Category: Sketching
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The Artist’s Guide to Sketching
Most of us, artists or not, have some idea of what sketching is. Sketching is a term associated with quickly realized, often rough and “unfinished” drawings (or paintings) that are meant to catch the essence of something without any unnecessary frills. That simplistic explanation, however, doesn’t convey the unexpected effects of a regular sketching practice:…
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Eye Candy for Today: Rembrandt pen drawing along the Amstel River
A bend in the River Amstel near Kostverloren House, Rembrandt van Rijn; pen and brown ink with brown and grey washes, heightened with white bodycolour on oatmeal paper; roughly 5 x 10″ (14 x 25 cm). Original is in the collection of the Chatsworth Estate. It would be easy to glance at a drawing like…
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Sketches in Line and Wash by Jeanette L. Gurney
If, like me, you’ve watched many of James Gurney’s excellent short videos on YouTube, you have undoubtedly seen Jeanette Gurney, James Gurney’s wife, playing a supporting role, often accompanying him on sketching trips and sketching in the background while he sketches or paints. Occasionally, we would get a look at her line and watercolor drawings,…
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James Gurney’s Color in Practice, Part 1, Black, White, and Complements
Anyone who has read my previous reviews of books and videos by James Gurney will not be surprised that I have high praise for his latest instructional video. Color in Practice, Part 1, Black, White, and Complements is — quite obviously by its title — part of a multi-part tutorial. Whether it is to consist…
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J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours
English painter and printmaker J.M.W. Turner, who was active in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, was astonishingly prolific. On his death, he left over 550 oil paintings, 2,000 watercolors and more than 30,000 works on paper. Many of the latter are pages from his sketchbooks, and many of those are in the collection…