Sketching SUBJECTS
Artists & Illustrators|Winter 2021
Over the next 16 pages, we will cover some basic skills needed to start painting. GRAHAME BOOTH begins by explaining the benefits of sketching to familiarise yourself with a subject
GRAHAME BOOTH
Sketching SUBJECTS

Most watercolor painters who favour a looser technique also seek to produce a final painting that is very much simpler than the original subject. By “simpler”, I mean a less cluttered and detailed appearance – something that is often quite difficult to achieve in practice.

Creating a simpler composition is not simply a case of leaving things out (although this may well be part of it). Instead, it is the much more nebulous idea of painting a chosen subject so that it appears to be very quickly and economically executed, while still suggesting the detail that is effectively no longer there.

As I will show you in this article, one sure way to help this process along is to use a pencil sketch of the original subject, drawn in situ, as the main resource for the painting.

On the rare occasions when I travel to any of the London airports, I always try to get to the city for a couple of hours painting and I usually head for the River Thames where I can be sure of finding something interesting.

On my last visit I enjoyed a morning’s painting around St Saviour’s Dock and after lunch I crossed the river, ending up outside the Tower of London. It was quite crowded, a light rain was starting to fall, I needed to get back to the airport fairly soon, and the subject didn’t immediately inspire so this provided me with four good excuses not to set up my easel again.

This story is from the Winter 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.

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This story is from the Winter 2021 edition of Artists & Illustrators.

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