, I wasn't near the river.

I'm still getting used to the idea of adding text with the pictures - my penmanship has deteriorated so much in this digital age, but it is a lovely way to document the day. 

Next sketch is an old shed that was on the property. The original was all old wood and there were two bicycles leaning against the side. I liked the structure but the scene was quite dull so I opted to brighten things up and put a turquoise metal roof on it, left out a bicycle and added some potted flowers and a path.

That's what I like about a sketch - I can make it look however I want it to. I think this is the first time I've added/subtracted things from what I was seeing in real life.

When working from photographs, I usually select my subjects based on liking the whole aspect of the picture but in working from real life I somehow feel freer to change things up.

This all plays into the idea of creating my paintings rather than simply reproducing what is in front of me, something I see as the next step in my artwork.



This last sketch is the end result of one I did back at the end of June  and posted a few posts down. I did the linework onsite in pencil, then after making some adjustments to the perspective at home, I did the ink and watercolour. I've intentionally minimized the detail since simplifying is something I struggle with. In drawing, I need to work on seeing shapes first and adding in the detail later.