The Quick Watercolor Sketch

Detail of sketch page

I think I’m going to get a sketchbook just for sketching in City Island, it’s such a great place. It really feels as if I left the Bronx and arrived in some other state- it feels like I’m on vacation. In my previous post I said I planned to make more trips there.

These sketches are very satisfying because I’m not trying to do too much, or trying to be too careful. I take more chances with them since I’m not worried about messing them up.  This is something I haven’t done a lot of lately, mostly because I’m just now settling in to the good habits of painting daily and pursuing the things I had let go.  These sketches are not only serving in arranging the elements in the picture, but I would also like to bring into a finished piece the same energy and spontaneity that these sketches have. More often something that’s meant to be a finished piece would fall flat because it becomes too controlled and stiff. I like both extremes, a well rendered painting or drawing as well as a confident and loosely rendered image. I have yet to strike a balance, my pictures could be one or the other. I think doing more of these quick sketches would help strike that balance.