Illustration + Nature Sketching
I went to a physical rehabilitation clinic at the start of the year after my surgery, and of course I wanted to bring a bit of sketching gear with me. I didn’t expect too much from myself, mainly because I wasn’t sure how challenging the physical therapy and exercise would be, and also because I … Read more
Today I’d like to show you a small pen set that once belonged to my grandmother. For me it’s very special because of the stories and memories connected to it, even if I don’t use the pens a lot. Here’s a video version of this post: This pen set is very likely from the early … Read more
I recently got a small landscape-themed palette from Kremer Pigments and today I’m going to test it and paint a small landscape sketch with it. Kremer is a family-owned German company for pigments, paints and all kinds of materials for the restoration of traditional artworks. They specialize in historical and rare pigments, like real lapislazuli, … Read more
I’ve recently experimented with a self-made bamboo pen after being reminded what nice lines it can create. Making your own reed pen or bamboo pen is easy, inexpensive and fun. In this post I’ll show you how you can make one and how to use it. Here’s a video that shows you how to make … Read more
I recently went on vacation, and of course I took a few sketching tools with me. I always try to keep my tools very lightweight and minimal, and I thought it might be interesting to share what I took with me on the trip. A few years ago I shared a similar sketching kit (My … Read more
I’ve mentioned and shown a few times now that I like to use fountain pens for sketching, but I haven’t really written about it yet in a dedicated post. Fountain pens are popular with many sketchers, and there are good reasons for it: they’re portable, refillable, flexible and then there’s the expressiveness of the linework. … Read more
Every few months, I do a few tweaks to my field sketching palette. Roughly every year, I do an update on the blog about it. I thought it might be fun to take a look at what I’ve changed lately. You can get a handy PDF of my current palette if you sign up for … Read more
Something that came up in the recent run-through of my class Sketching Fundamentals and that is also a frequently asked question generally is how do you capture the atmosphere of a place quickly (in drawing or painting) before the light changes, and how to you find a good place to set up and work? I … Read more
Over the years I have been asked repeatedly if I use different palette colors in different seasons. Usually my answer was no, because I very rarely change the “classic” color on my small palette, and this is a field kit that already has quite the large number of colors (right now: 20). But this year … Read more
Last week I showed you how effective it can be to limit the colors on your palette for a sketch. I find it can be a good method to get better at mixing, and to really get to know your paints (or some colors that you have lying around that you don’t use enough…) As … Read more
I was asked if I could do a post about my favorite colors for landscape sketching. I have talked about the colors on my watercolor palette before, but this got me thinking: do I have any favorite colors? Here’s a video version of this post: My favorite colors for landscape sketching (video) I’m a bit … Read more
I like to have a few colored pencils around for sketching, but I don’t usually use them alone. Rather, I combine them with watercolor to add texture and detail. I find colored pencils can often bring out certain fine details better and in a more controlled way than fiddling with fine brushes, and sometimes I … Read more