[By Lis Watkins in London] I’ve been trying out some new materials this summer, a Seawhite Eco A4 sketchbook from the Manchester Symposium goodie bag and a small set of Cotman watercolours with a brush pen which I was given via an illustration job. I’d become rather addicted to using the large Moleskine watercolour sketchbooks […]
[By Lis Watkins in London] I’ve been drawn to nature since March, when COVID 19 took hold in the UK. Firstly I drew plants in my back garden, then as the lockdown eased, I hesitantly moved to local parks and gardens. Then as rules changed again, slightly further afield to other places in South East […]
Lis Watkins shares her sketchbook practice as an artist who specialises in drawing on location, travel illustration and sketching workshops.
A picture of Tate Britain by Lis Watkins. lineandwash
One of the new techniques I tried out last year was to draw in sketchbooks that I’d previously added background colour to. I started at the Barbican Conservatory then continued in other locations in London. It was something I really enjoyed doing and gave interesting results. Later in the year when I started working on an illustration project for a travel magazine, I used a similar technique to create the illustrations. The drawings were to be of historic architectural sites in Cambodia and I started by drawing the basic shape in pencil. Then I filled in the shape with watercolour in a very freestyle way, similar to the sketchbook backgrounds. The client supplied some reference material and I also did some research online to get a feel for the structures. I left these colour shapes to completely dry before adding more definition to the structures. The final touches were added with pen line, black and white. I was quite pleased with the results and hope to develop the technique further. It was nice to know that something I started as a fun, playful way of working could have a knock-on effect in my illustration work.
urban sketch
urban sketch
[By Lis Watkins in London] I’ve been drawn to nature since March, when COVID 19 took hold in the UK. Firstly I drew plants in my back garden, then as the lockdown eased, I hesitantly moved to local parks and gardens. Then as rules changed again, slightly further afield to other places in South East […]
Daily drawings and ideas from my online sketchbook - an art, illustration and sketch blog.
urban sketch
[Guest Post by Delphine Doreau in Los Angeles] For a long time I was very comfortable with gray. Blue, and especially blue skies, was a luxury in Paris or San Francisco where I lived, something joyful to experience with delight…and rarely sketch. Blue was out of my comfort zone as a sketcher. And then, I […]
[By Lis Watkins in Berlin] Whenever I visit a new place, I’m filled with two opposing thoughts. Firstly I want to pack in as much sightseeing as possible, secondly I want to do as much sketching as possible. As sketching requires a certain amount of stillness, striking a balance can be a difficult decision. On […]
