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Page Number
Introduction 1
17 Things You Can Do Today To Kickstart Your Sketching
1 Look up the Best Sketch Youve Ever Done 2
2 Go Shopping (It Wont Take Long or Cost Much!) 3
3 Prepare for the Worst 3
4 Prepare for the Best! 4
5 Go For Coffee & Cake 5
6 Sketch the Sketch, Then Sketch the Sketch! 5
7 Start With Pencil, Finish With Pen 6
8 Draw Slowly & Look at the Object More Than You Look
at Your Page
7
9 Use Your Stuff! 8
10 When to Use Colour 9
11 Put Your Book On Display 9
12 Show a Non-Sketcher Your Book 10
13 Create a Sketching Bucket List 10
14 Sketch at Dusk 11
15 Join a Life Drawing Group 11
16 Make Some Sketching Buddies 12
17 Make Your Sketching Learning Like a T 13
5 Things Not To Do
1 Dont Wait Until Things Are Perfect 13
2 Dont Spend Time Thinking About It 13
3 Dont Look For Success 13
4 Dont Let Fear Win 13
5 Dont Wimp Out Citing Lack of Inspiration 13
Well, Thats Enough For One Day! (Conclusion) 14
1
Whether you are new to sketching or have
been sketching for a while now, the 17 tips in
this E-book will be of use to you. Some tips
are purely practical, defnitely things you can
do today. Other tips are motivational; try these
tips now and remember them for the future.
Some tips are both practical and motivational.
And some may seem obvious but I think you
will fnd a different take on them useful. They
are all things you can do today, work on or
commit to and they will improve your sketching
both immediately and over time. Begin now
and make today a landmark in your sketching
history!
You could conceivably to ft all of these 17 tips
into a single day. The tips have been placed in
chronological order for a day of sketching so I
suggest you start at number 1 and work your
way through to 17.
If you dont have a whole day to set aside for
sketching, work your way through the steps as
you can. Some of the 17 things are preparation
for sketching and once you have them done
you will be right to go and spend an hour or so
sketching when the time is right.
2
Often when we plan to create, we face
a challenge even before we begin.
Contemplating the time we have set
aside to sketch, be it minutes or hours,
is similar to facing a blank page or
blank canvas. What will we fll it with?
Can I do it? Do I have it in me?
Go and fnd a sketch or drawing that
you were quite pleased with, one that
surprised you, one that you wondered,
How did I do that? Spend a few
minutes looking at it and reminding
yourself that you are exactly the same
person today as the you that created
it. Nothing has changed. You are
creative. You will create. You havent
lost it. You cant lose it.
If you are new to sketching and art
and think that this step doesnt apply
to you, think again. Your recent
desire to draw and create isnt the frst
youve had. Youve probably tortured
yourself by remembering the bad
art you made at school. You may
have even allowed yourself to recall
creative humiliation at the hands of
the unthinking. But not everything you
did was bad. Allow yourself a few
minutes to remember your successes.
Maybe they werent acknowledged
by others. Perhaps it was just you
who liked your pink texta rose on your
Biology divider. Nows the time to
acknowledge that you DID like it.
3
Buy these two things:
Get a cheap, lightweight exercise book. Choose one about 48 pages is plenty. If
the dimensions of it are signifcantly different to your sketchbook, cut it down to the
same proportions. Now you have a little sketchbook that you can slip into the back
cover of your real sketchbook and take out sketching. In tip 7 you will fnd out how to
use your sketchbooks sketchbook!
Get a sheet of blotting paper. Cut it into a couple of smaller pieces, just larger than
your sketchbook page. These will also keep easily in the back of your book. When
you are sketching, especially when you are using a wet medium like watercolour,
slip one between the pages in front and behind the page you are working on. This
will help prevent accidental creative marks on those pages. When you fnd its time
to fnish sketching you can move one of these sheets of blotting paper to nestle
between the pages you were working on. It is especially handy if you suddenly
need to pack up and your work hasnt had time to dry.
If you use more than one sketchbook, make both a sketchbook sketchbook and two
blotting paper pages for each one.
Not really as negative as it sounds, I want you to pack really well for a day of
sketching. Start by considering what your worst might be. For me it is having
an uncomfortably heavy weight hanging on my shoulder. For you it might be
feeling chilled, getting sunburnt, feeling hungry or thirsty. There are many physical
distractions that bring us home earlier than we had planned and it is your worst I
want you to consider up front and prepare for it. You know your pet peeves. Take
the lightweight sketchbook. Pack a scarf or sunblock, a snack and a drink. Take a
rug or chair to save you from the damp ground. Pocket a few dollars change if the
smell of coffee is going to undo you. Whatever it is, pack it, and then stop. This isnt
an invitation to spend the day preparing!
Often when we pack for sketching we either end up with too much or too little. Too
much and I know Ill be home early, dragging my heavy bag behind me. Too little
and Ill be back before time and feeling frustrated. The next tip will help you decide
what else to pack.
4
Yes, its time to pack your sketching supplies! These are things I like to keep in my
minimal sketching bag. (I keep larger supplies of sketching tools at home and swap
them as I feel I want to try something different or feel like a change.)
sketchbook (including sketchbooks sketchbook and blotting paper)
mechanical pencil with 2B lead
drawing pens in various sizes eg. 02, 05, 08, black ink
brush pens, 2 shades of grey
set of watercolours
waterbrush
2 travel brushes
retractable eraser
small water atomizer (to spray your watercolours with to soften them before
painting
small water bottle
small container for water (empty to start with)
purse pack of tissues
something to keep used tissues in (so I can keep using them but they dont mess
up my bag.
You dont need all these things or the same brands or styles for today. Use this list
as a guideline and work towards trying them all out at some stage.
This list contains some of the tools and supplies I use for sketching. I wouldnt be
without most of these tools and the good news is that many of them are widely
available. These links are affliate links, which means if you buy I earn a commission,
so I thank you in advance! Ive chosen a seller that should be able to supply you no
matter where you live. Please note however that I only recommend products that I
have tried, tested and use myself.
5
Yes, it will be enjoyable but the main reason is that coffee shops are a great place to
break the ice with sketching, especially if you are new to sketching in public. They
also come ready with tables for you to work on and comfy chairs. You may be the
only one there with a sketchbook but you wont be the only one with a book. There
will be the notetakers writing away and the readers, well, reading. There is the guy
with his laptop and the endless empty short black cups stacked up behind it (actually
he would be great to sketch! Hes not going to move much!) Take comfort in the
way they spread their books and bags out on the table and get out your sketchbook,
pencil, eraser and ink marker. That should be enough to start with. Suddenly you
are one of those people who have come to the coffee shop to work. You simply
blend in - a lot more than you think you do.
Now its time for your sketchbooks sketchbook. Open your cut down exercise book
and look at the whole page and then at your scene. Remember its likely the people
in your scene will move before youve fnished so keep this in mind when deciding
on your composition. Use a couple of full page spreads in your sketchbooks
sketchbook (exercise book) to try out different ways of capturing your scene on
paper. Use free strokes and broad shapes only. This is no place to try out your
drawing. Its purely to settle on a layout. It need only take a few seconds each
spread.
6
Once you are happy with your chosen layout switch books. Transfer the basic
shapes from your exercise book to your sketchbook with pencil. Draw lightly and
initially, only look at your sketch ignoring the scene. Once your have transferred all
the pertinent marks, start looking again. Add more basic shapes if need be but no
detail. The detail is added with pen so switch when you are ready.
Using pen when you sketch is a great way to free up and get to know your style.
No, you cant erase it and thats the point. These sketches will show your personal
wobble. They will show your mistakes as clearly as your happier lines. You will
learn to incorporate both wobble and mistakes into completed and SUCCESSFUL
drawings. How? By drawing with pen and having to solve those problems you
previously called mistakes!
7
This is a good way of training your eye. We need to train our eye to see whats
really there, but by eye, I really mean our brain.
Our brains are really busy. If they truly looked at everything we saw they would be
overloaded and grind to a halt, so they only review enough of the information sent
from our eyes to get an idea of what it is we see. For example, we are sketching in
the park. We have a look around. Our eyes send a hugely detailed image of what
we are seeing. Our brains reaction is something like Oh, thats a park bench, one
of those wooden ones. From that split second on, our brain is off doing something it
deems more important. We are left with an image of the park bench we are familiar
with IN OUR MINDS EYE. If we try to draw this image we will get into trouble. The
shape of the legs will just not work out. We wont be able to fgure out what happens
at the back rest. It will be another drawing we are disappointed in and dont know
why it happened.
The trick is to see it with our real eyes, not only in our minds eye. To do this we
need to train our brain to cease and desist on the other tasks (or most of them),
for just a little while, for as long as our sketch takes. Then we can feed the true
information through our eyes to our brains and that information has a good chance
of making it all the way to our hands and come out on the page.
Sketching slowly is a great way to start this training. If we sketch slowly we can
insist our brains take in all that visual information. We can catch it as it sneaks of to
think about something else and drag it back to our scene.
After a short while of this kind of deliberate seeing your brain will grow bored with
what it perceives as doing nothing and try to make work out of it. At this point you
will be able to draw what you really see! Your brain will be concentrating, sorting
out shapes, seeing angles, relationships, lines and tones. Your job of sketching
becomes much easier. You simply need to record the visual information as your
brain works it out!
8
I had a lot of supplies on that list. Heres what to do with them and why.
I use a mechanical pencil because Id rather click the lead down a few times during
my drawing than deal with the lead growing softer and thicker as I draw, as it would
with a standard pencil. Also, I found that it always seemed to go completely blunt
during the time I was concentrating most! Another reason is the social conditions of
today. My preferred means of sharpening my drawing pencils is with a snap-knife.
I do it that way because drawing pencils tend to come in strange sizes and shapes
that just dont ft into a sharpener. I dont like carrying around a knife these days, so
the mechanical pencil is my drawing tool of choice. They come with HB leads as
standard inclusions. I remove these and replace them with 2B leads. (See the next
tip for more on using this pencil.)
02, 05 and 08 drawing pens give you a variety of line thicknesses, from very fne
to nice and black. Use the fne 02 pen for things in the background or fne detail.
The 05 pen is great for the middle ground and choose the 08 pen for the foreground
people and objects. Changing pens for the different areas of your drawing will help
give it depth.
2 Shades Of Grey brush pens. I use a very pale one and a deeper one in the
same colour range within the set. These are very good for quick sketching and
while they do work with watercolour, when they are used alone with black pen lines
that they work their best. Use these for your shadows.
A waterbrush is a specially designed brush that holds water within its handle. You
simply squeeze to have the water fow through the bristles onto your paint or your
page. You can get away with not even using your travel brushes for some sketches.
If you only use a waterbrush you wont need the water bottle and small water
container, just a tissue to clean it on.
I use a retractable eraser as I fnd it erases more accurately and stays cleaner.
My water atomizer is one that came in a set of cosmetic travel bottles. I keep it flled
with water and when I frst open my watercolours I give them a couple of squirts. This
causes paints to soften and by the time Im ready for them, they are perfect to work
with. They take the water more easily and their colours are true, not wishy washy.
My water bottle and small container for water are also from my travel cosmetics
kit. I keep the water bottle flled with clean water and the container empty so I can
decant some of the water into it, use it to wash my brushes and throw it away. This
way I always have some more clean water ready for the next clean up.
9
There are a couple of options here and I use them all at different times. First, as
youve packed your watercolours you can use them where you are. This is good if
you have a little space and time. Really, you dont need much of either - Ive done
watercolour sketches in a fash while standing up, for example one of the Batobus
as it approached our stop in Paris! However, usually you will want somewhere to
place your watercolour set and take time to enjoy building the colours up. Again the
coffee shop is king as a venue for watercolour sketching!
The next option is to do it all at home afterwards. I like to do this for several
reasons. It separates me from what is really there so my imagination can be the
boss for a while. At home I can more easily create a rhythm of colours across my
page because Im not bogged down in trying to replicate the exact shade of blue
T-shirt that guy is wearing or the full spectrum of colours in that ladies foral dress
pattern. In short, I fnd it easier to simplify at home.
Or you can do a combination of both. This works well for capturing tones. A simple
wash of burnt umber and a touch of black, diluted down to the palest of tones will
help you defne the people and objects in space. Done at the scene your sketch
will hold more life, seem more real. You can follow up with skin tones and other
colours at home. Some sketches take time to colour and doing this at home may be
the wisest use of your time, freeing you up to do more sketches!
Get a small easel you can sit somewhere in your home so you will see it a lot.
Leave your sketchbook open at your sketch. Look at it as you go about your day.
What do you see now that you didnt notice before? What do you really like? What
attracts your eye? What would you like to try next time?
Leave your sketch there for at least a day, two days is even better. Keep your easel
in use. Open your book to older pages too, pages that you are happy with or pages
that you have a question about. This practice will help to train your eye to see faws
more easily and to know what is successful. The next tip is another eye-training one
too.
10
My guess is you are wondering how will this kickstart your sketching. There is
nothing like fresh eyes and enthusiasm to boost your confdence. But that isnt the
only reason for this task. You will get to hear and see how your chosen confdant
reacts to each page. Some of those reactions wont be what you expected. By this
I mean they will see something different to what you see on at least one of your
pages. When this happens, listen carefully as there are lessons to be learnt. Ask a
few questions but be gentle. The person looking at your book is as interested in not
hurting your feelings as you are at not feeling hurt!
This is a great motivator. Include both the achievable and impossible. If you have
a desire to sketch it, write it down!
It might be easier to start with a local list. My list includes the Big Banana, as I live in
Coffs Harbour. Its very much a giggled at local icon and Ive never drawn it. In fact,
I dont think I realised I wanted to until I settled down to write my list!
Now branch out and write the amazing things youd love to see and sketch. My list
includes the boats and islands of Halong Bay, Vietnam, the towns of Newfoundland,
and, ooh la la, Paris cafes are eternally on my list! I may never get to places like
Newfoundland, but its on my list! Having a list like this is the frst step in achieving
your travel sketching goals.
11
Dusk is an interesting time of day to sketch as tones are simplifed, more delineated.
This is yet another eye training tip. Often when we start sketching it is diffcult to
see tones. Doing something like squinting when you look at a scene helps for many,
but Ive never been a fan of it and only do it rarely. (Im not sure if its my eyelashes
or what but I fnd it incredibly diffcult and straining. Try it though because it might
work perfectly for you.)
I see sketching at dusk as taking advantage of natures own squint. The last rays
of light are easy to see as they lay on the westerly surfaces of your subject. The
shadows are deep and just as easy to determine in the areas that are moving
towards darkness. Try to capture three tones maximum, highlights, midtones and
shadows. As you progress you can build on these, overlapping them to create
additional tones.
Life drawing is for artists as jogging is for all kinds of athletes - it is essential
training. It may not be your chosen artform but it will improve whatever that artform
is. Search your community to fnd a regular group and sign up. There may be one
attached to your local art gallery or high school. Usually the cost is reasonable
and is just a sharing of the model fees and accommodation cost. More expensive
classes will include tuition as well and are a great idea when you are a beginner.
Stick with it and you will reap the rewards.
Why is life drawing so valuable? Well, you can fake a tree or a building even, but
you cannot fake a human body. It is not only more eye training but hand training
too as it is usual to have some really fast poses to stretch your skills. Not only that,
but you will fnd it is very satisfying to create within a group of like minded people,
not to mention the friends you might meet!
12
Life drawing is one place to fnd them but there are other ways too. Think, if you
want to start sketching around town, its possible some friends you already have
may want to as well but have never said. Ask around. Take a weekend workshop in
an associated skill and chat to the fellow students, and the presenter! Volunteer for
art and craft related tasks at a nearby school, you may meet up with kindred spirits.
What can you do today to make sketching buddies? There are many opportunities
online and one of the best places to fnd dedicated sketchers of all abilities is on
Flickr. You may be familiar with Flickr as an online photo sharing community,
however there is a large artistic community using the site as well. This community
is divided up into Flickr Groups where you can view others work, contribute to
discussions and share your own work too. Once you sign up for Flickr you will
automatically be given a page to upload your images to. But signing up is just the
beginning. (For more information about Flickr check out the Flickr Tour. Keep in
mind that it works the same for sketches and artworks as it does for photos.)
Join some Flickr groups. This is where you will fnd your sketching soul mates! To
join a group is very simple, just click on the join group button, you may have to
agree to some rules and usually you are in! (Rules on Flickr are to keep the groups
on topic and constructive.) Here are some fabulous groups you might like to join,
read their about section to get an understanding of each groups direction:
Artlings who sketch, draw & paint. Yes, our very own group! Join now!
Everyday Matters Group
Urban Sketchers
13
Ive heard it said that the best education can be represented by the letter T. Look
at the shape of a T. The shorter cross stroke represents broad knowledge. In the
case of sketching this means looking at others work, reading books on the topic and
trying out various techniques. But dont leave it at that. The long vertical stroke
of the T represents deep learning. Choose an aspect of sketching that resonates
with you, for example everyday sketching, sketching people and places in your local
community or your family at home. Allow yourself to focus on that aspect, give it
extra time and attention, increase your understanding of it. Seek out courses and
books that can extend you. Practice as often as you can.
Making your learning like a T doesnt mean all focus on your topic and neglecting
the broad knowledge, but it does mean working to combine the two in appropriate
proportions. Let the letter T be your guide.
1. Dont wait until conditions are perfect
2. Dont spend time thinking about it. The time it takes to read this is all the time you
need to prepare. Be a doer, start immediately. Dont put it off. Each sketching day
make a habit of getting down to the business of sketching immediately.
3. Dont look for success.
Look for a drawing on the page at the end of the day. The search for success in
sketching can stife your play, your creativity, your experimentation.
4. Dont let fear win. The cure for fear, be it public speaking or, as in this case, the
blank white page, is action. Mark that page and the fear leaves.
5. Dont wimp out citing lack of inspiration. If we waited for inspiration to come each
time before we create we wouldnt be doing much work! It is that work that starts the
inspiration mechanism. Work and inspiration will follow.
14
What will you do tomorrow? Or on the weekend? Or next week?
Here is just one little extra tip - plan for your sketching. We write our hairdresser
appointments in our diaries and dont dare to miss them, what about our sketching
time? Book yourself in and make it as regular as you can. It doesnt have to be
for long. You might make time for a 10 minute sketch every day at the end of your
lunch break. Just imagine how your sketchbook will look after only a couple of
weeks! Work out what suits you and book it in!
I hope you found this e-book valuable as you delve into the exciting
world of sketching.
If you have received this e-book from another source,
please visit www.the-artling.com to fnd out more about me,
my work and to subscribe to my updates.
Happy Sketching!
Jan
Written and Illustrated by Jan Allsopp. Jan Allsopp 2011.
All images remain the property of Jan Allsopp. Downloading this e-book
does not give you the right to copy, alter or use the images or text contained
in it in any way. You may share this PDF document as is (without change
or modifcation) for non-commercial purposes. If you would like to include
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