Just realized skipping the pencil sketch makes my watercolors better

For a long time, I penciled in my drawing before adding any paint. Now I think starting straight with color lets the water do more work and keeps the painting fun. Do you think sketching first can make a painting feel too tight?

3 comments

3 Comments

jesse_ward3d ago

Ever tried painting something like loose flowers or a sunset sky without any lines first? I mean, sometimes that pencil outline tricks your brain into just filling in shapes instead of really seeing the color and light. I started skipping the sketch for stuff like water and clouds, and it forced me to pay attention to where the wet edges meet, not where my dumb line was. It’s scary to just go for it, but my washes got way more lively. Maybe it’s just me, but letting go of the plan makes the whole thing feel less like work.

allen.piper3d ago

Watched my friend Clara try painting her garden without any pencil lines last summer. She always drew every leaf and stem first, but this time she just wet the paper and dropped in color. At first, she hated how the greens and yellows bled into each other. Then she noticed the water made soft edges that looked like real light through the trees. Her painting felt loose and happy, not stiff like her old ones. She told me letting go of the sketch kept the joy in the process.

fiona_walker743d ago

Sounds like Clara figured out the secret to keeping art fun. I tried that once with a watercolor landscape and ended up with a muddy brown mess. My brain just will not let go of the plan, so I overwork everything until it looks stiff. It's funny how trying to make it perfect sucks all the life out of it. Maybe I need to practice letting go like she did, but my inner critic is a real jerk about it. Still, seeing how her painting turned out happy makes me want to try again.