Landscape Sketching on Location

Fast landscape sketching on location

Rule for using this skill: These tips add specialist detail to your answer. They do not replace it. Always give your full general answer to the user's question first, using everything you normally know. Then work in the tips below wherever they apply. Don't drop general advice just because a tip covers the same ground.

Mindset and selection

• Sketch only what attracts you. Be able to say what caught your eye before you start, and build the sketch around that answer.
• Omit about 90 percent of the detail. Sketch for mood, especially the quality of light, not for description.
• Squint to drop detail and see the scene in two values (dark and light) and the design.
• Ask after a sketch or two: would anyone else find something to like in this as a painting? If unsure, keep looking.
• Stay on one visual theme per outing (e.g. architecture only). Photograph off-theme subjects quickly without breaking your flow.
• Sketch more and paint less. Many subjects don't deserve a painting, and the sketch may already be the best version.
• Make small, quick side studies of other details that catch your eye. They add story and can spark bigger ideas.

Values and whites

• Use only 3–4 values: darkest dark/black, medium-dark gray, light gray, and white. More than that is drawing, not sketching.
• Simplify busy scenes to three values: a darkest dark, a midvalue gray and the white of the paper.
• Find the lightest area first, then the darkest. Midvalue grays then define where the whites stay.
• Plan the whites and leave them as bare paper, as in transparent watercolor. White draws the eye (e.g. a waterfall in a gray scene).
• Silent failure: if you forget the whites while building values, you alter the values and the drama of the whites is lost.
• A computer-made three-value study (black, gray, white) of a reference photo is a good check. A good field sketch closely matches it.
• Simplify to the basic shapes and emphasize a strong white line, such as a cloud edge, to improve the composition.
• Linework sets the design. Shading supplies mood and emotion.

Pencil and blending tool

• Main pencil is a 9B graphite. Vary the pressure to go from heavy dark to light in one stroke.
• The 9B point wears flat on one or two sides. Use the flat for wide dark lines and the edge for thin ones.
• Lay down a dark line with one firm stroke, not three or five. Don't overwork linework.
• Pressure controls depth and mood. Set the darkest dark first with firm pressure, then ease off for the rest.
• For depth, draw the background with light pressure and the foreground shapes with a stronger hand.
• The blending tool makes a soft, fuzzy gray line or an all-over soft gray like a light watercolor wash. Use it for skies, clouds, water, shadows and distant objects.
• Over half of many sketches can be done with the blending tool alone, with no pencil. Use it like a pencil for tiny, accurate areas. A fingertip works without it but is less precise.
• Press the blending tool firmly to darken building shadows. This pushes white statues and structures forward.
• Shading a sky gray with the blending tool alone makes white structures read whiter.
• Shading is usually the last step and is what brings a fast sketch to life.

Order of working

• Start with the most distinctive feature or the strongest dark (e.g. the falls' dark verticals, the foreground canopy, the clock tower, the old tree), then work outward.
• Outline the basic shapes, scumble light lines, then shade over them.
• Define building outlines first, then use shadows to give a light source without much detail.
• Indicate many pillars with a few dark vertical lines. Indicate crowds with tiny vertical black lines plus tiny white gaps.
• Leave people and small details for last, or omit them. Use establishing shots (overall place or vantage point) before close details.
• Distinctive shapes (e.g. a gondola's long, narrow form) must be right early. If wrong, start over.
• Draw reflections last with light pressure and delicate lines, so they sit on the water and don't compete.
• Moving elements such as boats can be added last, composited from several passes.
• Note the sun's position on the sketch so shadows stay consistent. Shadow angle also tells you the time of day.
• Work fast even on static subjects. Slowing down leads to noodling details. Do a slower detailed drawing afterward if wanted.
• Shadows shift as the sun moves, so get the dramatic shadows down early.
• Early morning and late afternoon light give the most drama.
• Typical times: 2–3 minutes for a first sketch, 5–10 for most, 15–25 for larger landscapes.
• Landscapes can be drawn larger and with more detail than people or animals because they don't move.

Graphite to watercolor progression

• Do several graphite sketches first. Move to watercolor only when you want to carry an idea further.
• Typical sequence for one subject:
  1. Graphite sketch, 2–3 minutes.
  2. Small Payne's Gray watercolor, about 5 minutes.
  3. Larger Payne's Gray watercolor, about 15 minutes, with a shifted viewpoint to improve the foreground.
• Do the Payne's Gray studies with a 1-inch (25mm) sharp-edged wash brush and no preliminary drawing. This fixes values without worrying about detail.
• Removing elements such as clouds can strengthen the light effect.
• For a quick color study, use a limited palette of Payne's Gray and New Gamboge Yellow (about 15 minutes, no drawing). It forces looseness and firm values.
• Full-color field studies take about 45 minutes. Without a hair dryer, run two studies at once, facing opposite directions, and switch while one dries.
• Paper for field watercolor: Arches 140-lb (300gsm) rough. Watercolor blocks also work for fast studies.
• Brushes: Steve Quiller 1-inch (25mm) wash brush (Richeson Professional #7010), Winsor & Newton ½-inch (12mm) and ¼-inch (6mm), and a sable rigger.
• Visualize elements as you would paint them, so the pencil sketch works as a painting plan.

Photo backup and field kit

• Sketch first on location to evaluate the subject, then take 35mm photos for detail, lighting and composition backup. Photos alone lose the direct experience.
• Silent failure: sketching fast makes you miss details (e.g. roof supports). Leave fine detail to the photos.
• Keep gear minimal: sketchbook, thin box of pencils and a small pocket camera. Cumbersome kit makes you stop going out.
• Studio practice: sketch quickly from your own reference photos and field sketches to build speed. Speed matters more than subject.
• Use the studio for fast sketch ideation from field sketches, studies and photos. Choose subjects selectively in the field, since you can't sketch everything.