Bath Travel Sketches

I spent a day in Bath (Somerset, England) last Saturday. I took the train and used the time to sketch. I tried different techniques to get some variety.

Here is the material I used:

• All these sketches were made in my Moleskine Pocket Watercolour Notebook. It opens in a landscape format and the paper is thick enough to take ink and watercolour washes.

• Pentel Colour Brush - Sepia 141

• Micron Pigma ink pens by the Japanese company Sakura (Sakura 30062 6-Piece Pigma Micron Ink Pen Set, Black)

• Sennelier Watercolor Travel 14 Half Pan Set

• Pentel Arts Aquash Fine Point Water Brush, Medium

• ProMarker Pens: Grey Green, Khaki and Shale

At Swindon Station (Sepia Pentel Color Brush – Micron Pigma ink pens – watercolour wash) 

In the train to Bath (Micron Pigma ink pens – watercolour wash) 

Back to Swindon (Micron Pigma ink pens – ProMarker Pens) 

Micron Pigma ink pens – ProMarker Pens

Le Regal - Watercolour

 I am in Le Regal, which is hamlet near the village of Antraigues-sur-Volane  (Ardeche, France). The weather is magnifiscent and I could sit outside on Sunday to paint.

Le Regal – watercolour (13.5 x 21 cm) by Benoit Philippe (click to enlarge)

My temporary studio (cup of coffee included)

I brought my Sennelier watercolour travel box with me, but my sister-in-law gave me some paper and lent me a round box of Pebeo watercolours.

The material I used:

• The paper is Montval watercolour paper by Canson – snowy surface, 125 lbs. A very nice paper to work with. It has a smooth surface and is sturdy enough not to buckle when wet.

• Pebeo watercolour – 24 half pans with central mixing palette: This is a very nice box of artist quality watercolours. All the colours you need are there logically laid out in circle. The clever bit is the reproduction of the pans with the name of each colour on the lid of the box. This way, it is child play to replace a colour when you need too (it saves you sticking all the labels on a card as I do to remember which colours I put in my watercolour box…). This box is light and would be easy to carry around in a bag.

• My pocket reversible brush from Rosemary & Co

Photograph of the view I painted

Related resources

If you are in the US (Amazon affiliate link)

Pebeo Fine Watercolours Round Metal, Box of 24 Half Pans

If you are in the United Kingdom (Amazon affiliate link)

Pebeo Pebeo Fine Watercolours Round Metal Box of 24 Half Pans,Assorted

Rosemary & co website: Excellent quality brushes at reasonable prices (not an affiliate link... just a satified customer)

Sketcher Blue Pencils and Micron Pigma Pens

I had to make some illustrations and it gave me the chance to try out two products:

• Caran d’Ache Sketcher Non-Photo Blue Pencil (Sketcher Non-Photo Blue 2 Pc Blister Card): These pencils do not reproduced when scanned or photocopied in black & white. They are easy to erase if you have too (but you don't need to worry about this if you are scanning your drawing). They are ideal for sketching comics, cartoons, or execute a line drawing that you will then rework digitally.

• Micron Pigma ink pens by the Japanese company Sakura (Sakura 30062 6-Piece Pigma Micron Clam Ink Pen Set, Black): The ink is archival quality. You can draw fine lines that are waterproof and fade proof. I bought two models: Number 02, for 0.30 mm lines and Number 04, for 0.40 mm lines. They are easy to hold and make smooth, regular black lines. I would recommend them for sketching or line drawing.

I first sketched with the blue pencils and then inked in with the Micron pens.

Second stage: scanning.

Then, I added the colours with Adobe Photoshop Elements 12 (I am no expert, so it took me a long time).

I like to mix the free hand drawing with the digital colours.

An original brush rest

I was looking for a brush rest. They have some in artists’ supply catalogues but the choice is limited to a boring white ceramic model. Not very exciting...

A brush rest prevents the wet brush from touching the table or rolling on it. This is exactly what a chopsticks holder does. And now, by looking at chopsticks holders, I had a vast choice of brush rests.

I bought the one in the photographs below at a street market in Hong Kong. 

Fabiano’s sharpener for lead

Fabiano is an Italian paper manufacturer and they make a watercolour paper that I like. They also have developed some products for their Fabiano Boutiques. There is one in Munich airport (the only one outside of Italy) that I visit when I have a chance.

Most of the products are as stylish as they are expensive. I bought there a mechanical lead holder pencil  made of coloured wood and metal. It is small enough to carry around and the retractable lead means no messy lead marks in your pocket.

Bird's eye view of the Fabiano sharpener

The base of the sharpener

To go with it, I bought a sharpener for lead. It a beautiful piece of wood shaped like a flat pebble. The design is simple yet practical.

A groove on the top of the sharpener makes a craddle for you pencil when you are not using it.

The sharpener works very well and gives you a sharp point. The only downside of this sharpener is that you need to empty it through the opening. I do that by tapping gently the opening on a tissue paper.

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Product test: Inktense pencils by Derwent

Inktense pencils by Derwent are watersoluble pencils with brillant colours that give ink like effects. The colours are translucent and blendable.

The range includes 71 colours. I tested a selection of 24 pencils. The box also contained a non-soluble outliner. You can draw with it outlines that are permanent, even when water is applied.

You can use Inktense pencils on paper like watercolour pencils.  They can also be used on fabric and I tested them on cotton. One advantage is that after you apply water onto the pigments, the colour is permanent once dry.

The process is simple, with a number of variations:

• The first method consists in applying the colour first and then adding water on the colour with a soft brush. This is similar to the technique used with watercolour pencils. Depending on the colour, the result will look like a watercolour wash or some pencil marks will remain visible.

• For the second method, you put the water first with a clean brush on the fabric and then apply the pencil. This is interesting because the colour fuses in the fabric in the same way watercolour fuses when you employ a wet on wet technique. In addition, the water makes the colours come to life and you see immediately what the final colour will be. When the fabric is wet, the pencil glides on it.

• Third method consists in using a fabric gel medium to wet the fabric where you want to apply the colour. By contrast with the previous method, the colour does not fuse. This works well for details.

You can layer colours one on top of the other. You can also use water to blend together colours after then have been laid on the support.

One difficulty when you start working with these pencils: it is sometimes hard to identify the colour of the dark pigment pencils without reading the name printed on the pencil. In addition, for certain shades, the coulour of the lead won’t tell you much about the brillance of the colour once washed with water. It would be a good idea to make a colour chart showing each colour dry and then washed with water.

In conclusion, these pencils are interesting to work with for bright and luminous colours. The fact that you can use them on fabric without the need for any special fixative is a definite plus. Derwent also sells Inktense sticks (looking like square dry pastels) for work on larger formats.

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Picasso’s unusual linocut technique

This article was first published in my newsletter "Notes From My French Easel" – February 2011. Follow the link to receive this free monthly newsletter.

Brassaï recounted in his book "Conversation with Picasso" how D-H Kahnwweiler, the art dealer, described to him the peculiar way Picasso used linocuts:

« D-H Kahnwweiler: They are amazing, isn’t it? Picasso was an innovator in this field, as in many others ... Five years ago he started engraving into a linoleum block a portrait of Cranach’s wife. Then he got the idea - instead of running a block for each color – to carve again and again a single block. In seeking its own means of expression, he boldly innovates in each process and brings it to perfection. At first he merely used three or four colors and he now handles twelve colours prints using the same block! It's diabolical! He must anticipate the effect of each color, because here there is no coming back! I do not even know what to call this mental operation...»

"Portrait of the Painter Pablo Ruiz Picasso" sculpture by Francisco López Hernández in La Merced Square, Málaga, Spain [Source: Wikimedia]

As the art dealer pointed out, Picasso’s process is very complex. It shows that Picasso has a great capability to think visually, like a chess player thinking of the ten moves ahead based on his next move.

This unique technique also means that these linocuts were, by definition, limited editions. At the end of the process, the linocut plaque was reduced to the last marks on the paper.

Saper Galleries has a very good article on the different printing techniques that Picasso used: Printmaking Media Used by Picasso.


Related articles

Working out tones with linocuts



Picasso Linocut Art technique

The joy of sketching

This article was first published in "Frequency Magazine" – January 2011.


Sketching is a wonderful way to sharpen your observational skills, gather material, capture memories and further your technique. It is a crossover between journaling and art practice as you record everyday life moments or scenes on your travels. Artists have always used sketchbooks and carried them around when travelling. Famous examples include Turner, Delacroix or Van Gogh.

Sketch on Moleskin notebook - Done with Faber Castell PITT artist pens

Sketching does not cost much; it takes no time at all: so, what are you waiting for?

The main requirements for my sketching material are to be portable and easy to set-up and use. A hardback sketchbook provides a good support and removes the need for a drawing board.  There are many options and your choice will be guided by the technique you use. If you add washes of colours to your line drawings, the paper needs to be thicker than if you just use pencils. Personally, I like the Moleskine sketchbooks because they are small and open flat, so you can sketch on the double page spread. These sketchbooks also have a ribbon bookmark and an elastic band to keep them close and avoid the pages being damaged during transport. The truth is that once you start sketching, I bet you will own more than one sketchbook…

 

Sketch of one of my daughters painting -  done with a Pentel Color Brush (steel blue)

As far as equipment to sketch is concerned, you are spoilt for choice: pencils, graphite pencils, pigment ink pens, permanent felt pens, biro pens, fountain pens… black is the most used colour, but sepia looks nice too, in particular if you apply a colour wash on the drawing. In this case, make sure that the ink you use is permanent. Another interesting option is to sketch with brush and ink. The technique is more difficult to master but the advantage is the variation in the line thickness from a fat line to a very thin one. Art shops stock brush pens with various ink colours.

For colours, add to your sketching kit a selection of coloured pencils or a small box of watercolours. A travel box with twelve half-pans and an integrated palette is all you need. If you use watercolour or watercolour pencils, a brush pen is a good investment. These brushes have a synthetic tip mounted like a fountain-pen with an in-built water reservoir. This way, you don’t have to carry around a bottle of water.

Saturday market in Bovey Tracey - Done with sepia PITT artist pen and watercolour wash

Regarding subject, you can sketch landscapes, still life, figures, etc. Sketching is a good way to fill these little pockets of waiting time: in the train, at the tube or bus stations, or waiting at the post office. Inside cafés and restaurants are great places to sketch. Order a coffee a start drawing people around. And if your subject moves, just start a new sketch on the same page.

Sketches are not meant to be finished work. Spontaneity is better than a perfect but stifled execution. When he talked to Brassaï about Matisse’s numerous iterations of the same drawing, Pablo Picasso questioned this approach and concluded: “In drawing, nothing is better than the first attempt.” I agree with this precept. Not all drawings are good, but you will get some excellent drawings from first attempts… The trick is to make many first attempts when tackling different subjects.

A basket of lemon outside a grocery store - Done with Pentel  Color Brush (Sepia) and watercolour



Forget the eraser and skip the initial pencil drawing. Be brave and use an ink pen to trace your drawing. If a line does not look right, just trace another one next to it. Working this way will keep your drawing fresh, spontaneous and will improve your drawing skill in no time.

If you need inspiration, there are many blogs and websites with sketches by various artists. I would recommend that you check Urban Sketchers , a collective blog that features a variety of styles and will inspire you to start drawing everyday and experiment with different subjects and techniques.

My best art productivity tool? a daylight lamp

Days are now getting longer, but how do you handle all these long winter evenings or paint when you only have the end of the day available? The answer is simple: get a daylight lamp. The risk, if you paint under normal electric bulbs or tubes, is that your colours won't look the same the next day under natural lighting conditions.

My lamp is a an easel model from the Daylight Company. It is big (not for travel), with a retro look, and does the job perfectly. If you want to save money, you can just buy the bulbs or tube and fit an existing lamp. There is a range of bulbs and tubes available.

It is worth investing in one of these lamps if you have not done so.

My pastel set-up

I thought I will show you my current pastel set-up in a few images.

A heavy watercolour paper, primed with Art Spectrum Sanfix ground, is secured with framing tape on my drawing board.

Stabilo Carbothello Pastel Pencils are great to establish the initial drawing and add fine details later on.

Conté square pastels. This is the first box I bought, and that shows...

Some more recent Conté square pastels bought in Paris.

A nice selection of Faber-Castell square pastels. These are half-size sticks, which means that you have more colours for a reasonable price. Hard pastels are good at the initial stage because they don't fill the paper tooth.

The light colours. A mix of Unisson pastels and Sennelier ones (the light colours in the Sennelier range have a more creamy texture).

A selection of medium and dark colours.

Weiss beer, please!

On a recent trip to Munich, I had a Weiss beer over dinner. But before I drank it, I thought I would do a quick sketch. As there was nothing to make a good sketch in the restaurant conservatory, I ended-up drawing what was in front of me, on the table.

I had with me my Moleskine sketchbook and a newly purchased set of four Sanguine PITT artist pens (Small, Fine, Medium and Brush). This set is more limited that the grey set (see my post Working on tones and values with felt pens) because they are all the same shade of sanguine ink. So if you want shading, you have to criss cross the surface.

I like the colour of the ink and I look forward to see how it will do with colour washes. As the pigmented drawing ink is waterproof, these pens would be ideal.

Sanguine PITT artist pen Sketching Drawing Still life