On the shelf

A few weeks ago someone asked me for a recommendation for a good watercolour book because she was finding her sketches “flat and overworked”. I thought I might share some suggestions in the form of a post instead of answering in the comments area, in case others are interested as well.

Before I recommend any books I have a few other suggestions.

1. Look at the paper in your sketchbook. Is it watercolour paper or all-purpose sketch paper? If it is the latter, then you will really have a hard time obtaining vibrant colour or a nice, even wash. And the colour may look really flat because the paint gets sucked into the paper. I use both a Moleskine watercolour sketchbook and small, cut sheets of 140 lb. watercolour paper for my work. Most 100% cotton rag watercolour paper has a sizing on it which makes the paper less absorbent. Remember, the paper in a sketch book is for SKETCHING and it is not meant to take a heavy wash. That is why many people also make their own sketchbooks with a good quality rag paper that can handle the paint. This is far too time-consuming for me!

2. Are you using tube paint or dry pans? If you are using dry pans, it takes a lot of water to dilute the paint. That means that your colours will be really washed out. If you use fresh tube paint then it takes much less water to get a dilute the paint and your colours will be much more saturated. That may also solve the overworking problem. Usually that happens when you can’t get your colours dark enough on the first try and you go over areas again and again.If you use fresh paint you can obtain those really gorgeous darks because you don’t have to water down the dry pigment in the pans. And even though tube paint may seem expensive, you just need little dabs of it to get great colour.

Books:
I learned most of what I know about watercolour by taking workshops with some of the greats whom I often name in my posts. Among them are Ed Whitney, Frank Webb, Milford Zornes, Barbara Nechis and Skip Laurence. I love watercolour and I have been collecting books for years but mostly I buy monographs because I like to read about the artist and look at the paintings, especially anything by Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, John Singer Sargent or Andrew Wyeth. I also have lots of books on technique, often by painters I have taken workshops with like Ed Whitney or Frank Webb, or by painters whose work I love like Charles Reid. Other good ones on my shelf are by  Zsoltan Szabo, John Pike, Judi Betts and Rex Brandt, but if I had to recommend one book it would be “Making Color Sing” by Jeanne Dobie. She covers composition as well as colour and there are lots of practical exercises. But if you try them, make sure to use good quality paper and fresh paint because you’ll never be able to obtain results without the right tools.

Le Franco-Américain

Le Franco-Américain is situated on rue St. Denis, south of Ste. Catherine. I was curious to find out more about this beautiful facade  and how the building got its name but my research turned up nothing. Well almost nothing. Someone who photographed it and posted on Flickr said that it may have at one time housed a faculty of dentistry but I am still curious to know where the name came from.

Autumn trees

Following a comment that someone made on one of my posts about the variety of subjects that I choose, I got to thinking about why I pick not only different subjects but also different materials. When you sketch every day it is possible to lose interest in what you are doing. To get bored, even. Some days my time is limited, I can’t get out for long or go far from home so I end up circling in the same area, looking for new things to paint. Changing the paper I work on gives me a challenge.

I have painted around St. Joachim Church in Pointe Claire countless times and I keep thinking that there is nothing new to see. But since I have been experimenting with this new Moleskine sketchbook, things that I would normally not tackle on another paper are suddenly interesting. Like these bare trees by the lake that would be too detailed to do by brush alone now become a possibility with this very smooth paper.

QWERTY

The Moleskine sketchbook seems to lend itself well to objects that have a certain patina to them — like the bag I painted yesterday or this old Royal that lives in my house. Of course the ivory paper helps too. It’s like painting in a sketchbook that has been hanging around for years and years in my basement (a bit like the typewriter!).

Old bag

This really is an old bag because I did my first watercolour of it many, many years ago. It was on a full sheet of watercolour paper (22″ x 30″) and this little sketch in my Moleskine is about 5″ x 8″. I’m still trying to work out how to apply paint on this paper but one thing is for certain — working in small areas is more successful than big washes. And this paper takes the darks really well. I’m still not giving up on it.

Fences

There are hundreds of Canadian geese in the corn fields at Macdonald farm in Ste. Anne de Bellevue but the rain prevented me from standing out there to sketch them. Instead I painted the fence from my car.

The last apples

It’s feeling pretty frosty at my favorite Jean Talon Market apple stand. The sellers are huddled under their awning, the buyers are bundled in scarves and gloves, and even the apples are trying to warm themselves in the sun.

Vieux Montréal

One of the things I love best about Urban Sketchers is that there is a network of people in many cities around the world who you can invite to sketch with you when you travel to their area. They become, in essence, ambassadors of their city. Today Marc Holmes and I were ambassadors for Montreal. Our visitors were Lee from Florida, who is here giving a sketching workshop at a conference for university and college graphic designers; Nicky who is attending the conference; and Marie-Odile, arriving from Paris after spending two weeks crossing the Atlantic by cargo ship. We sketched on St. Paul St. in the heart of Old Montreal. It was pretty cold to be outside but we toughed it out for a time until we realized that snowflakes were landing on our sketchbooks and then we headed for a café with an outdoor heater and warm drinks.

Le Capitaine

I am determined to make my Moleskine sketchbook work for me so please excuse my endless experimentation with a book that some may consider nearly useless for watercolour. Last night I found a discarded pen in my drawer — one that I had tossed in there in frustration because it was filled with water-soluble ink — and a light bulb went on. I can try this in my sketchbook! If I use it to draw and then dilute the ink line, it might be quite nice on the cream paper. A few days ago when I posted about the trouble I was having with watercolour on this paper I received so many useful comments. René Fitjen suggested I wet the paper first and add pigment when the paper is nearly dry and that is what I tried today. I wet the paper and then diluted the ink line into it. This is all going somewhere of course… If this wetting of the paper and then adding a gray wash works, then the next step will be to work in full colour in this book.

By the numbers

One year, 366 sketches (it was a leap year), 182 views so far today, 96,960 views all-time, 1,747 views on my busiest day, 291 followers, 9 big Moleskines, 2 small Moleskines, many sheets of watercolour paper, lots of paint, several pencils and countless Micron pens.

But this year is not really about the numbers. It is about the people I have met, the places I have travelled to, the good things that have happened because of this blog.

One year ago today I posted my first drawing of a chair. My drawing skills were so rusty that I was embarrassed to post the thing but the idea was to make the commitment to the daily exercise. So for the past year I have posted something every day, no matter how bad the day was or how bad the drawing was. Successes were posted as well as failures and struggles. And there are plenty that I didn’t post, too.

It is a given that with daily practice, anyone’s drawings will improve. But what I didn’t expect out of this process — what came as a complete shock — was how many people I would meet. Some around the corner but many in other parts of the world — including countless more through Urban Sketchers. People who I can say have now become friends because we share a passion — a love of drawing and painting, of seeing the world and of sharing our work.

As I probably said when I completed 200 sketches, I am not sure where this is taking me but I will keep on going because the ride is so much fun.