I dabbled with watercolor sketching, but really fell in love with it when I lived in Hong Kong. I had so much wonderful subject matter around me andI wanted to try plein air painting, so I started going out on location and painting in my watercolor sketch book. The major thing I learned after I started doing itwas, it took away the intimidation of doing a painting in watercolor. Sometimes I would sit in the studio and look at a big piece of white paper and wonder if I was going to pulloff something I was going to be happy with. Even though artists shouldn’t get caught up in that way of thinking, that everything we do has to be a winner because it always isn’t! After all it’s just paper and paint, but I think deep down we always want to be happy with what we create at the end of the day.

Watercolor sketching is a wonderful thing to do for so many reasons:

Sketching forces you to be quick and not over think things.
It forces you to simplify what you are seeing in the environment and not get caught up in the details.
It gave me a chance to feel more comfortable with the medium and took away the intimidation when I did do larger works in the studio.
If you do it plein air, it’s great to be out in nature or really soak in the sights and sounds of a place, much better than a quick photo.
Gives you a lasting memory of a moment in time when you were enjoying the act of painting.
Sketches can be used to develop bigger paintings.
Great way to meet people or connect with other artists if you go out together.
My watercolor sketch books go with me when ever I travel. Your sketch books becomesa treasure of meaningful memories.

In future posts I will talk about my materials and share some of my sketches. I hope it inspires you to try it!

This sketch was done at the Lama Temple in Beijing. I had a nice older chinese gentlemen sit down next to me on the bench while I worked on this sketch. We talked about a variety of things. I will never forget it!