Outdoor sketching is useful for artists and designers to study scale, proportion, capturing the light and shadow effects with the sense of time and mood also. Before the invention of camera architectural sketching was done for documentation, archiving and learning purposes. Ship voyages used to have an artist onboard to document everything, so as other travellers. Today also some people tend to carry their sketchbook everywhere they visit and sketch it as a memoir instead of camera.
Outdoor sketching poses a lot of challenges for the first timers :
1) Choosing the right place and composition to work on, for that one has to learn the principles of composition
2) Real life perspective foreshortening as (3D) is hard to capture on plane (2D) paper
3) Fast changing light and shadows due to the slow sketching
4) Weather conditions may became harsh
What materials should I carry for sketching?
1) Sketchbook (A5/A4/A3) according to your comfort and art work size
2) Pencils from 2H till 6B
3) Technical drawing pens of different thickness
3) Water colours and water container (you can choose cake water colours having palette attached to it. If you are buying water colour tubes then you have to carry a separate palette.
4) Brushes of various thickness according to usage (no. 00 - no. 08 for small papers)
How to start drawing from scratch?
Before you start working on your first sketch and finish it too soon to see the results, which obviously you would be eager to experience, is not to rush for completion and end up with unpleasant result.
1) Don't just rush to start sketching on the details as you might loose a great composition. First frame the composition with the help of a view-finder or frame it with your mind then, outline the basic shapes of the elements in the composition. This will help you not to loose track of the given space.
2) First measure the relative proportion of the elements with the pencil you are holding. Measure the elements/ objects/ monument you wish to draw then mark the points on the paper and start drawing the basic shapes of it.
At iMADE Creative Studio we took our students for a sketching trip at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, which is an observatory (an unique architectural building for compile astronomical tables, and to predict the times and movements of the sun, moon and planets). Out of many structures two of its structures are of cylindrical shapes (see: 1st photograph), so instead of drawing with details first, we took the measurements and proportions of the structure and then draw the shapes with appropriate perspective and go on to add the details of light and shadow.
3) Most of the people does it wrong with their first time.
NEVER draw the complete outline of the elements, it looks kiddish or amateurish,
instead focus on light and shadow in line drawing also. Draw the areas with maximum amount of light with thin lines and the shadow areas with bold and darker lines. Change the thickness and boldness of lines with respect to what the actual subject offers.
Here is an example of the most common mistake of drawing only the outlines:
4) Always observe the details of elements you are drawing and draw it as it presents itself not how you think it is. The problem is we already have a vague idea about everything, so most of the time we fill the details from memory without even looking at the subject and the result it produces become unrealistic.
5) Try to capture as much shade and shadow instead of simple lines that gives your composition 3D look.
5) Rendering should be done in Hatching or Cross-hatching technique and should be rhythmical. In this way it looks way better more like a professional work.
6) Every element has its own texture and rhythm, sometimes follow the lines it offers.
7) Add some moving objects to your composition, like a person walking, flags, birds etc. these instantaneous details will help your sketch to look real.
These are the final works by our students, most of them are attempting outdoor sketching for the first time:
The architecture part is mostly rendered in hatching and cross-hatching and the tree and bushes are done with stippling.
Enjoy sketching outdoors. If you didn't liked what you done in the first attempt then don't
get disappointed, do it again and soon you will have a lot of recognition and fan following.
And last but not the least take some good photos of yourself and process of work :)
We have passionate Artists and Mentors at iMADE Creative Studio to guide you to create your own masterpiece of sketch or drawing, even to teach you the techniques to create and compile a great portfolio for many purposes like for job or college interviews, studying abroad or simply for sheer passion.
For more details call us on : 9818494593 : 9818320236
or mail us : www.imadecreativestudio@gmail.com
visit our website : www.imadecreativestudio.com
