On-Location Watercolor Sketching: Capturing the Piers
by Anne Kupillas.
This month I set myself a goal of painting and sketching on-location and incorporating more structures into my artwork. Usually, I paint landscapes and cacti, but I want to do more architecture. To ease into it, I decided to start with painting the different piers around Long Beach. This way, I can include some vernacular architecture in my seascapes.
I chose a few locations with views of piers:
- Seal Beach Pier;
- Shoreline Beach in Long Beach, near the Belmont Pier;
- Kiteboarding Beach from Cherry Park area, Long Beach (the view from the other side of the Belmont Pier).
Painting on the beach comes with many pros, however it can pose problems, as pages flip in the breeze coming off the water, so bringing binder clips or large elastic bands to secure the pages is helpful. I like to use a horizontal clipboard from Daiso and the bands that come with various sketchbooks. I also brought my collapsible chair (best to get one that’s padded, like this one: Folding Stool and after taking stock of different views, settled into my first spot – to the left of the pier in Seal Beach.
SEAL BEACH PIER
Seal Beach is often cloudy, but the “marine layer” lifted, giving me a beautiful view of the pier and of all the stalled container ships out at sea. I was torn as to what to sketch, so I did both subjects!
Here’s my early sketch blocking out shapes and washes, and then the finished one.
Sketching something I’m more comfortable with gave me the confidence to tackle something more challenging. So I started in on the pier next, not worrying too much about the perspective or proportion, just focusing in on the main vertical and diagonal lines of the pier itself, supports below and structure at the end. There are many different ways to approach structures and buildings, and there’s no one “right way.” I find that the subject can help you decide which approach to take – whether to focus on lines, edges or shapes, or to do a detailed one-, two- or even three-point perspective work. The subject and the mood will dictate – and the mood is oh so important when sketching on location! Is it a nice day? What is the weather like? What about the breeze, the waves, and the activity around you? You may want to capture the activity (or lack thereof) in your painting. When there’s a lot “happening,” you may choose to capture edges and lines, and fill in the detail later with color. When the scene is calm, you may want to evoke this tranquility with a minimal treatment. The fun thing is, it’s completely up to you as an artist to decide how to go about your work!
Seal Beach Pier, complete with people, lamp posts and signs
View of the Pier, Seal Beach
As you can see from the photo above and that of my sketch, I eliminate a lot when painting on location. The majority of the poles, the cars and most of the people were left out, in order to simplify the scene and focus on the pier itself. As an artist, it’s up to you what story you want to tell, what the main subject and supporting characters will be and what to leave out of the scene.
BELMONT PIER FROM THE WEST
My next on location day was in Long Beach, on Shoreline Beach near the Belmont Pool. I chose to sit under a palm tree with a view east towards the Belmont Pier.
I had a long fairly uninterrupted view, with a stretch of beach in front of me that begged to be included. I chose to sketch the scene sparsely in pencil, before adding colors with my water brush (get yourself one for under $10 at Blick: Faber Castell Water Pen at Dick Blick.
On a hot sunny day, a water brush can come in very handy, because you can control the water you squeeze out of the brush, adding pigment to the bristles, rather than the pigment puddle drying up on your palette.
I added some ink linework touches once the paint was dry.
Can you spy the two THUMS islands here? I’m glad I included them, as they’re so iconic to the Long Beach shoreline.
CHERRY BEACH, BELMONT PIER FROM THE EAST
My last outing was on the other side of the pier, at Cherry Beach (sometimes called Junipero Beach).
Since I was capturing a long view, the most important aspect to me was to capture the angle of the shore meeting the horizon and the pier (since the pier was at the horizon line).
Tip: Use a straight edge – any will do – like this pencil, to determine the angle of the shore, then bring that same angle down to your sketch, keeping your arm level.
Sighting
Two versions of the same scene, top done first.
My first sketch seemed heavy handed to me, so I did a second looser version. The pier was so far in the distance, I just treated it as an anchor to the horizon and base to the kiteboarder sails in the sky above. I left a lot more white in the second version, and painted quickly, because everything was drying as I laid down the paint.
I really did enjoy getting a bit outside my comfort zone this month - – intimidating at first, but in the end, rewarding and enjoyable. I know that in time, I’ll graduate to more complex buildings and structures on their own, especially with the help of my long-time friend and colleague, Charles Leon, who is an avid urban sketcher of buildings in and around his home in London. Check out Charlie at @charlesleon917
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 with Charlie and I as leaders at www.eatpaintlive.com I will be hosting day workshops and art retreats with small groups (no more than 9) in stunning locations. I invite you to join us on the first retreat in Ojai, CA in September! There are just two spots left – hope to see you there!