Singapore!

It was very exciting to be part of the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Singapore last month...still thinking daily about all that I saw and experienced, and especially the wonderful Singapore Urban Sketchers community!

It was an honor to present my workshop, "Light and Dark with a Punch of Color", and I'd like to offer a PDF of the workshop handout.  Let me know if you find this helpful!

click here:

Light and Dark with a Punch of Color

More about the subject of the workshop in the previous post below...

Here are a few photos 

from my workshop site 

at the Singapore Art Museum...

My easel parked in front of "SAM"--
Singapore Art Museum, with a demo sketch

Don Low sketching in front of SAM

Don Low sketching in front of SAM

My charming helper, Grace Liau sketching 

Kee making a beautiful composition
across from SAM

Suma laying in a
bold pattern of light and dark

Don Low's thumbnail sketches

Sketching in the shade of those
lovely tropical trees

Rob and Keesung sketching digitally--
I loved seeing the ideas working
across different media!

Gabi Campanario and Rob Sketcherman sketching
and chatting at our lovely, shady site

Murray Dewhurst, one of our official
sketch-reporters at the site

Some "first stage" sketches--finding patterns
of light and dark in the landscape and
composing them on the page...

Some more "first stage" sketches,
will have to find a better way to
document the digital sketches!

Some "final" results--with color added
--using color intentionally to add emphasis,
meaning or create a path

Jason Das sketching some visitors nearby

End of Workshop #3--we may have lost a few
before this picture was taken, but
I love seeing the results!

Before and during the Symposium, I spent lots of time at my workshop site considering best views and approaches...

pencil sketches--a way to gradually mass the light and darks

These were demo thumbnail sketches...using pencil to mass darks and light.  As I did these, I considered 2 ways to compose:  creating a small frame first helps you see the whole right away by working "outside in"...another approach is to start with what most interests you, and work from there--"inside out"...being mindful to balance areas of light and dark as you "grow" the sketch...

thumbnail views of SAM--laying in shapes with
a brush pen makes you really commit to the
lights and darks right away!

more views around SAM--light and dark with color
added for emphasis...

Sketching here inside Dome, the Italian-style coffee bar in the museum, where the interior is elegantly

black and white--so were the patrons, and the photographer and bridal shoot just outside...

 More Singapore sketching in my next post!

Light and Dark with a Punch of Color...

I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to teach a workshop at the Urban Sketchers Symposium in Singapore last month!

My workshop, "Light and Dark with a Punch of Color" focuses on ways to create dynamically composed sketches by exploring the idea of "Notan"--a Japanese word meaning the harmony of light and dark.  Understanding Notan gives us a way to grasp and compose the essentials of a subject.

We start with exploring ways to see the rhythm of light and dark in an urban landscape, and bring that to the sketchbook page--and then add a punch of color for emphasis!

I'd like to offer you a PDF of the workshop handout--It would be great if you could let me know if you find this helpful!

click here:
Light and Dark with a Punch of Color

A sketch made at the Los Angeles Arboretum prior to Singapore...

In Singapore, our workshop site was the Singapore Art Museum, which gave us a great variety of subjects--the beautiful architecture and grounds, people and foliage.  Creating a dynamic composition starts with discovering and selecting the visual story that you want to tell--and it's as much about what's left out as what is left in!  Another key to a strong composition is creating paths for the eye to follow...

While there are many ways to do this, for this workshop we practice creating paths of light and dark, adding the element of watercolor washes, and then use color selectively for emphasis in the visual story.

So, what does Notan have to do with working in color?
I find that practice in making strong value choices in black and white helps you more instinctively create a bolder, richer range of values when you're working with full color!

Sketches from Singapore to follow!

Olvera Street

...is a place I return to sketch again and again, and as I continued to prepare to teach my workshop at the Urban Sketchers Singapore Symposium, I spent several days sketching here.  One of my favorite locations, Olvera Street is the oldest part of Los Angeles--at the center of El Pueblo de Los Angeles.  It's certainly popular with tourists who arrive by the busloads and quickly leave after buying something from the colorful market stalls, but the visitor in a hurry might miss the real sense of community here!

At one end of the street is the Plaza, graced by several large Moreton Bay Fig trees...this particular tree feels like the heart of the Plaza, and I notice that besides the tourists who visit, there are lots of "regulars" who come to sit here in the shade.  Sketched here with pencil, watercolor and gouache on tan paper...

On some afternoons, Aztec Dancers perform in the center of the Plaza, to the delight of children who visit in large school groups...a quick pencil sketch...
















One afternoon as I sat sketching, a fancy black tour bus pulled up nearby with "La Adictiva" emblazoned on the side...and 17 or so men in spectacular studded suits jumped out and lined up in front of me to be interviewed by a glamorous reporter from Spanish language TV Telemundo.  I sketched as fast as I could, while others took photos of what I discovered is a very popular Mexican banda.  I was pointed out to the reporter, and was suddenly pulled off my stool with my sketchbook to have my picture taken with the Banda!

I did lots of thumbnail sketches of visitors and the beautiful architecture at Olvera Street, preparing for my Singapore workshop--in black and white...

...Practicing massing light and dark with ink, then adding mid-tone watercolor wash...

...and adding a punch of color for emphasis...





Sometimes working from the outside in (starting with a border) to frame a little composition, and sometimes working from inside out (starting with an interesting spot and moving out, composing in a freeform pattern)

Here, a relaxed sketch in pencil, watercolor and gouache over lunch as I watch a stream of visitors posing on the stuffed donkey to have their pictures taken in fancy sombreros...as I child I had my picture taken here on a real donkey!

And finally, my favorite Olvera Street moment--late afternoon on Friday in the Plaza, wonderful cumbia music begins to play and couples start dancing in the shade of the huge fig tree--first just a few, then lots of them...

Harmony of Dark and Light...

Planning my workshop for the Singapore Urban Sketchers Symposium actually began many months in advance.  I've been giving a lot of thought to what makes a sketch (or perhaps any artwork) a success--and it seems to me that it's composition--a dynamic composition has the power to grab the eye and hold it!  Without a strong composition a great idea or lovely rendering just doesn't come across.

In studying composition, I began reading about Notan--a Japanese word meaning the harmony of light and dark.  There really isn't a word in English that means quite the same thing.  Suddenly a light came on for me, as I saw how well it could work as a way to create strong compositions by first seeing shapes of light and dark in a subject, and then composing those shapes on a page.

So--how does this relate to sketching on location?  Composing with Notan begins with seeing the patterns of light and dark in your subject--such as light and shadow on a building surface or foliage, but it means much more than that.  As you develop your sketch, what becomes important is the harmony of tones--how the lights and darks are balanced on your page.  In other words, you make choices of what to "push" as you interpret and compose the patterns of light and dark that you see.

My first workshop using this idea was at the Los Angeles Arboretum with its lovely Queen Anne Cottage, enormous palm trees, and a wonderful variety of birds everywhere.  I took participants through a process of 3 steps:  creating a pattern of black and white, then adding a mid-value wash to follow the rhythm of the black and white shapes and add some depth, and then the final step of adding a punch of color for fun--and emphasis.

So, here are some of the sketches that I did at The Los Angeles Arboretum...


Initially I began with line...then adding, massing shapes with a black brush pen...

With practice, I began jumping in with the brush pen, to commit to the large shapes right away...

Then, adding a mid-value wash...

And finally, adding color for emphasis--doing this selectively.  At this point, I ask--Where do you want to draw the eye?  Notice how color can become another element to lead the eye in your composition...

Sketching Los Angeles...

Sketching at some favorite locations around my home town...

Quick sketching at the historic Grand Central Market downtown in ink and watercolor... I come to buy chiles for making mole, have lunch and sketch!

With more time, I like to try to tell a more complete story with pencil, watercolor and gouache--observing here the changes taking place at the Grand Central Market.  I love this downtown institution, and as I watch it change, I hope with more upscale vendors and cafes moving in that what gives the mark its character will remain.  The traffic here has certainly increased, and that seems to be a good thing for everyone.

Another story here, sketching around Bunker Hill downtown on a cloudy day, across from the magnificent Central Library.  The sculpture by Robert Graham stands atop a fountain at the top of Bunker Hill Steps.  Prosperous looking bankers cross paths with homeless people wrapped in blankets and patrons of the library.  I love the tower of the Central Library with its tiled mosaic pyramid and golden hand holding a torch representing the "Light of Learning"...

Sketching here at an annual event celebrating Los Angeles history...Museums of the Arroyo Day.  The beautiful Southwest Museum sits on a hill with fantastic views.  At the entrance is a large totem pole.

Then, to Heritage Square--a "living history museum" of 8 historic 19th century buildings (rarities in Los Angeles!).  For this event, the old Ford was on display and lots of visitors were dressed in Victorian finery...

Sketching here with pencil and watercolor

This is a Turner-inspired panorama...sketched from the Getty Center, where I visited the fantastic exhibition:  "JMW Turner: Painting Set Free"--it was very inspiring, especially when I walked out of the exhibition into late afternoon light, and saw this panoramic view of Santa Monica with Catalina Island in the distance engulfed by "Turner-esque" atmosphere.  Layering a watercolor, gouache and pencil here...

Really though, this is my favorite kind of sketching...having some time on a weekday to make a lunchtime drawing of "ordinary" life...here in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles on a cloudy day...pencil, watercolor and gouache on tan paper.