Artistic Watercolor Sketching: Dare to Express Your Ideas

Artistic Watercolor Sketching: Dare to Express Your Ideas

“You made it to the end of this course. You should be proud of yourself. I hope you enjoyed taking this course on life sketching in which I have dared you, through some fun tasks, to create some beautiful, original, and fun sketches. As you could attest throughout the course, I made sure that the tasks I laid out were meaningful and helped you get a good grasp of what I tried to teach you. Now, for your final project, I want to put all the pieces together: you have to submit your sketch or sketches. But here's the catch, I don't just want you to attach the outcome, but also the steps that you took to create the final drawing. The sketchbook is a practice instrument. Sketchbooks are at once a wireless laptop and a hard drive to store our memories, ideas, and experiences. It is not so much about making the one great drawing as it lives from side to side and day-to-day. Thanks to digital work, we are used to looking through windows. The sketchbook is more like a door through which we go through. Not just by looking, but also by reflecting. So this course has no final project that will be completed at some point - because after you have finished the double-page together with me, there will be many more waiting for you! Try to stay on track. Because depending on which scenes you choose and which people you want to portray, your illustration will get something unique. I also recommend all the techniques that you learned in the course, especially for sketching on site. If the weather permits, go outside and draw your hometown as you see it! Your sketchbook is something very personal. You draw in it for yourself and not for others; you use it to describe your world and life. You are interested in the world you live in, and in a conscious and prolonged process that is not just the duration of taking a snapshot. You deal with the world. Drawing is also a sensual process: we draw people differently when we associate an odor with them. A meal that we draw will look different if it doesn’t taste good, and we will draw our dog differently than some unknown animal. A sketchbook is just the right place to implement these impressions: it is a personal, human medium. And therein lies its gains—for us, but also art. To reap our own experiences, we have to walk out the door. And when we walk out the door, it is always good to take a sketchbook along. In this course, we learned how to fearlessly fill it. You now know which materials are suitable for drawing outside. With techniques such as blind drawing, you can achieve a relaxed, beautiful line and gradually develop a personal signature. You can draw or sketch not only with lines but also with volumes. We have learned that silhouettes and basic shapes make it easier for us to understand and depict living beings, buildings, and objects. You can add color to your drawings on-site using simple and effective watercolor techniques, and I highly recommend using typography as a descriptive and creative element. So every double page of the book becomes a living image of your life. I will try to give you as much feedback as possible, but please be lenient with me: I work on many projects at the same time and also teach students at a university in Germany, so I am very involved. In my opinion, your fellow students are more important than teachers. If you want to learn a lot more than in a single course, ask your colleagues for advice! Before saying farewell, let me present you with a quick recap of the steps you have to consider when working on your project. Ideally, these are the ones you will feature in your final project. Contours, outlines, and silhouettes Working on your ability to create contours, outlines and silhouettes is essential to get your sketches going. From here, that you can develop the rest of

Shot settings and compositions Getting the perspective right is key. As I said, a perfect way to learn about proportions and how to play with them is by watching Western movies. Playing with lights and shadows In the third unit of this course, I stated the importance of understanding the relationship between lights and shadows and how to create both. Always keep in mind where the source of light comes from and that shadows are where there is no light. Watercolour methods For the glaze, remember that is all about layers. So be patient and let your spots dry before applying the subsequent layers. As for the wash, aim for obtaining seamless, blurry transitions. Colors have to come together fluidly. Application of techniques to an actual sketch and colorization If you put all the pieces together and came up with a beautiful sketch, the last stage is to bring it to life by adding color. Brush on the right hand, tissue on the left (the way I like to do it), and I'm ready to go. Dissolve slightly your colors with a drop of clean water so they are ready to be used. That way you can get the most out of them. I like to start with the wash in areas that call for it. Remember that you can apply some strokes with the dry pen to remove the excess water if you leave areas that are a bit too wet (hence the tissue). One thing I recommend too is to have a toothbrush to add color in a spray-like motion. Again, this is a process of layers, so let the watercolors dry before applying any more layers or focusing on the details. And in the combination of wash and glaze/layers is where the magic happens. I hope my first Domestika course brought you joy and inspiration that you can incorporate into your new sketchbook. Yours sincerely, Felix Scheinberger. ”

Partial transcription of the video

“Now we have reached the end of the course and I hope you have learned all the steps. In order to make your own sketchbook and apply for new techniques for your illustrations. If you follow the lessons, you will see how easy it is to create your own sketches. be ordinary and creative while uploading your own project. I wanted to see all the different drawing techniques we have used. Start by the exercise of blind contour. I want to see how to make outlines and silhouettes of your favorite subjects and how did you draw it? Using different perspectives. I have talked about compositions, light ...”

This transcript is automatically generated, so it may contain mistakes.

Course summary for: Artistic Watercolor Sketching: Dare to Express Your Ideas

• Level: Beginner
• 99% positive reviews (1565)
• 29392 students
• 4 units
• 15 lessons (1h 53m)
• 8 downloads

• Category

  Illustration

• Areas

  Creativity, Drawing, Sketchbook, Sketching, Traditional illustration, Watercolor Painting