I’ve just taken part in a wonderful travel sketch class with artist Sheila Posner at Gallery 307 in Sydney and picked up some great tips. Of course, there was no ‘teleporting’, so we worked today from some of Sheila’s many trip photos, imagining (longing..) being there.
I’ve wanted to loosen up my work a bit and have more confidence when drawing en plein air, and especially with adding loose washes.
Sketching/painting ‘on the run’ is a no-holds barred way of creating art - really anything goes, but it’s good to know what works well.
Remember, what you’re creating is not a photograph so you don’t need to include every detail - feel free to edit as you go! Sheila prefers a non-waterproof ink pen as she enjoys the spontaneity of ink runs and it’s really quite liberating. She also recommends jotting written notes on the image - whether it’s the location, the country, the time of day, what you had for lunch… Any other thought bubble at the time of creating the image. All of these things will help to ‘bring back the moment’ later.
What a great way to document a trip, with a visual travel diary. Am definitely inspired to do more!
Here are some of my sketches today - this one’s Venice.
This one’s from Spain.
This one’s from Italy.
Teacher Artist Sheila Posner demonstrating with initial line work.