Trees, Water, Clouds

5/30/12, watercolor

6/6/12, Copic Multiliner SP, watercolor

The past few weeks I’ve been taking Jane Richlovsky’s “Drawing on Location” class through Pratt. Each week we meet at a different location to focus on a particular sketching challenge. Last week it was trees (definitely one of the most challenging sketching subjects), at right, at the arboretum.

Yesterday it was water at the Ballard Locks, where I tried to capture the texture of water’s surface with sumi ink (below). But as the class sketched various scenes of water, I was also captivated by ever-changing clouds. With Jane’s help, I gave this equally challenging subject a shot with watercolors (left). The narrow, vertical format enabled me to sketch a slim slice of sky, land and water, which was much less overwhelming than the typical horizontal landscape.

6/6/12, sumi