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Let's Start Sketching

5

sketching

sketching our sweet home

We could fill a whole sketchbook just at home!  It is a perfect way to ease into a sketching habit without going outdoors. 

I decided to sketch my sofa on a double page. Go around your house and look what inspires you.

living room - introduction

living room

Draw along or choose directly a little corner of your home that tempts you to draw. 

We will work in three layer of watercolor, to archive some depth.

  • Draw directly with a fine line pen
  • Add a first layer of watercolor (leave the lightest areas without paint
  • Add a second layer in monochrome (a bit darker) and let layers dry in between
  • Enhance the darkest areas and imitate texture
  • Add some hand lettering 

living room - drawing

living room - watercolor

coffee shop

That is big moment to sketch in public. But no worries we will simply sketch objects. 

We will work in vignettes. I love them because I can start with a small drawing and continue the page another day if I ran out of time.

Sketch along but afterward, you need to go through the experience to sketch outdoors.

Before I sit down in a coffee shop I already look around if I get a view that interest me for my sketch.

Once installed I start what attracts me the most. I trace with my hand where I want to add the sketch to get a sense of size and composition and will sketch directly with my fine line pen.

I find the sketches much livelier.

I always need to remind myself to leave some unpainted (white areas) I sometimes layer the paint but will also work wet in wet. Once I am done with a vignette, if I still have time I continue sketching but it also happens that I ran out of time and I simply continue another day, often on a different location.

I added some hand lettering.

I also added another version how I could have drawn the same subject. 

coffee shop - introduction

coffee shop - vignette drawing

coffee shop - adding watercolor

FINAL RESULT OF MY SKETCH

ANOTHER VERSION

hand lettering

Handlettering is such a fun addition to a sketchbook. I do love it but right at this point I like to keep it simple. I use different simple ways to play with letter:

  • Adding double lines
  • Combining thin and thick lines
  • Embellish them with dots lines ect
  • Move the hight of low key letter up or down
  • Write with watercolor
  • Write in cursive but stretch it out

I added an image of the examples for you to copy or simply to keep as an inspiration.

hand lettering

buildings

The advantage in drawing buildings it that they don’t move!

This drawing might look a bit intimidating but it is actually quite simple. The project will have two sections:

1. A warm-up exercise simply in black

2. Buildings (a simpler version on my blog, link on class section buildings)

buildings - introduction

Let’s warm up. I use a fine line pen but mostly look at the subject that I am painting. It gives me spontaneous line and it is a great way to warm up. Once my lines are done I am working with a brush pen to add some darks. I am doing several vignettes.

Do this exercise also outdoors. It is so important to start sketching outside. 

buildings - black & white drawing outdoors

sketching the buildings

I draw more often houses from front with less perspective but thought it would be fun to do this together with some perspective.

  • I am adding perspective lines with a pencil (eyelevel, inclination of the roofs, line of the bottom of the houses
  • I add a few lines in between as guidelines when I draw the windows.
  • I start drawing the houses and add already once in a while some darker areas

house in perspective drawing

adding watercolor to the buildings

I like to keep a limited palette. In this sketch I will use:

Payne’s grey, burnt sienna, green and turquois

  • I start painting the roofs working wet in wet
  • I add all the shadows and darker area with grey
  • I paint the greenery (mixing greens and grey)
  • I add another layer on certain places that need more depth
  • I go back with a black fine line pen 1.0 to add more details
  • I added a sky 
  • Finish with some hand lettering if you wish

House in perspective watercolor

sketching people

Sketching people is probably the most difficult one but also the most fun. At the beginning it helps to draw people that are reading or sitting in a restaurant. They usually stay for a while and it gives you some time. 

A few tips that help me:

  • When I sketch the head, I start with the hair and see it as a whole shape.
  • I add glasses, a beard or any accessories
  • I observe how t’shirt, or the neck are connecting 
  • A draw the nose front or lips last


When drawing a whole scene, I observe what interests me most. I start on the foreground and work myself backwards and to the side. This allows me to get the depth of the image and not be overwhelmed by everything I see. 

I use watercolor in a rapid way since most of the time there is not enough time to get into details.

sketching people - introduction

sketching people

Let's continue to the bonus lesson...