On-Location Watercolor Sketching: Colorado Lagoon
by Anne Kupillas.
Last Friday I organized an on-location sketching session with some of my students, at the Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach. It was a warm and slightly windy day, which can pose a problem as pages flip in the breeze – but we all had clips (I like to use a horizontal clipboard, which I bought at Daiso for $1.50 https://www.daisojapan.com) so it didn’t stop us! After staking out a picnic table with a good location, we set to taking inventory of the variety of possible subjects and views.
That’s important in outdoor sketching and painting. Choosing a subject from a broad scene is a good first step. For example, at the lagoon there are many options – should I capture the entirety of the scene, the whole lagoon and all the activity that’s happening? Or just focus on a smaller portion of the scene and focus in on it, for example, the bathers by the lifeguard station. We used our fingers as viewfinders and scoped the scenes out. I chose to capture three different subjects: the large pine tree at the edge of the lagoon, the boardwalk, with its geometric shapes and stark contrasting values, and the bathers.
Finding our best views using the “hands on” method.
Before starting, I led the group in a quick thumbnail warm up. Warm ups are fantastic for helping to choose your subject and layout; they can act as a kind of viewfinder to zoom in on what you find most compelling. They also take some of the “white paper” anxiety out of painting or drawing, but taking the pressure off the artist to paint a masterpiece on the first go. Very often, painting thumbnails help me loosen up and find my confidence, while also helping to decide on composition of the scene. It’s also just plain fun to play with paints outside!
First, I did a pencil and pen sketch of the pine tree, adding washes of color at the end. Then a quick figure study of the bathers. My Field Artist 4x6.5” Watercolor Journal (Amazon has several sizes, from $16) is a great portable size with an interesting texture that works really well for outdoor painting and sketching. You can really see the texture of the page on the photo below.
Bathers - Figure Studies, check out the texture in the blossoms at the top of the paper. This is why I love the Field Artists Watercolor Journals.
From our picnic table, the best view was this broad view of the lagoon with the pine tree as the “frame.” I chose to simplify the background by abstracting the shapes of the bank and trees.
Being outdoors with other artists, for the first time this year, was really invigorating! I look forward to doing more on-location painting and sharing it with you. If you’re interested in drawing and sketching on location, with a group of great artists, then I hope you’ll check out my art retreats at www.eatpaintlive.com I will be hosting small groups (no more than 9) in stunning locations. I invite you to join me on the first one in Ojai, CA in September! There are still a few spots left – hope to see you there!
