I’ve been making an effort lately to spend more time outside in the sunlight, and on a few occasions I’ve brought my sketchbook out with me. I don’t really care about the result, but I find it very relaxing to sit in the sun and make some little drawings of whatever I see on the ground. I also like to record what I see happening out there as the weather gets warmer.
What a strange weather day this past Sunday was! I woke up to heavily falling snow and even lost power for a time. By midday, the snow stopped, fog was rolling in over the lake, and the wind picked up—blowing into my house at a 90 degree angle. By late afternoon, most of the snow was gone and the sun had returned, but the wind was still wild and the waves had whitecaps.
I made this sketch using Derwent Watercolour colored pencils, which I haven’t picked up in a few years. I really got lost in it for a time, and enjoyed myself immensely.
This past January I signed up for the Sketchbook Skool six week “kourse” called Expressing as part of my goal for this year to focus more on my personal sketchbooks. This is my honest review of the program for the benefit of anyone else who may be considering enrolling.
The main reason why I signed up was because Michael Nobbs and Penelope Dullaghan were being featured as instructors, and I am a long time follower of both for many years. Also, I enrolled with a 20% off promo code which made the normally $99 cost a bit easier to swallow.
The kourse was broken up into six, one week long lessons featuring a different artist each week. Each weekly lesson consisted of a series of short (10 minutes or less) videos (introductory, biographical, sketchbook tours, and demos). Most of the videos had question prompts meant to spur discussion in the forums. There was also a weekly homework assignment with instructions to post in the forums for the other participants to view and/or comment. Some of the topics in the kourse included traditional watercolor techniques (such as glazes and washes), hand lettering, handmade books (mostly how to do the design and layout of the content, NOT bookbinding itself), sketching digitally on a tablet, and some very cool printmaking techniques. These are some of my impressions on Expressing:
Pros:
Cons:
My completed homework for Felix Scheinberger’s week:
My overall impression of this Sketchbook Skool kourse is that it is ideal for someone who is relatively new to drawing and keeping sketchbooks and who needs/wants a lot of encouragement, inspiration, and interaction with others to stay on track. The inspiration and information I gained from the kourse was very worthwhile for me, but I don’t think it would be worth $99.
I also think this format may not be for me, or that I have some ADD tendencies, because I started to get distracted and lose track and never officially completed all the lessons or all of the homework. The forums seemed a little awkward for me to use so I largely didn’t participate in the discussions. I find the setup of facebook groups more conducive for giving and sharing feedback in general.
Ultimately, it is not necessary AT ALL to take a class on how to keep a sketchbook. When I think back over the years, I realize I have learned the most by just looking at other people’s artwork, and from books. If you like to get video based information, then Sketchbook Skool might be for you. For free, you can look for videos on YouTube and you can also check out Strathmore Free Online Workshops (keeping in mind that they are meant to promote Strathmore products). For less money than Sketchbook Skool, you can also find some art courses on Craftsy (look out for sales) and Creativebug (they offer a free 14 day trial). If you know of any other sources for video based art instruction, please leave me a comment because I’d love to check it out!
We found a clump of goose feathers down by the water and I had fun sketching them in blue ink. I think I drew them more stylized because I was using the blue, which isn’t at all realistic.
I switched out the ink in my Lamy Safari fountain pen from Noodler’s Lexington Grey to Noodler’s Luxury Blue. I’ve had this ink for some time, but it has been a few years since I’ve used it. Luxury Blue is more expensive than the other Noodler’s inks and it comes in a one ounce bottle instead of a three ounce bottle. The ink is waterproof, which is useful for both drawing with watercolor wash and also for normal writing. It works nicely with washes of Winsor & Newton French Ultramarine. I also want to try it out with turquoise and violet.
Even though it was a mild winter, I really feel like spring has arrived because I have been getting outside to sketch in the garden and down by the lake. Last spring and summer I stayed inside most of the time to study, but I want to try to get outside much more this year.
When I get fresh flowers in the house I always try to make a drawing, but often I don’t manage to do it until the flowers are almost ready for the compost pile.
It felt nice to finally have a snowy day. In a way I am relieved because I think I was uneasy about the abnormally warm weather. It is not that I don’t like the warmth, I just enjoy all the seasons in their own way and I didn’t like feeling like we skipped over one of them. Looking over my sketch afterwards, I realized that I should have drawn it in black ink on pure white paper because it would have captured the light and contrast in the atmosphere.
I’m taking part in the Sketchbook Skool Expressing “klass” and one of the assignments this past week was to draw a dog in 1-2 minutes. I did the top sketch (in about 5) using the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. I’d like to do a proper detailed pen and ink drawing with watercolor wash of Katie in that pose. I did the bottom series of sketches over the course of a quiet Sunday morning while sitting across the living room from Katie lounging on the couch. I am so out of practice at this type of sketching and it was good to exercise myself.
This year, it does not feel like a normal winter. It is mid January and we are just starting to get some of the expected winter weather, but we haven’t yet had a proper blizzard. I miss it in a way. Even without the massive piles of snow on the ground, I still find winter beautiful. There is a crispness in the air and a whiteness of the light that I really enjoy. Here is a recent drawing from my sketchbook–thanks for taking a look.
