Sketchbook Skool

Starting a sketchbook habit

The Motivation

After painting for a couple of years I became aware of and interested in the Urban Sketching movement. An assembly of like-minded artists who go on “sketchcrawls” through their community. Drawing whatever they see. My research led me to the Sketchbook Skool, created by Danny Gregory and Koosje (Kosha) Koene. The Skool offers online courses for all aspects of drawing and sketching. It includes various themes, like people, animals, buildings; and techniques, like watercolor, pen and wash, colored pencils. One stop shopping so to speak. For almost a year I watched Sketchbook Skool videos on YouTube and followed them on Facebook.

Finally, on New Year’s Eve, 2018, I bit the bullet and signed up for the “Beginning” six-week course.

I approached sketching like painting. Doing what the instructor said to do, in the manner that the instructor did it. Setting up a scene or composition, putting in the elements, adding color and value. Finito, complete. What’s next? That is not what sketching is about. The point of having a sketchbook is to see and sketch – anything and everything. Not just what can be composed, but what is.

First Sketch

In the first assignment, the narrator, Danny, painted his son’s dirty sneakers. He laid down a warm watercolor wash. Over that he laid down a cooler gouache base. Then he did a contour drawing, added details and textures. Finally he added some text about what the sketch meant to him. Here’s mine:

I did the steps, but it was just an assignment. I didn’t give any consideration to what the subject meant to me. I didn’t really look at he subject, add the nuances, play with it. My thought was “just do it and check off the assignment.”

Getting Closer

In my second sketch I drew what was on the table before me. This sketch was closer to the purpose of the course as it reflects my life. What I had for breakfast, my passion for puzzles. This was done with a fountain pen and watercolor pencils.

Spontaneous

In my third sketch, I drew my watercolor workspace. No composition, just drew it “as is.” Again with fountain pen, Noodler’s bulletproof ink (not!) and watercolor pencil. The remark about the ink is that it is supposed to be waterproof, but it takes about 10,000 hours to dry!

Slice of Life

This last one, was staged, but is also a reflection of my life. A personal recipe for beans with chorizo. It shows the implements used to prepare the meal, instructions for preparation and how to serve! This was done with brown ink and watercolor.

happy holidays!

At the top is a sketch of our family room done just before we started putting away our Christmas decorations for another year. Again, it reflects what is, not what was staged. The accessories, the stuffed cat, the painting on the wall, the hand-crocheted blanket from cousin Peggy, all reflect who we are and were at that moment.