How I Sketch: Part Two, Demonstration
Continued from: How I Sketch: Part One, Materials
I thought it would be helpful to show and describe my own ‘how to sketch’ step by step process, but keep in mind that what works best for each person will vary widely. There are as many ways to create great sketches as there are artists.
When combined, ink line and watercolor create a lively visual interplay curiously pleasing to the eye. Playing with these two rather different media is a good introduction for those new to sketching: the results are fun, unexpected, and often wonderful.
When possible I do both the drawing and the painting on site. The painting can be done later, if need be, but I strive to complete each sketch on the same day for best results.
Sketches with areas that are not completely defined or finished are especially intriguing. The mind likes to have some work to do to fill in those gaps. To that end, I try to leave areas or portions of objects un-drawn, un-painted, or un-detailed.
Demonstration
I did this sketch of a North Berkeley street corner (Shattuck Ave. & Vine St.) one morning last month while sitting in my car, taking digital pictures along the way. I have always liked this building, which houses a produce store on the ground floor, but had never sketched it. The lamppost banner also caught my eye; I like to draw scenes with flags, signs and banners. This sketch spans one spread (5″ x 7″) in my sketchbook and took about 30 minutes to complete, roughly split between drawing, painting, and waiting for paint to dry.
Drawing
The drawing is done with a fountain pen and waterproof ink. I try to stay loose; if I don’t like where a line ends up I just draw it again where I’d like it to be. Also, I find that a somewhat interrupted line adds flavor and a sense of light to the scene.
Step 1: Guide Lines
I rarely bother with this step but wanted to show every contingency. When the perspective of a scene is particularly tricky, or if I want to be sure to fit specific objects in a sketch, I will consider starting with some guide lines in pencil.
I take care that the lines are only positional cues and not drafts of the actual drawing; if I end up doing inking over completed pencil lines the results are stiff. I draw the lines lightly: these are shown heavy so you can see them.
Here, the guide lines note the positioning of the main building and its turret roof, the foreground lamppost, the line of the Marin County hills in the distance, and the street level. Streets are horizontal, but I felt like curving this one a bit; it seemed to help indicate that the block in the distance descends out of view.
Step 2: Foreground Objects
Although I don’t mind background lines occasionally showing through objects in from of them, I generally draw key foreground elements first to minimize this. Note that from my vantage point the tip of the foreground street lamp intersected the top of the turret roof and the top of the post’s banner lined up with the horizontal roofline. Compositionally this is awkward so I drew them with space in between. Artistic license, you see!
Step 3: Outline Main Shapes
I like to get all of the major shapes blocked in before adding a lot of detail, so that the overall structure of the drawing is established for later reference. Here I outlined the main building and the tricky roof sections using the pencil lines as guides.
Step 4: Fill In Foreground
Next I finished up the objects in the foreground. I like the plants on the median strip, so pulled them more into the view than they actually were and detailed them quite a bit. The building on the left doesn’t add to the scene (although it’s a great clothing store 
), so I didn’t put in a lot of effort there. I also inked in the line of the street on the left, deciding to curve it even more than I had originally indicated with the pencil guidelines.
Step 5: Details and Background
Once the basic layout of a sketch is established I start to fill in details. I tackled the building itself, working from large areas (upper/lower floors, awning) to smaller (windows, door). Although the blinds of the store were pulled shut, I knew that soon the windows would be filled with colorful produce so I put that in too. The scene seemed barren without any people, so I invented some figures. I also decided that adding a partially visible parked car would help indicate that the street descends out of view.
The background trees and the hills in the distance were then filled in, making sure that the pine trees clearly cross over the line of the hills in the distance to add interest to the skyline.
Step 6: Hatching
This step is relatively new for me, but I like the effect. I add hatching to indicate some areas that are in shadow. I do not hatch to indicate dark local color (the color something actually is: navy blue, for example, is a dark color), I just stick to cast shadows (in this sketch for example, under the awning) and the sides of objects that are dark because they are facing away from the light (here, the side of the building). I don’t spend a lot of time on hatching and don’t strive to be too accurate: I just get some in there.
After all the ink has dried (about 3 minutes), I erase my pencil lines.
Painting
Drawing provides structure to the sketches, and watercolor livens them up. I don’t so much paint my sketches though, as I tint them. My colors tend to be on the light side, and muted. This comes from working fast with a small travel palette, mixing pigments, and a lax attitude towards thorough brush and palette cleaning during the painting process. I put down one, and at most two, layers of paint in any one area. The smooth watercolor paper I use to facilitate drawing tends to create sharper paint edges and blotchier washes than traditional paper, but I like these effects.
Working small, I mix my colors on my palette rather than on the paper itself. Water, as needed, comes from my waterbrush. I almost always create a color with two pigments (and maybe a smidge of a third): one pigment is too saturated (except for flowers and manmade objects), and three or more generally creates “muddy” colors, dull and flat.
I don’t try to match the actual colors of things generally, unless color really distinguishes an object. Out of habit I tend to stick to a small number of pigments and mixes.
Typical mixes are:
- French Ultramarine+Burnt Sienna: blueish and brownish greys, and a soft black
- French Ultramarine+Permanent Alizerin Crimson: variety of lavenders (smidge of Burnt Sienna to mute)
- Cobalt Blue: water or sky
- Permanent Alizerin Crimson+Burnt Sienna: Brick-like hues
- Single pigments: Flowers, clothing, other manmade objects
- Raw Sienna, touch of Permanent Rose, sometimes smidge of Cobalt Blue or Burnt Sienna: Skin tones
- Raw Sienna: Sunlight on things
- any blue+any yellow: natural greens
Color theory is a whole topic unto itself, but I follow a general trend of colors moving from warm to cool, saturated to muted and dark to light as they recede into the background.
Painting is done loosely, allowing specks of white paper to show through and both under- and overshooting inked edges. The effect, something like an image printed off-register, adds vitality and sparkle to a line and wash drawing.
Step 7: Foliage
What to paint first? I try to pick whatever part of a scene I would like to have for reference when mixing other colors. I might choose the shadow areas, darkest spots, bright (saturated) areas of color, a very particular color I want to recreate, or areas that have colors that need to contrast well with adjoining areas.
In this scene not only is the building green, but there is a lot of green foliage as well; differentiating these is a challenge. One solution would be to make the building a different color, but the color of this building is part of its identity and charm, so I didn’t want to do that. I decided to paint the varying greens of the foliage first to serve as a reference when painting the building. I created a variety of greens using various mixes of French Ultramarine+Aureolin and Cobalt Blue+Aureolin in the foreground and French Ultramarine+Raw Sienna in the background. After the foliage was complete I let it all dry.
Step 8: Saturated Highlights:
Next I painted snippets of saturated color that I wanted to remain distinctive so that they would not be overshadowed later on. These included the people, newspaper box, flowers, store produce and street lights. I also decided to add redder color to some of the trees.
Step 9: Darks and Shadows
Next I considered the posts and parking meter. I decided to make the post directly in front of the building dark so that it would show well in front of the light building. I wanted to keep the parking meter light since it would be surrounded by dark shadows, and I decided the post beside it should be dark to contrast with the hills and trees beyond. I wasn’t sure about the foreground post, so left it unpainted for the time being. The posts were painted in French Ultramarine+Burnt Sienna grays and let dry.
Sometimes I paint an area’s basic color and then add the shadows on top when the first layer is dry, but more often I just paint the shadows in directly. Here I painted all of the shadows, hatched and un-hatched, except the lacy tree shadows on the building, with French Ultramarine+Alizerin Crimson+smidge of Burnt Sienna.
Step 10: Remaining Color
Next I painted the roof with French Ultramarine+Burnt Sienna. This is a large area in the painting so I made sure to apply it loosely. I did the roof in two coats: an initial pass and then once that dried, a second pass on some areas I wanted darker.
Now to tackle the building. I wanted a green that would be distinctly different from the natural greens in the scene, so I started with a bit of Phthalo Green. This pigment has an artificial hue not found in nature so I never use it for greenery, but it can be good for manmade objects that are green (like awnings and sun umbrellas). However, it is a very intense pigment so I just used a dab of it and added a bunch of French Ultramarine and water. I painted the building as loosely as I could, leaving the framing planks white.
Step 11: Finishing Up
It’s hard to know when to stop. At this stage I thought long and hard about what color to paint the awning. I couldn’t come up with any great ideas, so decided to just leave it unpainted and went ahead and added the lacy tree shadows to the front of the building and awning with French Ultramarine+Alizerin Crimson.
Given my decision regarding the awning, I decided to leave the foreground pole with its banner and sign white as well. Originally I had envisioned that banner being a bright, perky highlight of the sketch and it ended up quite differently, but that’s exactly what happens in the course of making a quick sketch. At any rate, in the spirit of leaving things undone it worked for me. I was pretty sure early on that I was going to leave the street white and that did prove to be true.
And So…
I hope this has been helpful. Lots of great, quite detailed, questions about technique have come my way in response to the first part of this series. I know I have not answered all of them as yet, and will continue to address topics related to both drawing and painting. If you have questions, please let me know, either by commenting here or sending me email, and I’ll do my best to address them.
Happy Sketching!
See Also
How I Sketch: Part One, Materials
Recent Sketches
Posts on Travel Sketching
Related Topics: Berkeley, How to Sketch, Landscapes, Travel Sketching
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May 7th, 2013 at 11:55 am
Great job.. it’s fantastic you stile…
. “Moleskine Reloaded” it’s great too… 
September 10th, 2012 at 12:39 am
Thank you so much for this posting! It really clarifies a lot of questions in my head! You have a very nice blog, I’ve just discovered this place, so I have a lot to read!
Thank you once again
Cristina
September 9th, 2012 at 11:33 pm
Thank you so much for this posting! It really clarifies a lot of questions in my head! You have a very nice blog, I’ve just discovered this place, so I have a lot to read!
Thank you once againm
Cristina
June 2nd, 2012 at 8:22 am
Other tools: Daler-Rowney sketchbook, “Ebony”, 160gm2 (they will deliver anywhere in the world); radio with earphones to zone out distracting stares from onlookers; pencils from 2B – H.
June 2nd, 2012 at 8:18 am
Paper: I am in Mauritius and I had my sketchpad sent to me from South Africa, but there will definitely be someone somewhere who will send it to you. It is by Daler Rowney and called Ebony and is 160gm2. I use A3 size as any smaller is very restrictive. It is super-smooth and is just about heavy enough to take watercolour. Obviously watercolour paper is better for the paint but it’s so expensive – which can be off-putting if you are cheapskate like me. Other than that…I find plugging in my radio into my ears is invaluable as it helps me “zone in” – especially if someone is hanging around, which can be very distracting.
June 2nd, 2012 at 8:12 am
Well done for such an informative demo. It’s amazing how similar our working techniques are, and I thoroughly agree about doing the entire skecth on location, including colour. Some ideas: I use an amazing waterproof pen called a Carbon pen, available from Cult Pens in the UK. It dries almost instantly and has a wonderful fluid line. Also, I use a tiny travel chair that is super-light to carry, anfd so tiny that a little stool acts as a table. I can fit a regular-size box of watercolours, a jar of water AND a ceramic palette on this. Keep up the good work!
February 23rd, 2012 at 11:30 pm
So many artists show the results of their drawings, and being a beginner I have no idea how they achieved a particular hue or the process of watercoloring in their entries. You did in this post and I learned so much from you than from any other sources! I need to go back and read carefully again, especially your mixes – I’m sure I will refer to them time and time again. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this post and show us step by step!
November 3rd, 2011 at 11:22 pm
I so much want to sketch on the road, but need to gather a kit. Thanks for your tips in the two articles, it will help me decide mine a lot I guess. Though it is hard to find the Moleskin in India, and I don’t do much watercolor.
September 20th, 2011 at 7:34 am
i really want to know more about how to sketch..this is what i want..thank you ang please post other types of your sketches..
July 16th, 2011 at 7:37 am
great blog. i really enjoyed the ‘tutorial’ and the posts. my biggest question to you as an avid journal writer, who has attempted to illustrate on occasion, is “What if you can’t draw?”
October 13th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
great! I just love the way you sketch.Now I know how . Though I am not sure whether I will be able to do the same. Please post more of your sketches. They are very informative and inspiring.
October 2nd, 2010 at 8:13 am
Thank you so much for this tutorial. I’m going to come back later to read it at length. I want to get a closer look at your sketches. I’m 63 and trying to learn to sketch. I like this style of sketching…loose, casual. I want to eventually learn enough to sketch on site. Too self-conscious right now.
August 11th, 2010 at 3:32 am
Very very informative post. You really explained things in a step by step fashion, and have inspired me to sketch again
July 30th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Wonderful blog, to which I will link on mine. Was enjoying reading this demonstration when I came across your brilliant summary of colour theory in just three lines of text. Sheer genius!
March 15th, 2010 at 1:52 am
[...] a ton of useful info on-line about how to start doing all this, but I particularly liked this post, How I Sketch: Part Two, Demonstration, despite being obsessed, as a typical beginner, with all the nice things I can buy in her previous [...]
January 10th, 2010 at 5:54 pm
I travel full time with my husbands work in our RV and roadschool our 3 kids. We’ve always journaled but just started sketching and journaling together. I can see a few new tools we can add and some great ideas. Thanks for the inspiration!
August 30th, 2009 at 6:14 am
thanks so much. After i read this, you’ve inspired me to buy a sketch kit and just started sketching. Your tips helped in giving me a good start!
August 27th, 2009 at 7:43 am
You have made my day, dear new friend from the Web. Sketching is my new passion to add to my journal. Thank you for the time and thought you put into this demonstration. Since I’ve had no training I appreciate that you added a list of colors. . . and it all fits into a tiny space. Perfect!
June 25th, 2009 at 2:32 am
my your such a preety artist
March 16th, 2009 at 5:09 am
Thank u very much, I like it. How interesting to draw these things.
December 17th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
thank u very much for such a wonderful tutor your tutuor has been so helpful please send me some more of your sketching principles and tutors through my e-mail.
September 7th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I like your style, and you have given me many new ideas to consider and work with. Thanks so much….
August 29th, 2008 at 5:07 am
Very nice demonstration. Thanks for sharing.
July 16th, 2008 at 8:50 am
It is always great to see an artist willing to give out information on their own personal techniques…to many artist try not to give out their tricks / tips and its just sad… thanks for sharing.
June 29th, 2008 at 8:45 am
Thank you for the wonderful demonstration. Your generosity will help many, including me! I am a fledgling but plan to try this in combination with my newly-discovered love of photography. Your instruction will help me immensely.
June 12th, 2008 at 10:28 am
This is awesome! I’m going to try my first travel sketching in Maine this week. Your site has been very inspirational! Thank you!
May 28th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Thank you so much !!! It must have been so long to write but it was worth it !! It’s very, very helpful !!
May 24th, 2008 at 10:21 am
Wow, thank you so much. This was a very enjoyable read, and a privileged look into the mind/methods of an artist. I’m going to try this tomorrow.
May 19th, 2008 at 5:49 am
I am over the top blown away not only by your drawings but by this incredible instructional. Each step, the references to tools. This took an amazing amount of time. This is my first visit to your place and I cannot wait to leave the office desk and come home to take it all in. What an amazing talent and teacher you are. I have only just begun to take my drawing seriously and without formal training of any kind, I find your generous sharing of your personal technique mondo-beyondo helpful and encouraging. thank you, sincerely, for taking such time to share.
Rella
January 6th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
A wonderfull friend of mine gave me your e-mail address and Mr danny gregory ;i truly enjoyed reading the lessons ,merci ,now i must get going ,and try some demo ; thank you ,i loved watercolors ,colors and admire all my friends artistes ; bonne annee.O
December 23rd, 2007 at 5:59 am
beautiful!!
November 29th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
This demo is so instructive; I’ve looked at it numerous times. Trumpetvine Travels has become a great interest in my life.
October 17th, 2007 at 11:02 am
I think I Love you!!!!!
September 25th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Thank you so much for sharing the details of your thought process and technique as you work. What a gift your writing and drawings are. Some things that really strike me from reading this are your wonderful design sense–your ability to see, and improve upon what you’re seeing to make a better composition (something I struggle mightily with) and the depth of your knowledge and understanding of color and design and drawing. Your explanation of putting down just enough pencil marks to map out your drawing was really helpful to me. I like to just jump in with ink and see where I end up, but am often frustrated by doing that too. Drawing with pencil first doesn’t appeal to me, but mapping seems like a perfect approach.
September 25th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Absolutely wonderful tutorial. I feel more confident in my sketches just looking at this post. Thank you.
September 25th, 2007 at 7:14 am
How incredibly generous of you to take the time and patience to break down your sketching process and share it with all of us. I’m an ardent admirer of your work which has such an admirably individual look, as is only fitting and proper. I get so weary of look-alikes…….in everything these days….even in commercials where actors are chosen to resemble well-known entertainment figures. Thank you for sharing of yourself.
September 24th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
A wonderful post with great demo and lots of tips! Enjoyed this very much, thanks for sharing!
Ronell
September 24th, 2007 at 8:36 am
You have taught me so much! I have learned the bookbinding technique and have used it several times now…your latest posts on how you sketch and your tools of the trade offer such insight. Thank you for sharing all your wonderful talents! I’m trying to put together a palette for my trip to europe in a couple of weeks…Think I’ll do some color playing today with your suggestions…Thanks!
September 23rd, 2007 at 10:40 am
thank you for posting these very interesting insights! I’m learning a lot. Incredibly useful stuff.
September 23rd, 2007 at 4:41 am
Martha:
In the fine tradition of Vol. 1 & 2 of your ‘zine, the demonstrations of how you do your sketching has been tremendous fun to follow. After demo 1, I was going to write you to ask, “Why not pencil?”; however, you’ve addressed that in this post. Nice to see that you use some pencil work as guidelines. It seems like so much of the sketchbook community is adamant about pen, and I always wondered why. I must admit I use pen in my sketchbooks to (as a basis for full washes) but of late have been using pencil. Again, these posts have been great; I, and I’m sure many others, look forward to more content like this. Thanks for sharing your expertise!
September 23rd, 2007 at 2:29 am
Hi Martha – I really enjoyed reading about your process. Thank you for the time and trouble you took in putting it together – I always find it fascinating to see how other people work!
September 22nd, 2007 at 7:37 am
This is just a fabulous lesson in sketching. I printed it so I could read it in depth and savor all the information. Thank you so much for doing this!!!!!
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:42 am
This is JUST the information I needed to understand how to begin sketches for art journaling. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING!!! Your site is a favorite!
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:25 am
Hey Martha, what an absolutely brilliant masterclass. It’s funny but you don’t think that there’s that much involved in drawing. When people ask how I go about it I just think ‘well I JUST draw’. Of course, we all work in such different ways. When you see it broken down like this it makes you realise what an involved and personal process it actually is. Excellent couple of posts. Thanks for sharing.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Great posts! I love seeing how your excellent sketches are created. Thanks for sharing!
September 21st, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Thank you so much for taking the time to give such in-depth information. I have only been sketching for a year or so, and sometimes I’m afraid to color in if I like the sketch. This was very helpful. It’s a lot to think about, but I’m sure it’s second nature for you.
September 21st, 2007 at 11:30 am
Thank you ever so much for doing this! I am teaching myself to both sketch with ink and paint with watercolour, so you can imagine my delight when you started this series. I plan to bookmark this and review it a few times. I especially appreciate that you included your thought-process as you went through the steps, since it gives such a wonderful peek into what questions you ask yourself and how you answer them.
September 21st, 2007 at 9:35 am
You are an inspiration. Last Saturday out walking my Boxer dog I came upon an Italian girl sketching the trees and grass. Lo and behold, she was using the equipment that you suggested. She also recommended suppliers in London Uk which is marvellous for me. Apparently she has a stack of tiny japanese glass jars no more than 1 inch high, each. How very handy.
Thanks a lot and keep on giving me distant learning.
Cecilia
September 21st, 2007 at 7:03 am
Thanks for posting this demonstration, your first post really inspired me to buy my first set of watercolour paints and tonight I think I’m going to have a go at using them using your notes. Your work is really nice – keep it up!
Thanks again.
September 21st, 2007 at 6:53 am
Thank you for taking time to make this tutorial. Very helpful! Nice sketch as well!
September 21st, 2007 at 5:29 am
Thank you so much for the demonstration. I admire your sketches, and I am eager to try some of your techniques! Thanks again for sharing.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:50 am
Wow! Thanks for the demonstration!!! Much more than expected and very clear and informative. I really appreciate the time you have taken to provide this wonderful demonstration for us.
September 21st, 2007 at 4:21 am
Hi Martha, Thank you sooo much for this fabulous post! I love your work and it is just great to see how you accomplish your lovely sketches. I’ve been visiting your blog for some time now (I think I got here via Danny Gregory’s Everyday Matters or maybe his Flicker site) and I’ve rebound a Moleskine and I carry my sketching supplies with me all the time
. I’ve been inspired by your work to have some note cards made of two of my sketches and am working on contact/business cards as well. I’m even considering posting some of my work online. Yikes! Just wanted to let you know how much your work means to some of us out here. Thanks again! Deb D.
September 21st, 2007 at 1:29 am
Very thorough and informative. I really enjoyed seeing how you break down a scene and capture it on paper. Thanks for posting this series!
~Douglas
☆ The Splintered Mind – Overcoming Neurological Disabilities With Lots Of Humor And Attitude
September 21st, 2007 at 1:24 am
This was fantastic – thank you so much for putting it together!