Happy Friday! I hope you all are enjoying the first weeks of summer, wherever you may be. Since wrapping up the spring semester at my teaching job, I have been relishing some time outdoors, at the library, and drawing in my sketchbook. My partner and I recently took a road trip to Upstate New York to visit his family, and on the way, we stopped in Western Massachusetts and the Hudson Valley to see some friends. Luckily the skies were clear (we went before the wildfire smoke), the weather was warm enough for sandals, and I now have more than enough inspiration for an entire summer’s worth of work!
Chittenango Falls, located near Syracuse
Before this trip, I had bought a new watercolor sketchbook, with the intention to capture some scenes in gouache. I painted my first spread in plein air while camping, where we had lots of time and no wifi. The painting conditions were perfect. Warm (but not hot), no wind, and few mosquitos.
The first spread in a sketchbook tends to set a precedent for the rest of the book, and for once, I was satisfied with the results.
Dare I say that I may finish a sketchbook this summer?
Don’t get me wrong, I carry a sketchbook and a variety of pens wherever I go. I have piles of them, of varying sizes and paper weights, but they are mostly half full and somewhat abandoned.
(These are just a few.)
Some of them contain drawings that I don’t enjoy looking at (and should probably just collage over them) and others turn into journals where I scrawl ideas for comics and haphazard thumbnail sketches. But I rarely finish a sketchbook from start to finish.
(A sketchbook that turned into planning for Finding Hope.)
For the past week, I’ve been working on this gouache sketchbook every day for an hour or two. I’ve been painting full scenes, as well as smaller details, with the vision to eventually scan all the pages and reformat them into a visual essay-style zine.
A scene from hiking in Western Mass.
I’ve also taken this project as an opportunity to learn about the plants we encountered along the way. On the right, are two different shades of azaleas that we saw while hiking in New York and Massachusetts.
There’s a different process when painting from references as opposed to plein air. I love how plein air painting forces me to work quickly to capture the light, but painting from photo reference allows me to take my time.
These days, I love painting with Holbein acrylic gouache. Here I am holding one of the tubes in front of a page in progress.
However, it’s often a hassle to set up all my materials to paint from life. When I have limited time or the weather is not fantastic, pens and a travel watercolor kit work well. Here are some sketches from earlier this year.
And last summer, I was using colored pencils quite a bit.
Sketching my friend Anji at the beach.
I turned these drawings into a zine.
Overall, keeping a sketchbook is fundamental to my practice as an illustrator and cartoonist. Drawing from life prompts to me pay attention and indulge my curiosities, transforming my thoughts and observations into new forms.
Do you keep a sketchbook, and what is your process like? Leave a comment below!
I have a bazillion unfinished sketchbooks and unused ones I’m “saving” for something special. I love how you are using this one specifically for gouache and for a set time period. It’s inspiring!
Fabulous Sarah Shaw…..just following threads from your class resources and found myself wandering inside your sketchbook. Now I want to try gouache. I have a collection of old mostly dried up tubes I’ve collected. Didn’t know there was such a thing as acrylic gouache. Your landscapes are yummy.