SCENT OF ORANGES
A peek into compositional ideas and announcement for NEW Sketching PlayLab retreat in FRANCE!
Hello Sketching Friends!
Hope you had a great weekend and made time to play. For the past 2 weeks I have been sitting with this new still life and thinking about the arrangement of my thoughts/ideas and how to compose them on paper. Come along let me try to dissect and share some of my thoughts. Hope these strategies will be also be helpful for you.
Even though I no longer am pursuing a professional career in theatre design or interior architecture, I am glad the years of intense learning and training has stuck and has definitely helped my art and teaching. My role as a stage designer is to turn a written script into a 3 dimensional space on a very limited stage. The spaces I design also need showcase and support the actors performing on stage. Now when I compose, I try to think 3 dimensionally, apply planar thinking/design and how spaces will overlap/interact. Similarly when we draw and paint, we are essentially creating an illusion of depth and ultimately getting our viewers to believe our flat creation.
For this artwork, I wanted to compress the center stage zone and allow the downstage section to be open and invitational. Barrier free invitation to enter, meander and examine the mid ground space. The upstage zone is mostly suggestive and creates a illusive backdrop to pull you further back in space. The oranges are the easter eggs for your eyes to find and they also add a contrast of size and scale for interest.
IDEAS FOR YOU TO CONSIDER. Do you want Deep space versus Shallow stage space. How far do you want the viewer to move back in the paper space? Do you want to feel compressed or spacious? How do you want your eyes to wander? Where are the entrance(s) and exit(s)?
Let me show you a simple creative exercise that I use to think about stage space and the visual weight of my creation. Simply divide the paper space into 3 rows and 3 columns. Then start shading and watch how the spaces are compressed and manipulated. Notice the mood, movement and how they appeal to your eyes.
I hope my sharing has been helpful and given you insights into my creative process. Keep reading if you are keen to learn more about the way I play as I will be teaching my first art retreat in Europe!
Hello from Sketching PlayLab! Today, we are beyond excited to announce our very first experimental travel sketching retreat in southern France with UpTrek. After 5 years of planning, we are finally launching this transformative 8 day retreat and it is happening at a picturesque countryside estate in Teyssode, Occitanie, France.
RETREAT TITLE: MAKE YOUR MARK (A SKETCHING PLAYLAB Retreat with Paul Wang and Suhita Shirodkar)
LOCATION: Teyssode, Southern France.
DATE: May 13-20, 2026
CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE!
During our retreat, we will show you how to sketch and play, follow your curiosity, and develop your personal style through experimentation with watercolor and other art tools.
The topics covered during this retreat will include:
• Learn innovative art concepts and techniques through play.
• Develop creative confidence and gain new insights for mediums and tools such as watercolor, pen & ink, colored pencil, and more.
• Gather a toolbox full of experimental marks through the use of conventional and unconventional tools.
• Develop a personal style through experimentation with ideas, techniques, and materials.
• Become a more curiosity-led, generative, and multi-dimensional sketcher and painter...and many more!
You will stay at a charming countryside estate, where you will enjoy chef-prepared meals whilst surrounded by 5 acres of idyllic landscapes. Throughout the week, we will go on fun day trips like wandering through a serene French garden, sketch in the medieval streets of Albi, and gather trinkets at the vintage market of Castres. You will surely return home with a wonderful collection of expressive sketches and treasured memories!
Together we will help you document your travels through France and explore unconventional, expressive methods of sketching and painting. The retreat is open to all levels of experience; All you need is an open and playful mind!
Thank you! Very interesting!
Thank you for sharing!