Experimenting with water colour techniques in my sketch book.

Sketchbook has become a very significant part of my art journey. I use it for my small preliminary works in different mediums. These days I am creating water colour paintings in them. I posted about these works earlier too and you can CLICK HERE to browse through them.

The works are sized 4" X 5.5" and are done in a very free and loose manner. Working small helps me to learn better. I start with the reference photo, analyse the elements and then work out the procedure in my mind regarding the technique that I shall be using to create the background, middle ground and the foreground. Then I go ahead and mix the colours as required in my palette ( Camlin artists water colour tubes ) and begin the work.

It takes me roughly ten to fifteen minutes to create each work. Since it is a small preliminary study I have to constantly remind myself to avoid getting into too many details and stop after a while. However many a times I get so involved with my art that I lose the sense of time and overdo the strokes which is not really required.

After completing each of the small paintings I make a small note at the side which in future can remind me of my little experiments that I did each time. At times the painting does not match the vision that I had in mind and it challenges me all the more to try out something different to make it work.

A rocky seashore

Maya bay

Breezy day at the sea

Foggy day at seashore

A tree in shadow

Mandalpatti hills ( Karnataka )

Dense foliage 

Aerial perspective - study work

The sketch book with 40 cartridge sheets in it.

I am loving this sketch book. I purchased it from Art Station, a stationery shop close to my residence.

Posting below a beautiful quote that I came across recently and it so well worded. Anyone who is painting in water colour medium will agree with it.

"Watercolor is like golf. Every stroke counts." Katie Wood McCloy

My favourite water colour works in my Travel sketch book.

I created my first Travel sketch book using hand made paper in order to create small water colour paintings while away from home. It has about forty small papers spirally bound together. Last month I finally used up the last three pages that were left blank.

Given below is a collage of four of my personal favorites ( Landscape paintings ) out of the forty small water colour paintings. All of them have been created using Camel Artists water colour tubes.

Water colour study works

Sized 3.5" X 5"

The top two paintings are from Himachal and Kharghar ( Monsoon time )

The lower two landscape paintings were done in order to get a better understanding

of the foggy atmosphere. 

Water colour medium is a very challenging medium and I enjoy it a lot as it gets done quickly, although it can be very frustating as there is not much scope for corrections and a if work gets ruined, then you have to just let go.

I get so inspired by artists like Joseph Zbukvic, a master water colorist from Australia. Recently I also came across works of Nita Engle, an American water colour artist and her works too are amazing.

My paintings can also be seen on my FACEBOOK page and if you like my works please share.

Plein air sketching - Cloudscapes

"Plein air sketching" or in other words "Painting on location" can be a very enriching experience. I tried my hands at painting clouds as seen on a clear day just outside our Coorg Homestay. All three works as given below are Graphite works ( 3B and 4B pencils ), small in size and are done in my Travel sketch book.

What I enjoyed the most was that I could very clearly see the values, the shapes and I agree with all Plein air artists when they say that painting on location is so much better than painting from a photograph. A photograph never captures the details and colours as eyes can see personally. However if plein air is not possible then a combination of both works well with me as of now but I do plan to do more of Plein air sketches and paintings.

Since clouds were shifting every two minutes and were changing their shapes and shadows as well, I had to be quick to get the basic shape and shading in less than five minutes and I took another ten minutes to complete the shading based on my observation.

Plein air sketching of

Cloudscapes

Size 4" x 5"

All the cloudscapes as done above are either in early morning or just before sunset. Some time later I could make use of these study sketches in creating water colour paintings or I could use it in one of my pastel landscapes. 

The twenty minute sketchings in my Travel sketch book

When I created my Travel sketch book it was with the intention of doing small study works without getting into too many details. However it so happens that as an artist one easily gets carried away to work out all the details. Hence I decided to time my study works so as to spend just about twenty to twenty five minutes on each of them.

It gets difficult though as there is always something to be erased or added. Nevertheless timing each work did help and given below are few of my Twenty minute sketches done in pencil and charcoal.

Three study sketches

created on Canson c a grain paper

The subjects chosen for sketching are random as I want to try out everything be it still life, nature or portrait.The first sketching is of a leaf which I picked up from some field and the sketching has been done using both graphite and charcoal pencil.

The next sketching is of a simple Forest scene where I have used willow charcoal in the background and then moved on to using Camel charcoal pencil in the next layer.

In the third sketching of the tree trunk I have used a black ball point pen initially to create the outline and the dark tones and later I have used both willow charcoal and Camel charcoal pencil to complete the work.

Diane Wright a graphite artist writes on Importance of sketching

"Sketching is the fundamental building block for an artist. It is used to develop a personal visual vocabulary. Sketches are visual exercises in problem solving." 

My new travel sketch book for Pencil and Charcoal sketchings

When I am travelling, I make it a point to carry my ART TRAVEL KIT which includes a small sketch book and bare minimum art materials which can help me create few study sketches or paintings. Last year I created this small water colour "Travel sketch book" as shown below which has small hand made papers bound together.

You can read more about this sketch book in my earlier POST wherein I have written in detail about it. When I am away from home I prefer not to carry my pastels as it is a very messy affair. Later some day I may organise my stuff and start on that too.

Travel sketch book with 40 hand made sheets

size 3.5" X 5"

For my August trip to Madikeri and Goa, I decided to create yet another sketch book for my charcoal and pencil works. For charcoal and pencil works I just need to carry a few of my favourite pencils, kneaded putty and eraser. These materials easily fit into a pencil box and very convenient to carry in case on wants to do PLEIN AIR painting.

To create my charcoal TRAVEL SKETCH BOOK, I made use of Canson c a grain paper which has slight texture on one side. I cut them into uniform size of 4" X 5" and got it spirally bound at a stationery shop. However since charcoal and pencil sketches smudge easily, I have used butter paper ( glassine ) between the sheets so as to preserve the work for longer duration.

Travel sketch book for creating

charcoal and pencil sketches

A.  Canson c a grain paper

B. Butter paper

While I am away from home, I am unable to do a large sized art work. Therefore these travel sketch books with small sized papers, enable me to explore and experiment. At times I am relaxed and I have the time to create a small study work on location but there are moments when I want to but due to various factors am unable to create my work outdoors. Hence I make it a point to capture the magical moments on camera so that I can refer to them and use either water colour or my pencils to create small study works.

The biggest advantage of carrying these small sketch books is that I get to do so many different subjects and each of them takes not more than twenty to twenty five minutes. Moreover the work is done in a very loose and free manner, in a fun way so there is no hesitation at any point. I will soon be posting a few small works created in this book.

The pristine beaches of Goa - Photographs taken by Canon 7D

" Nature never hurries. Atom by atom, little by little she achieves her work."  

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Nature inspires me to create my artworks. I have a big collection of my personal photographs, yet I am always looking forward to click more and the month of August was a month of travelling. I visited Madikeri, Udupi and the beautiful beaches of South Goa.

This time around I made use of my Canon 7D DSLR Camera to click photographs in Auto Focus Mode. Before embarking on this trip I created a small travel sketch book for my pencil and charcoal sketches. I will be posting about it soon along with the study sketches that I created in them.

Given below are photographs of some beautiful pristine beaches in the South of Goa which have been clicked using Canon 7D Camera. The long stretch of white sandy beaches, the transparent blue green waters, the ever changing colours of the sky makes it an ideal destination for all nature lovers.

I visited nine different beaches in South Goa spending some peaceful moments watching the waves hitting the shore. In all it was a very rewarding experience as an artist as I could capture some beautiful seascape scenes which I plan to paint soon.

Sunset at Mobor beach, Goa

Early morning at vaddi beach, South Goa

Varca beach, South Goa

DIY - Create your own travel sketch book.

Somewhere last year when I was looking around for a small sketch book in order to create small art works or study sketches, I did not find what would suit my purpose. Either it was highly priced or it did not have the papers that I was looking for. So I decided to create my own SKETCH BOOK.

I have posted earlier about the same. I had this hand made paper with me on which I was frequently doing small water colour works. So I cut forty small rectangles sized 3.5" x 5" and then took it to the stationery shop and got it spirally bound. This solved my purpose and moreover I got the paper which was appropriate for my works.

I am also planning to create a similar book for my pencil and charcoal sketches but then I will need to place butter paper in between the sheets to avoid smudging.

( Do it yourself )

Sketch book created using hand made paper

There are about six pages still to go so I decided to use them for my Himachal series,
study sketches. This way I also get to experiment with my mediums as I have done in the
 image below where I have used both water colour and soft pastels to just paint for fun.

Small study work for my future painting

water colour and soft pastel on hand made paper

I have also started posting some of my paintings and sketchings on Arti Chauhan's blog http://arti-artindia.blogspot.in. I am thankful to Arti Chauhan for making me a part of her blog and giving me an opportunity to share my works with other Indian artists and the world.