WINDOWS OF HOI AN

Off to a good start for your new year?

Hello fellow sketchers, painters & supporters!! Hope you are off to a good start for 2024. I am just taking small steps and getting back to my routine. Next week I am off to teach my art-food-culture retreat in Vietnam and I am currently making final preparations. One of the preparation is to go through my teaching notes and remind myself of the importance of play/experimentation. Below a few of ideas how I approach and teach sketching and painting on-location.

1. Start with clear observation of the scene and let your initial marks show how well you have observed. It is vital you know how to travel across the page and create a strong narrative from the get go.

2. Quickly capture CONTRAST using simple VALUES onto paper before the weather changes. You can simultaneously and creatively introduce textures as accents. RESPOND, MEANDER and let the picture expand.

Now the most tricky stage is dealing with the sky!! It is a big shape and the wrong value can quickly detract and even destroy the sketch. Would you leave it white?

Once again, thank you so much for all for your encouragement and support for this new year! Look out for more stories and my sketching adventures in 2024.