Sunday 10 March 2024

SketchingNow – Watercolour

 

River Arrow
Watercolour and Ink
Moleskine A4 Watercolour Album

Since January, I’ve been participating in a Live Version of Liz Steel’s SketchingNow Watercolour course.  I've taken the course previously in 2019. You can see some of my sketches from then in these posts:

House Plant
Watercolour and Ink
Moleskine A4 Watercolour Album

Liz doesn't teach a traditional approach to watercolor. She uses it in a quicker and more spontaneous way, which lends itself to sketching on location. The course is structured so you can work through it at your own pace, but this year she ran a live version in which you work through the lessons with a group and Liz hosts a weekly live stream. 

Vegetables
Watercolour and Ink
Moleskine A4 Watercolour Album

Working through the course with a group has been motivating and adds an extra bit of encouragement to do the exercises. Seeing other people's work and hearing about what they've learned and found challenging is also helpful. 

Butcher Hill’s Lane
Watercolour and Ink
Moleskine A4 Watercolour Album

I'm building up some sketching momentum and this has encouraged me to join a group run through of Liz's Edges course which starts in mid-March. This is in preparation for her Watercolor on Location course which starts in June.

Still Life
Watercolour and Ink
Moleskine A4 Watercolour Album

I am studying Ian Roberts' YouTube videos (Ian Roberts Mastering Composition) in parallel to working on Liz's exercises. Most of these sketches have been influenced by his teaching on composition and shadows.

You can see a few more sketches and hear a bit more about my experiences with the course and my plans to develop my sketching skills on my YouTube channel SketchingNow Watercolour - What Have I Learnt?.

Sunday 28 January 2024

Sketching From Nature

Lump of Moss
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Since October 2023, I've been reading a section of the Curious Nature Guide by Clare Walker Leslie each week and using it as the inspiration for a sketching exercise. 

Rosemary
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

Using a prompt for what to sketch is helpful for a couple of reasons: 

  • It cuts down the time I need to procrastinate about what to draw.
  • It encourages me to try subjects I might not have otherwise chosen.


Early Autumn
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

The sketches have been of varying quality, but the results aren't that important. What matters is the time I've spent drawing and intently studying a subject. The pictures on this post are my favourites. You can see all 13 sketches on my YouTube channel (Sketching From Nature – Getting Started).

Lavender
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3 x 14.0cm cm (8.0" x 5.5")

My motivation for drawing at least one sketch from life a week is to make sure I keep training my hand eye coordination and the skills to accurately draw a subject. I want sketching from nature to be a reason to get outside and explore. I would like to become more knowledgeable and to develop a joyful appreciation of my environment. I'm keen to visually document my feelings about a place; the mood, the atmosphere and other things that a camera doesn't always capture. The sketches can then be a source of inspiration and reference material for paintings.

Sunday 7 January 2024

Branches

 

Woodchester Beech
Watercolour on Paper
24.5cm x 15.5cm (9.75" x 6")

Branches is the fourth topic in the Tree Techniques chapter of Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice.

This post has been a long time coming. The topics in this chapter are continuing to be challenging and educational. I made a few false starts on this subject trying to paint winter trees in sunsets. I’ve also been distracted by my new YouTube channel - Mark Bateman Art.

There are two videos about this painting: 

The blurred soft-focused background is painted with the same technique I used in the post about painting A Fuzzy Background.

I gave the tree some form with a modelling wash (mostly light grey with some dark in the shadows) and then slowly built up the shape and texture in layers using drybrush.

The finishing touch was to add some foreground leaves in gouache.

Hopefully, creating videos will become less time consuming and I will be able to get back to drawing and painting.

Sunday 24 December 2023

Happy Christmas 2023

Happy Christmas 2023
Watercolour on Paper
11.5cm x 17cm (4.5" x 6.75")
Wishing You Peace and Happiness for Christmas and the New Year

Sorry for the lack of posts this year. Starting a YouTube channel (MarkBatemanArt)  has taken a lot of time. Normal service will be resumed in 2024 - hopefully.

Sunday 17 September 2023

More Recent Sketches

Aloe Vera
Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3 x 14cm cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Sorry for the lack of posts. Starting a YouTube channel (MarkBatemanArt) has distracted me from drawing, painting and blogging.

Prawn and Couscous Salad
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")



Once a week, I’ve been sketching from life. A lot of these have been based on exercises from Liz Steel’s SketchingNow Edges.

Gift Box
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This lovely little decorated box was made by Wendy.

Tea, Biscuits and a Seaview
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

At the beginning of the summer, Elaine, Doris and I had a pleasant few days at the Talland Bay Hotel in Cornwall. These are the tea making facilities (and biscuits) from our room. I painted them as Doris recovered from a blistering hot day on the coastal path.

Father's Day Fern
Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3 x 14cm cm (8.0" x 5.5")

The aloe vera at the top of the post and this fern were Father’s Day presents from Doris. I've no idea where she got the money from - best not to ask.

Sunday 18 June 2023

Recent (And Not So Recent) Sketches

 

No Flat Roads
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")


Before Christmas, I realised I wasn’t drawing and painting from life very much, so I started doing an exercise a week from Liz Steel's SketchingNow Foundations

Quick Sketches Still Count
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0cm x 8.9cm (5.5" x 3.5")

These are a few of the sketches I’ve created since then. 

Palette
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
14.0 x 20.3cm cm (5.5" x 8.0")

This is at least the third time I've taken the course. Not all the sketches have been successes because I am a bit out of practice and I am challenging myself to tackle difficult subjects from taxing angles.

What's in my Pocket?
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3 x 14cm cm (8.0" x 5.5")

My new YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@MarkBatemanArt ) is taking up a lot of time, but I am still managing at least one sketch a week.

Over the Fence
Ink and Watercolour
Stillman & Birn Alpha Series Sketchbook
20.3 x 14cm cm (8.0" x 5.5")

Sunday 28 May 2023

Roots

Roots
Watercolour on Paper
24.5cm x 15.5cm (9.75" x 6")

Roots is the third topic in the Tree Techniques chapter of Creating Textures in Pen & Ink with Watercolor by Claudia Nice.

The topics in this chapter are challenging and educational. They are providing the perfect opportunity to experiment with and to develop a feel for drybrush technique. The key skill seems to be patience. I made quite a few mistakes with this picture, but I managed to correct some of them and making mistakes is a good way to learn.

James Gurney recently published an interesting post about Andrew Wyeth's use of drybrush (see What did Andrew Wyeth mean by "drybrush?").