This year, I am filling my summer sketchbook with floral art. Watercolor sketch, pen and watercolor or purely watercolor are excellent ways to paint summer scenes, summer flowers, summer landscapes and simply enjoy the outdoors and beauty. The easiest way to practice painting with watercolors is using pen and watercolor wash, that will fill your sketchbook in no time. That enables us creating great composition and not caring too much about pencil lines and perfect application of watercolor.
Summer poppies, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Excellent technique for beginners
Pen and watercolor wash is a great technique for beginning watercolor artists. The most exciting part is adding watercolor washes, as well as more detailed areas with more concentrated paint. We can create a wonderful painting in less time this way because we do not need multi-step drawing transfer onto watercolor paper. It is also much easier to know where to use paint because the black outline clearly identifies that.
The spring rose, 15 x 11 in or 38 x 28 cm
Greatness takes time
If you are new to a particular medium or absolutely new to drawing and painting, you have to remember: nothing happens right away. Every skill takes time, efforts and work to develop. It is no reason to give up painting or drawing if you are not happy with the first few drawings and sketches. You might be surprised how much better one becomes after a while.
Sunflowers, pen and watercolor, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Not every painting is masterwork
Focusing on perfection right away will cause you to be disappointed. Any artist will tell you that they have damaged, and thrown out lots and lots of initial sketches, painted over initial scenes, changed the layout and composition completely, switched to a different color or tools. They have done many things before they have created the first amazing painting. Not every drawing or painting is or should be a masterwork. It should be a stepping stone on our way to better art. We use our errors as a way of discovering how to achieve what we want and have intended.
Red poppies, pen and watercolor, 11 x 14 in or 28 x 36 cm
For your inspiration
Get inspired by my simple pen and watercolor sketches. This time, they are floral sketches and paintings. Go outdoors; see what you have in your backyard. Sketching is always better if you do not use any photos, but the real thing in front of you. Pen and watercolor technique allows achieving fast results, therefore, your subject will not change while you draw and sketch it.
Clematis, pen and watercolor, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Art supplies for drawing and sketching to fill your summer sketchbook
CANSON XL cold press, 140 lb watercolor paper, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
Arches, cold press, 140 lb watercolor paper, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
Saunders Waterford, cold press,watercolor paper in whatever weight is available and affordable, size 12 x 16 or 12 x 18 in
For pen, you can use any black pen which does not bleed with application of water. I recommend MICRON brand which contains archival ink, size from 1 to 05, test it. You can test it at the store for thickness of line before buying to see which one you like.
Graphite pencil, HB or even harder
Soft, kneaded, artist’s grade eraser, it is sold in art stores.
Paper towel, a few sheets
Set of watercolors in basic colors
All my art prints, art cards and other products on FAA:
If you’d like to sign up for my art classes, please click on link Art classes
Why should you spend time on value drawing? If you do such drawings large or full painting size, it will take quite a lot of time, from a few hours to a few days. However, these value drawings will be all reference materials you need. I have added many photos of my very large still life drawings, so that you see what I’m talking about.
Drawing for watercolor
I started to do such large size value drawings because my goal was to eventually create a watercolor painting. As you may know, watercolor paper is very fragile and painting does not look good if there are lots of visible pencil marks or even worse. Erasing damages watercolor paper. I do such drawings on tracing paper. That is because I use a specific drawing transfer technique which allows seeing my final drawing very well without applying graphite pencil too much. It saves me work afterwards and prevents my paper from damage.
Large is great
I make these drawings large, to be more exact, the actual painting size. I usually paint full-sheet 22 x 29 inch ( 56 x 74 cm) watercolors, and sometimes a bit smaller acrylics. The drawings shown in my photos are 22 x 29 inches ( 56 x 74 cm) and 20 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm) .
I usually do these and similar drawings in class, 20 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)
Value drawing is a guide and a map
All answers to questions which arise during the painting process are in the value drawing. I love painting from real things as opposed to photos, and if the subject is sensitive, such as flowers, food, fruits, vegetables or moody nature scene, I have to use something which quickly captures the subject. I obviously cannot get done a large painting within a few hours. Therefore, instead of taking photos, I do value drawings and sometimes value sketches.
Camera doesn’t replace visual perception
Partially, I don’t rely on photos since I got my first camera not that long ago and I was very much used to draw everything what other people were taking pictures of. The other aspect to that is the way any camera distorts the subject or view. My eyes perceive it much better than any camera would, and I create a composition on a fly.
Photographic visual memory
I don’t know whether I was born with it or whether I just developed it, but I only found out quite late in my life that I have literary photographic visual memory. I simply did not pay attention to that when I was young.
Advantages of having great visual memory
School was easy for me. I memorized everything extra easy, and I added an analytic approach to memorizing things. I am still able to remember lots of text just by looking at it. That helped me enormously when studying at university. I personally think that my visual memory comes from drawing. I was drawing everything whatever I saw since age I cannot even recall. Parents told me about that. It was a surprise because there were and are no other artists in my family which is actually quite extensive.
Memory can be improved at any age
I do believe and have seen that visual memory can be improved to a great extent. What happens in real life is that people most often don’t use their memory and brain. The more support from devices we have, the less we use our own memory. That is disastrous and leads to early memory loss.
How drawing helps keeping excellent memory
It is obvious that one can have all kinds of reminders and lists on their phone and computer. However, there are people like me who never ever compile a list or use a reminder. I’ve never forgotten any appointment or meeting in my entire life. I never make any lists, neither shopping, nor to-do lists, not even invoicing or student lists. It is all comfortably filed in my head.
My most recent drawing, 20 x 24 inches (46 x 61 cm)
The reason I love drawing
I don’t draw to only exercise my memory. I draw and paint also not because of likes or social media comments, followers or any other feedback from fans. I draw and paint because that is my way of life. I live in a visual world where everything is a painting and any view is art. That is the way I see the world and life.
Multiple and various uses of value sketch and value drawing
Having a value sketch or value drawing is of big advantage, not only because you have a perfect reference and guide, but also because you can use this value drawing with any painting media afterwards. You can go ahead and complete it as drawing, pastel painting, transfer to watercolor paper and paint with watercolor, transfer to canvas and paint with acrylics or oils. You can reuse it and flip it, as well. Finally, you can use any part or fragment of value drawing, as well as create a composition which consists of value drawing elements.
Any of these drawings might become paintings, this one is 22 x 29 inches ( 56 x 74 cm)
It is a preview
It also serves as a sneak peek. It is clearly visible what works well in your composition and what not that much. Therefore, it is possible to correct everything while you transfer the drawing, so, that you do not have to deal with issues during the painting process.
Uniqueness of our drawing style
Drawing is like handwriting, and our personal style is like our handwriting. It carries the specific features of our character, nature and mental abilities. It is possible to describe one’s nature by simply looking at their drawing. It is and it should be unique. Don’t trace photos, it is so much more rewarding to simply look around and see.
Still life is beautiful and teaches all drawing aspects
You don’t draw because you haven’t tried to do it right
When somebody says: I cannot draw, that actually means they are not interested in seeing the surroundings or the subject. How much one has noticed becomes only visible when we ask that person to draw it. While everybody is under impression that we can see everything, that is not true. You will only start seeing what is around you if you will try to draw it: all shapes and shadows, and relationships between lines.
Whatever we can see, we can draw
It does not necessarily have to be a real thing. You can see and imagine with your internal vision, and that should work as if drawing from reality. You build up the directions for your hand in your brain. If you are not trying to challenge yourself, your hand will create inaccurate and sloppy lines. In order the hand would draw what we are seeing, we pretty much have to become that particular subject in your imagination: the tree, the apple, the blossom and even the bowl, and even more so if you are drawing a figure or face. That is why most artists are quite recognizable from portraits they paint: all of them carry some features of the artist. Confidence is a big deal, too, and we can become confident only by doing.
These are only lines on paper, but what fantastic illusion of an attractive, appealing and impressive reality they create!
When I look at my art as if from a distance before moving it, I can see that I have reached a place in art where I want to be. Every painting is a story. Every piece of art offers something beyond the directly visible lines and brushstrokes. I am at the point now when I can agree that my art has become impressive and interesting, worth looking at, worth experiencing and loving.
I had huge intentions for this summer. Then I received the news that I have to move. That was a very sudden and unexpected notice.
The best part of summer flew by unnoticed. It was a lot of paperwork and endless packing and sorting things.
I was so much looking forward to posting watercolor art (which I have in abundance) during the world watercolor month. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen. One person can only do that much. Packing took me 3 weeks every single day so far. It is the last day of packing, and we move tomorrow.
It felt somewhat sad to take off paintings from all walls, and there were so many walls. I discovered that many paintings on a wall make the room look much bigger. Once I took off art, it felt the room shrank in size. Interesting. When we see regular residential houses, there are just 1 or 2 paintings on a wall. Why so few? There is no excuse for that. Art ads huge flavor to any room. Many paintings make any particular room look much larger and create big impact. I’d say the strongest impact. Fake leather sofas do not come close to that.
It does not feel sad leaving this neighborhood. I have spent more than 8 years here, and I do not feel I am going to miss this place. This location seemed to be perfect at first, but it turned out to be not that great. Most people in residential medium class areas are not much interested in arts, simply this part of town was somewhat unsuitable for an art gallery or art school. Most people who attended my art classes or bought my art found me on the internet, so, it is worth to continue pursuing this avenue.
Schedule for fall art classes is published and registration is open.
The new location is South Ajax. I believe the location is great. I will be next door to Southwood Park Public School. That might be a disaster or a plus.
I am turning 60 this weekend. It’s not a big deal, I would say. I haven’t changed my size since I was 21, I still look fine and younger tan the age number suggests, and there are no huge health concerns or problems. The only problem is getting my products out there, but I’m managing it to some extent.
What else can I say?
As soon as I publish this article and a short post on my lifeschool blog, I will turn off my computer, and I am not sure when we will have internet in the new place. After a few days, I am flying over to Latvia to meet my family and friends. I will be there for a while. Therefore, do not be angry if I cannot check all comments and return likes. I will deal with that maybe in Latvia if I get some time or after I return home in September.
I recorded a few small videos in rush just to remember how great everything looked at my gallery.
I also received numerous great comments in Facebook groups, and one man said he believes he had never seen better art. That was great.
See you when I am done with messes of moving and enjoying the new beginning!
Summer and watercolor: that is such an artistic combination! Watercolor sketch, pen and watercolor or purely watercolor are excellent ways to paint summer scenes, summer flowers, summer landscapes and simply enjoy the outdoors and beauty. The easiest way to practice painting with watercolors is using pen and watercolor wash.
That enables us creating great composition and not caring too much about pencil lines and perfect application of watercolor.
I said it once and I would love to repeat it: pen and watercolor wash is a great technique for beginning watercolorists. Some like it so much that they stick to this technique and turn it into their personal style.
Many of watercolor paintings take origin in imagination and do not require a reference.
Save time, paint effortlessly
If you are afraid of drawing with pen, do the initial drawing with pencil. Afterwards, you can draw over with pen and delete everything else. Therefore, we have a beautiful and clean drawing in black ink, and the watercolor paper is not damaged.
The most excited part is adding watercolor washes, as well as more detailed areas with more concentrated paint. We can create a wonderful painting in less time this way because we do not need multi-step drawing transfer onto watercolor paper and it is much easier to know where to use paint because the black outline clearly identifies that.
Real objects make good painting
Summer is definitely a very suitable time for practicing plants, flowers, blooms, vegetables, fruit and all kinds of landscapes and garden scenes.
I find that implementing fence or corner of a building adds additional impact. White or grey fence looks great with flowers and leaves.
What to do with the background?
There are no strict rules about backgrounds and additional details. Very frequently, less is more. Whenever we can, we should simplify our scene and subject. Whether to include a detail of our subject or leave it out usually depends on our style, intention and skill level. Minimalist paintings look as great as maximum realistic paintings; there is no such a thing as mandatory inclusion of detail in a painting. Many beginning artists wonder: what should they do with the background: leave it as is, white, make it dark or add background shapes and colors? That, too, will depend on how you have captured the subject.
Summer poppies, 12 x 16 in or 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Less can be more
My personal point always is: let the painting or drawing tell you what else to do. It usually does when you look at it carefully and from some distance. Realistically, you should always look at your creation from some distance since being too close to it all the time makes us not notice flaws and strange areas which require improvement. Certainly, step back and have a look. If it is all flat and lacks any dark spots, add some.
Don’t be afraid of darks spots in painting
I find that beginning artists are afraid of dark colors. Even when painting with acrylic where there is no threat of painting something too dark because you can always paint over the first layers and make it noticeably lighter, new artists use no dark color. Having absolutely no dark spots reduces our ability to add volume, impact and impression.
Patience and practice
We all want our art to be great and impressive. However, if you are new to some medium or absolutely new to drawing and painting, you have to bear in mind: nothing happens right away and with the first brush stroke. I have had absolute beginners who were somewhat disappointed that their first piece of art wasn’t a masterpiece. Every skill takes time, efforts and work. However, not being satisfied with the first few drawings and sketches, is no reason to give up painting or drawing. You might be surprised how much better one becomes after a while.
Focus on potential
Focusing on perfection right away will cause you to be disappointed. Any artist will tell you that they have damaged, and thrown out lots and lots of initial sketches, painted over initial scenes, changed the layout and composition completely, switched to a different color or tools: they have done many things before they have gotten to one good painting. Not every drawing or painting is or should be a masterwork. It should be a stepping stone on our way to better us, to better art which we have created. We use our errors as a way of discovering how to achieve what we want and have intended.
If you love it, go for it
It doesn’t matter what somebody says about your drawing or painting. They might not be the best critics or they might also praise it too much. Practice is practice, we have to spend time learning until we get where we want to be. Regardless of how somebody looks at your creation, regardless of how much they praise or criticize it, you have to be realistic and admit what is wrong and what is great to yourself. That will help keeping things that come out great and avoiding or getting rid of things that do not work. Do what you are good at. I hear frequently: I am very bad with whatever, I need to do that. Leave that for later when you have more experience. We should do everything we like and love, at least in art.
Copyright notice: Copyrights of displayed paintings, drawings, images of work in progress and images of finished paintings belong to artist Inese Poga. The use of painting and drawing images is prohibited if I have not issued a written permission. That includes no pinning policy.
If you love art, you should start sketching. Spring and summer are the best seasons to start, then, by the fall, you can already paint. While many people are specializing and trying to be experts in just one area of life, it is great to maintain some universality and balance. Adding creativity to daily routine changes everything for the better.
Being artistic
Being universal might not be that easy because everything has many aspects, whether it is art, writing and literature, music, or theater and dance. I still believe we need variety of uplifting things that make us more human and sensitive to happiness, sadness, joys and troubles of life. Art does that. It opens up one’s soul and redirects thoughts towards something unique, unexpected and beautiful.
New skills, new habits, new perception
We freshen up our life and bring something new into it. Why not sketching and drawing? These are the first steps towards painting and drawing. Sketches look great either small or big. The small ones we can use in art journals. The big ones can be framed or simply hang onto wall.
Adding visual images to your thoughts or at least having visual images in your head gives one’s life more color, more brightness and vitality.
My journey
Sketching and drawing are the areas I have explored since early childhood. I did not have a good paper or good pencils and pens, but I had a huge desire to capture everything around me. The urge to turn visual scenes into sketch or drawing was so intense that I would draw during school lessons and later at University lectures. I had drawn lots and lots of portraits of my class and school mates, as well as of my family and friends. When I was outdoors, I was sketching and drawing garden, streets, buildings, plants and flowers: anything, really.
Sketching supplies and what makes it easy
Sketching is much faster than, for instance, acrylic painting or even watercolor or pastel painting. It is a convenient genre to take outside because we do not need much: just paper, pencil or pen. It can be done with adding a little bit of watercolor. It can be done in pencil, watercolor pencils or pastels.
Using good art supplies
I never use paper which is called sketching paper and is supposed to work well for sketching. It is too thin to add paint, and tears and smudges very easily. Use of paper also depends on the purpose of your sketch. If it is just a quick reminder of a scene, sure, anything will do. I use for sketching watercolor paper that is a grade below the best watercolor papers which are heavy Arches and Saunders-Waterford papers.
Pen outlines
Pen works and looks better on smooth surfaces. Watercolor marker paper was available a while ago, I haven’t seen it recently in our local art store. That was excellent paper for pen drawing, and I do not have or use watercolor markers. I have watercolor pencils. That is a slow way of developing watercolor painting; however, it does the job for people who are very comfortable with pencil and not with brush.
Try not using eraser
I would advise also not to use eraser until the subject has gotten some shape. Otherwise, one just keeps erasing without achieving any results. Focus and draw, trust your eyes, think about contrast, composition, values and effects, and not that much about perfect drawing. You can adjust it any time. Forgetting eraser at home when you go out sketching, will increase focus.
Old countryside house in pen and watercolor, 18 x 12 in or 46 x 30.5 cm
Million reasons to start sketching, drawing or illustrating:
if you are alone, but do not want to feel lonely;
if you have hard times getting the me-time and letting it all go;
if you are facing issues that affect your life badly and you want to escape them for a while;
if you are young or old, but do not want to spend all leisure time in front of a screen;
if you would love to develop a habit that helps getting rid of addictions;
if you feel that your memory is worsening and you want to sharpen it up;
if that is your dream, but you never got to it;
if you want beauty in your life and art on every wall;
go ahead and start sketching and drawing.
There is no better time than spring and no better place than outdoors to start sketching or painting.
Rocks and water, size, 22 x 15 in or 56 x 38 cm
On this large test watercolor painting, I explored a new masking technique. This painting was simply a test whether packaging tape works as a masking tool. It does. I cut around with X-Acto knife and, yes, it really works better than any masking fluid. However, it is applicable only to large areas, not the tiny ones. So, I kept adding paint, and this testing piece ended up looking like a painting.
Testing colors for a large watercolor painting. Looks great!
Here, I was testing the color combinations and layout for a larger watercolor painting. It looks attractive, yet it is just a pen and watercolor sketch.
Perspective is easy if you know how to proceed. Old buildings make a perfect sketching subject.
These are some of demo paintings done during and for my pen and watercolor classes.
