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Learn dynamic sketching and watercolor techniques for creating cityscapes, landscapes, figures and faces, still lifes, and more, enhancing the story you want to tell with form, line, and color.
Discover incredible methods and tips for creating dramatic street scenes and vivid landscapes, and capturing dynamic figures and graphic architectural details. Artist Alex Hillkurtz—a top Hollywood storyboard artist, international workshop instructor, and Signature Member of the National Watercolor Society—presents fundamental concepts of sketching with pencil and pen for a number of popular genres. Discover simple ways to jot down spontaneous ideas in pencil, capture rough details in ink, and add watercolor for extra depth and interest.
Make sketching more enjoyable by adopting innovative techniques that will make a difference in your practice, and your artwork. No matter your experience or skill level, you’ll benefit from learning: Compositions that draw the eyeHow to avoid common sketching mistakesWays to create light and shadow to define shapes and add interestSuccessful ways to use negative spaceThe importance of perspective in creating depthEasy color washes that create drama
Get started today, and fill your sketchbooks with unique drawings and paintings you will be proud of.
The For Artists series expertly guides and instructs artists at all skill levels who want to develop their classical drawing and painting skills and create realistic and representational art.
From the Publisher
Perspective on a Curved Street
This is a sketch I did on a winter day in Milan, Italy. The warm colors and shabby details of these buildings are what drew me to this scene. I love the way the light softens all the colors as they recede into the distance.
At first, this scene appears to employ onepoint perspective. I’m looking down a single street, and all the buildings recede toward a point somewhere in the background. But because this street curves to the left, each building is aiming at its own unique vanishing point. They all share the same horizon line, but for each building there will be a unique vanishing point on the horizon.
Sketching Process: SKETCHING A MOUNTAIN SCENE
1 | Sketch the mountain in the foreground with ink, making it more prominent.
2 | Sketch the background mountains with pencil. Pencil naturally has a lighter line weight than ink, so these mountains appear to recede into the distance.
3 | Use an even heavier line to sketch foreground trees, creating even more depth. These elements are closest to us, so they appear more saturated and defined.
4 | Final shading with a soft pencil brings everything together.
KNOWING WHEN TO STOP
Knowing when a sketch or painting is done can be one of the most elusive skills to learn. This usually comes about with years of practice and, unfortunately, by ruining many paintings. There’s a line you cross, and once crossed, you immediately know you’ve gone too far. But to approach this invisible finish line and stop just short of it is a tricky skill to master.
When I know I’m getting close to finishing a piece, I listen for a quiet voice in my head that begins to whisper, “you’re almost done.” This voice never shouts, but it is insistent. It will just quietly say, “stop.” It’s easy to miss this voice. It’s also easy to ignore. But when you carry on and paint those extra brushstrokes that are a bridge too far, that voice says, “See? I told you. Maybe you’ll listen next time.”
The next sketch, the next painting, tomorrow or next week. This voice is one to listen for. It’s elusive and hard to recognize, but once you know what you’re listening for, you’ll be able to hear it, and it will become familiar. Get to know this voice. For each of you it will be different. This whisper can be your best friend.
Springtime sunshine in Northern California. It can be tempting to get caught up in details and textures and just keep going, but we must listen for the voice telling us the painting is done. More details can always be added, but they’re harder to take away. So set your sketch aside and come back to it later. Sometimes the perspective of time can tell us that our piece is done.
ADDING VOLUME: Sketching Process
1 | A great way to draw volume is to practice drawing what is knows as the bean. We want our figures to have volume and mass to them, rather than be two-dimensional stick figures.
2 | Imagine a squishy jellybean or pillow and draw it in as many forms as you can.
3 | Add shoulders and hips to the jellybean or pillow shapes.
4 | Draw three-dimensional tubes and shapes, rather than just an outline.
Publisher : Rockport Publishers (February 9, 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 144 pages
ISBN-10 : 1631599232
ISBN-13 : 978-1631599231
Item Weight : 1.25 pounds
Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.6 x 11.05 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book provides helpful information on drawing and painting. They describe it as a great resource for improving sketching techniques. The accompanying sketches are described as sublime. Readers appreciate the author’s thought-provoking approach and unique perspective.
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