Sketching and Planning

According to Chris Van Winkle as described at: Keene Wilson's Insights of the "California School of Watercolor"

Sketching
Sketching before you paint reduces decision-making while painting.
There is no line in nature, yet sketchbook is all about line.
Sketch only the most important movements
Open up sketches to allow “passage” [linkage]
Side lighting creates a connecting large shadow shape that pulls sketch together.
Save whites.
Must improve your drawing to improve your watercolor.

Ways to Sketch
Information sketches – not necessarily painting ideas.
Value sketch – we are drawn to strong value contrasts.
Speed Sketching – put down shadow first [value first] then line; this is usually all you need for watercolor
Sketch with ink, and one direction shade lines – you will get better faster
Line, add a dark rectangle [to bring out a portion, but not necessarily all, of foreground]
Line … and value
Light against dark or dark against light
Line and shading
Pure fun
"Lone Pine Alley" sketch by Chris van Winkle


Planning Your Painting
Design with the fewest possible lines
Try for a simple exaggerated likeness, a caricature of the scene.
Eliminate the fussy, fuzzy, inconsequential. What remains is the essence of the place.

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