Ah well
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Jo Castillo
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I love sketches. Your lines give a lead in and distance. Applause.
Balaji
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This is a lovely sketch. I agree with others that you now have a reference to paint this scene later, or add colour to this pen and ink sketch itself. Of late I have tried to ensure that I sketch with waterproof ink so that I can add washes to the sketch later if I am so inclined.
Bartc
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Quite a compliment, Balaji, from a guy whose sketches/paintings I absolutely love!
But to me this is no more than a crude quick sketch. Yes, waterproof ink, as most of the WC work I do is line and wash technique. Quick faint outline in pencil erased, overlaid and improved with indelible ink line and detail, washed in with WC. I recognize a kindred spirit.
Working that way with stuff in my lap usually allows me to capture a scene and a feeling very quickly, often just 20-30 minutes per painting. And those I DO consider finished works, as opposed to this partcular one.
Just my peculiar way, but I exceedingly rarely actually do a reference sketch with intention to make a finished work later. Prefer everything alla prima, one and done, to capture what I feel as well as see at that moment. I don't even seem to use my own photos as references. Not a value statement, just a preference.
When I started painting (drawing all my life) 47 years ago I primarily worked from my head, my imagination, and prolifically. Now I'm just the opposite. The meditative aspect of painting in situ from inspiration right in front of me is what turns me on and has turned me into a plein air painter. Sure, I can still paint inside or from memory or imagination, but it's not my current practice.
Here's one where Covid forced me to break my own pattern. Basically locked to my home, I referred to a small sketch made previously of a pond's edge that inspired me, sat outdoors in my back yard, and created a more vivid and expansive vision in pastel, and I still consider it one of my best (as does my skeptical wife). Is that techincally en plein air? Who cares.
But to me this is no more than a crude quick sketch. Yes, waterproof ink, as most of the WC work I do is line and wash technique. Quick faint outline in pencil erased, overlaid and improved with indelible ink line and detail, washed in with WC. I recognize a kindred spirit.
Working that way with stuff in my lap usually allows me to capture a scene and a feeling very quickly, often just 20-30 minutes per painting. And those I DO consider finished works, as opposed to this partcular one.
Just my peculiar way, but I exceedingly rarely actually do a reference sketch with intention to make a finished work later. Prefer everything alla prima, one and done, to capture what I feel as well as see at that moment. I don't even seem to use my own photos as references. Not a value statement, just a preference.
When I started painting (drawing all my life) 47 years ago I primarily worked from my head, my imagination, and prolifically. Now I'm just the opposite. The meditative aspect of painting in situ from inspiration right in front of me is what turns me on and has turned me into a plein air painter. Sure, I can still paint inside or from memory or imagination, but it's not my current practice.
Here's one where Covid forced me to break my own pattern. Basically locked to my home, I referred to a small sketch made previously of a pond's edge that inspired me, sat outdoors in my back yard, and created a more vivid and expansive vision in pastel, and I still consider it one of my best (as does my skeptical wife). Is that techincally en plein air? Who cares.
Balaji
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Your sketches of the pond's edge are beautiful. I like both versions.
I hardly ever sketched from imagination when I started. It was always from references. But, more than a decade ago, I joined a group which would meet once a week to sketch together on location from what we saw around us. When I joined this group one of its members warned me that, after a few outings sketching along with them, sketching from references would lose its charm.
To a great extent that is true in my case. I now enjoy sketching on location far more than sketching from references. But, I do enjoy sketching/painting even from references. Because my hand is less steady than it used to be, I find that the quality of my sketching is better when I do not have to hold my sketchbook in my hand while sketching. Many of my sketches now made on location are quite sketchy...but I have realised that, as long as the skeleton of the sketch is in place, I can improve on it either with more lines and tones, or washes.
Of late I have also started revisiting my old pen and ink sketches, especially a series of 10-minutes and 20-minutes sketches that I made last year, to see what effect the addition of colour has on them. If it works, then I intend doing more of that on location.
And yes, like you, I have so far not thought of a sketch made on location as preliminary to a more detailed work to be done later. But that may change since I find it increasingly difficult to sketch the way I would like to on location.
I hardly ever sketched from imagination when I started. It was always from references. But, more than a decade ago, I joined a group which would meet once a week to sketch together on location from what we saw around us. When I joined this group one of its members warned me that, after a few outings sketching along with them, sketching from references would lose its charm.
To a great extent that is true in my case. I now enjoy sketching on location far more than sketching from references. But, I do enjoy sketching/painting even from references. Because my hand is less steady than it used to be, I find that the quality of my sketching is better when I do not have to hold my sketchbook in my hand while sketching. Many of my sketches now made on location are quite sketchy...but I have realised that, as long as the skeleton of the sketch is in place, I can improve on it either with more lines and tones, or washes.
Of late I have also started revisiting my old pen and ink sketches, especially a series of 10-minutes and 20-minutes sketches that I made last year, to see what effect the addition of colour has on them. If it works, then I intend doing more of that on location.
And yes, like you, I have so far not thought of a sketch made on location as preliminary to a more detailed work to be done later. But that may change since I find it increasingly difficult to sketch the way I would like to on location.
Bartc
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Balaji, your sketches, with and without color, are gorgeous! Very expressive, very appealing.
When using my WC kit, I mostly sit, balancing my paper on my lap. Where I can I take along a folding camp chair with side table, which makes arraying the materials that much better and the wear on my body painting that much less. But If I have to sit on a rock or a wall, I can do the work easily enough. Maybe you should consider sitting, rather than standing, as I do.
When using my WC kit, I mostly sit, balancing my paper on my lap. Where I can I take along a folding camp chair with side table, which makes arraying the materials that much better and the wear on my body painting that much less. But If I have to sit on a rock or a wall, I can do the work easily enough. Maybe you should consider sitting, rather than standing, as I do.
Bartc
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Here is another "reverse" exammple. The painting was done on site; the WC was done afterwards from memory and reference to the painting. It was my effort to capture the essence of what attracted me to the scene in the first place. So I consider both paintings finished but he second literally and figurately "refined". YMMV of course.
