Travel Sketching Made Simple: Capturing Your Adventures in Watercolor

1. Welcome to the Class!: The world around us is a fascinating place and if you're a creative, you have the power to capture your favorite things, moments, and places on paper, and the sketch book is a perfect place for it. Travel. Sketching has been my playground since I left for a five month long trip in the Southeast Asia, where I document my journey on the pages of my sketchbook daily. I've learned a couple of things on the way and I want to share them with you in this class. I'm Anastasia, a full time artist, content creator, and nomad. And I have one rule, one sketch a day. No excuses. Just imagine opening your sketch books years from now and saying, oh, I remember this place or I remember this special moment. And the good news is you don't have to travel the world to start your own sketchbook. I will share with you some creative ideas on how you can make the most of your sketching journey and transform it into a real adventure. In this class, I will teach you my approach to travel, sketching, how to choose your subjects, in what method to use, how to represent subjects in motion, such as animals or human beings. How to organize your spread, and how to use composition in your advantage. Best are supplies for travel sketching. Finally, I will show you how to paint a beautiful sketchbook spread using watercolors and three different approaches from a reference picture from life and a combined method. This class will give you all the tools to start your own sketchbook journey, elevate your creative skills, and make some amazing memories from your trips or your daily life. Are you ready to start this new creative adventure? If yes, then I will see you in the class. 2. What is Travel Sketching: In this lesson, let's dig a bit deeper into what travel sketching actually is. I'll have an example of my own travel sketch books here. Yours can be different depending on your taste. For example, I'm not someone who likes to write a lot of things. I tend not to write my thoughts or something, but I just limit myself to maybe write the name of the place where I made this sketch, put a stamp with the date, and that's it. But if you are someone who likes to write and like to journal, you can totally make an illustrated journal. Again, there are no rules in Sketchbooks. So Sketchbooks are for fun. Travel sketching can be different for everyone. For example, I like to document everything I see from objects like here to scenes. This is my husband playing pool to, you know, this one I sketched during a concert. I just like to add these little texts to give the whole composition a bit more interest and also remind myself where this sketch book was actually made. Also, one more thing. You can combine techniques in your sketchbook so you don't have to do only watercolor if you want. You can totally do watercolor and pencil. Or in some sketches, I did watercolor and line drawing with fine liners for example, or this spread over here as well. Again, I combine water color with this botanical drawing that I made with fine liners. Travel sketches are really about experiment, having fun, experimenting with compositions as well. For example, like in this one, I decided to put the scene with people on the left side and then fish on the right side. You are totally allowed to do whatever you want. You see things like here, some decorational elements, some sketches from a concert, a landscape, and then an animal. I personally think you can mix it all if you want. The most important thing is to have fun. Probably also, this was the time when I wanted to experiment with different techniques. I experimented with fine liner. Here, again, also architecture and food. Why not? Also, you can make pages on a certain theme. For example, this page here, I decided to pick a theme of markets. I visited a very interesting and very cool market, and I decided to dedicate this page to the market entirely. So you see I've sketched some highlights, some details of the market that kind of were interesting for me. And then I decided to paint a scene with this lady here. That is for now, with pencil. I'm not sure if I will color her, probably I will. But I think even at this stage, this sketch is look, looking good already. These sketches here, pretty random things but I think they convey the atmosphere of the place really nicely. So this was in Lao, we have this scene with the person carrying stuff on a bicycle. We have these bananas. Bananas are everywhere, so why not? And then I decided to paint these roosters, roosters running around everywhere in Lao. I think this spread right here also conveys the atmosphere of this place really well. It's really up to you what you want to represent. And sometimes you see I am covering the whole spread with the drawing. I'm leaving the other page more empty. We can totally experiment with how you want to organize your spreads. In one of the next lessons, I will be giving you some tips and ideas on how you can organize your own spreads. 3. What is Alla Prima Approach: One more important thing about travel sketching is the approach I will be showing you here in this class. I am someone who likes to work with layers. Usually I like working with layers to obtain realism and get all the nuances of color. If I'm painting something realistically, let's say a fruit or an animal, or a leaf. But for travel sketching, it is essential to capture the essential things as quickly as possible and with less layers as possible. That's why we will be using the alla prima method. Translated from Italian, alla prima means from first attempt. The difference here is that we will try to do the maximum things possible on one layer or two layers. As you can see here on this painting, I did everything on only one or two layers. Here, I started with the weton wet technique. I added the general tone, painted everything. Once it was still wet, I added final details. You see with these brush strokes here, the difference between this method and the multi layer techniques on the layering technique is with layering, you can have this a more relaxed past pace of working. It means you can make one layer then get back to it tomorrow, make another layer get back to it tomorrow, and so on. You can go with layering with sketchbooks and with travel sketching. We want to sketch things quickly, we want to capture memories, We want to sketch things on a go. That's why we need to think more about how can I achieve the maximum realist and the maximum give the maximum I can give in only one or two layers. Basically, that's it. You see, I've added only one layer to paint the water. I've added only one layer to paint the sky. This is the principle that we will be using for travel sketching here. Only a couple of layers to paint these buffaloes here. Also, what I think is nice for travel sketching is the way you can play around with your strokes, with the expressiveness of your strokes, and also with backgrounds. For example, if you're someone who is afraid of backgrounds of colored backgrounds, this is your chance to experiment. And this is your chance to, you know, get better at it because travel sketchbook is the perfect place for it. So this is the place for experiments you see. You can totally add a messy background and it will look nice. This is the way I decided to paint these electric lines here. And it turned out a bit messy, but I think it captures the atmosphere of the place. It's not about perfection here again, these palms are not perfect. They're not perfectly realistic. But they are realistic enough to make the viewer understand what it is we need to capture the moment here. Same thing about the roosters. The roosters are not perfectly realistic. There are not all the details there, but we can still understand that these are roosters. And again, you see this was painted in one session with only one or two layers. Again, same with portraits. This portrait was painted in one session, and I will add some details, some final details to it. But I think it actually looks good even this way. Minimum effort, minimum brushstrokes, maximum result. This is what we are going for with travel sketching. 4. How to Pick Your Subjects: One thing I really wanted to mention, and that relates to travel sketching, is how to actually pick your subjects when you see a beautiful view, a beautiful scene, it's very natural, I think, to want to represent everything you see, all the details, all the colors, all the elements that we see that inspire us. But if you are sketching on a go, it's important to consider the time you have to obtain a good result. This is what you need to do. Consider the amount of time you have at your disposal and think about what kind of result you want to obtain. Let's say if you only have 30 minutes and you are looking at this beautiful landscape here, let's say I'm showing you this example here. You have the sea view and you want to paint it, but you have only 30 minutes. Instead of painting the whole scene, you can just get concentrated on one particular element in that scene. For example, for me it was the boat. You see that on the picture. I actually have plenty of things going on. I have these two ladies having a swim. I have the landscape, I have the whole surface of the sea, and then I have the boat. What I decided to do, in my case is just to get concentrated my effort on the boat and paint the boat realistically, a little bit. Paint the sea realistically. And that's it. Even though I like how these ladies look, it was not realistically possible for me to paint everything in this short amount of time. That's why think about what you want to achieve, how much time do you have? Or the other option is consciously start the drawing on a spot and then finish it in your studio. This is another option. I will be talking about these different approaches in one of the next lessons, but I just wanted to mention it now as well. Also, it's important to be selective. Let me show you this other example. Here I have this spread with these two people and with fish. This is the original picture. Actually, I was working from life, but I decided to take a picture in case some of these people decide to leave. So I suggested to do the same. Actually, you see that I decided only to paint these two figures, but actually there are plenty of more people on the picture. It's up to you whether you want to keep all the details or not, or if you decide to get rid of them. You are the artist and you have the power to decide what you want to focus your attention on. I could have painted only one figure or all of them, but I decided to paint to actually these three, and that's it. Another example, I have these beautiful lanterns here that I wanted to paint. But instead of painting them all, you see there are a whole lot of them. I just decided to paint three. So you can see on the sketch that I picked three and I decided to paint only them. Again, this is how you can simplify things. Instead of doing a very long sketch that will take you probably hours and paint all the lanterns, you can just paint one or two, or three and make it much quicker. One more example is again about this scene over here. We were in the restaurant and I really like this lantern and I decided to paint it. Instead of painting the scene the restaurant room, I decided to get concentrated only on this particular element and this is how I did it. So I decided to paint only the lantern. You see that there is a tree behind it. So I painted the leaves a little bit, so to give the idea there's something over there. And then I also painted the second lamp behind. And that's it. So no ceiling, no table, nothing behind, Just these two main elements. Also, you are free to decide what kind of background you want to give to your illustrations. For example, I wanted to paint this pumpkin here. This is where it is. I painted this one entirely from picture and I decided to give it a dark blue background. You see, it's not the same thing we see on the picture even though the dark color is there. But you can interpret the background differently, for example. So I did here with this market scene, I decided to paint the background with these expressive brush strokes. And then give the scene itself more details and make it look more refined. This is one more approach that you can use in your travel sketches. 5. Composition: How to Organize Your Spread: In this lesson, we will talk about different ways of organizing your spread. Composition is a very important thing for travel sketching, and I will show you some examples of my own travel sketchbooks just to give you some inspiration and ideas on how you can organize your own spreads. Let me start with the small sketchbook here. This one is square and this one is horizontal long sketchbook. Also, the way you organize your pages will depend on the format of the sketchbook you have. In my square sketchbook, I tried different things. I tried to fill the whole page with the painting. Sometimes you can leave the borders as I did here or you can fill the entire page like I did over here, for example. You can also divide your pages into smaller areas. For example, you can choose to paint one scene on the right side and then divide the left page in two parts. So I decided to paint a landscape here and then a detail next to it. Again, it's completely up to you. You can decide that some parts of your sketch will go beyond the limit of the first page and will affect the second page. This is totally fine. Again, it's up to you. Sketchbook is here for you to play around with, so you are allowed to try different things. If you don't like it, don't worry. You don't have to show it to anyone. You don't have to blame yourself. Sketchbook is the place where you can express your creative freedom. You can totally use both pages or half of the second page if you want. You can do things like this. For example, I made a study of these waves on the left side, and then I made these two smaller scenes on the right side. So really there are no particular rules. You can make something like this. Here I decided to put the landscape on the left side and then make a botanical study on the right side with a totally different technique, and I think they look pretty nicely together. Also, I added this watercolor element here on the right side. Sometimes I make these entire spreads, For example, like here, I decided to paint the landscape. And I even invented some elements here. I decided to put this plant across the page in this walking figure. Of course, this was not there in the reality, I just decided to paint it this way. Some other examples also. This is a good example. I think again, your illustration can affect the second page. And I was thinking, what can I put on the second page so that it fits nicely and kind of repeats the shape of the first sketch. So I decided to paint to draw this sculpture here that I saw in Thailand that I think fits really nicely into this particular spot here. So I think when thinking about how filling your pages, it's important to imagine how two sketches will look together. That's why before starting a spread, you can actually start planning it in advance, especially if you're a beginner. I think it can be really helpful. For example, I will show you some other ways of how you can plan your spread. So you can, for example, divide your pages in three parts. I especially like doing it with the smaller skin sketch book just because I have this nice and big area. So I think three sketches fit really nice within these pages. You can do something like this. And this is something that I will actually be showing you during this class. So the final result of our class is the following one. So I will be painting this spread with the scene in the center that we will start painting from life and finish in the studio. This element here painted entirely from life and then this monkey painted entirely from reference picture. So because it's moving as usual. So this is one more idea of the spread. So three illustrations on three different topics that will look nice together. This is the other option, a landscape, a portrait, and some drawings on the lower side. So you see, you can totally play around and decide how you want to position your elements and if you want to introduce some lettering as well or maybe some text if you like to journal. So my suggestion is, especially if you're a beginner, if you don't feel very confident to start a new spread, is to kind of think about how you can organize it all or just decide on the first illustration. For example, for this spread here, I wanted to put the landscape here, and then I said I will pick something to fill the rest. One more option is to start painting the big illustration and then decide what it can be completed with, so what you can add to that existing illustration. 6. 3 Methods for Travel Sketching: In the previous lesson, I already told you about the possibility to sketch from life. So to sketch on a spot, to start sketching from life and finish your sketch at home, or to sketch entirely from a reference picture. I wanted to explain you the difference between these three approaches and which one to choose. First of all, sketching from life, I highly recommend you trying this method just because this is something that will really help you to develop your observation skills. And this is just the best way to practice sketching anything and getting better at drawing and painting. That's why if you have time, if you are somewhere in the beautiful place and you have time to sketch from life, I would highly recommend you doing so. The second method of starting on a spot, then taking the picture, and maybe finishing in the studio is appropriate when you think your subject may leave, for example, like it was here for me. So I didn't know whether this boat will stay there or leave, so I decided to start the sketch on a spot, but take a picture in case the boat leaves. Also, same thing with people. Human beings are unpredictable subjects to paint. They move, they can leave. They will not wait to paint them. That's why if you want to sketch landscape with people, let's say I highly recommend you to take a picture of it, start on the spot if you want. But it's nice to have a picture so that you can continue the process when you're at home in case your subject leaves the third method. So, sketching entirely from reference picture is very useful when you sketch humans. So, for example, it's not realistically possible to sketch this man, you know, on a spot. So this is just a picture I took of this man while he was passing on a boat. So this moment was literally a matter of seconds. So I captured his smile and I knew I wanted to paint him. But of course, it was not realistically possible to get out my watercolor set and start to paint. That's why for these kind of portraits, of course, you need to work from reference pictures or the other example is animals. So I already showed you this painting of water buffaloes. So water buffaloes are the same. They will not wait for you to paint them. So that's why it's not realistically possible to make the sketch, get out the paints and start to paint. That's why for animals, I just suggest you to take a picture and paint your animals from the picture. Of course, if you want, you can always try to make quick sketches of people or quick sketches of animals with pencil or with watercolor. But don't expect to get something very refined, very detailed. So it's an excellent exercise. For example, this one here was made on a spot. So you can sketch something really quickly with pencil, for example. But again, this is much more difficult and it requires much more experience. So if you are just starting out, I would suggest you to use reference pictures in your advantage in this case. So now, when you know all of these three methods, you know how to use them in your advantage. It's important though to make everything look cohesive. So even if you paint from reference picture, and then the sketch on the same page is painted from life, they should have a unity of style. So for example, let me give you this example. Two of these sketches, two of the three sketches were painted from life. So these two and one sketch was painted entirely from a reference picture. Because, of course, it is very complicated to paint a hot air balloon while it is in the air. You know it's moving, but the style is the same. You see, I use the exact same approach, the exact same brushstrokes. And nobody will ever know what kind of method I use there. But this is what I want to tell you. Same thing here. These two illustrations were painted from a reference picture and this was painted from life. And I will be finishing it after using my reference picture. So this is a mixed method. You see, I started on a spot, I did not have enough time. I knew I did not have enough time. So I took a picture of this scene on purpose so that I can finish it when I have time. Same thing over here, if you are on a spot and if you want to sketch a scene or an element, but you're not sure if you are going to be able to finish it there. What I can suggest to you is just to prepare the drawing, that you can then paint at home. Again, don't forget to take reference pictures. In this case, using these three methods can really make your life easier and can really help you to achieve good results in a variety of subjects. Just because animals or human beings are moving, doesn't mean you should not sketch them. You just need to use another method here. But again, if you are on a spot, I highly recommend you to try sketching from life. So just make sure to sketch something simple enough if you're limited in time and if you want to finish the sketch on a spot. So maybe instead of painting the whole scene, paint one tree from that scene. Or instead of painting the whole cityscape, paint just one building for example. Or prepare the drawing, start to paint, and then finish the drawing at home. 7. How to Use a Limited Color Palette: Now let's talk about limited color palette for travel sketching, we are pushed to use limited color palette. First of all because of the size of my palette itself. You see I have only 15 colors here, and this is what I have on hand when I paint. I think it's a really good thing when you have a set amount of colors. But that you choose yourself when you don't use a pre existing set. But when you compose your own set, that's why I showed you how you can do the same thing for you. So you just buy a palette like this. You buy some colors in tubes and you select the ones you will be using for your travel adventures. I also have my big watercolor set. I took it with me for my travels, but I ended up never using it. So I have a lot of different colors here, but I think this set here is more than enough for everything. What benefits limited color palette can give you? First of all, it will allow your sketches to look more cohesive. When you are limited in color choices, you will be using same colors across all of your sketches, which will help you to make them look nice together. Example, let me show you some examples of my sketches here. This spread here we see the same greens. We see the same blues across all the sketches. And this is what makes it look cohesive. Let me find another example for you. This one for example. Again, we have same greens across the whole page. We have similar blues. Again, this is what will contribute to make your sketches look cohesive. This example right here, it's not finished yet. But just to show you the greens here, actually this is Cascade Green by Daniel Smith will make this spread cohesive. That's why I think using a limited color palette is very beneficial. 8. Best Art Supplies for Travel Sketching: In this lesson, we will talk about the art supplies for travel sketching. I will show you everything I use for travel sketching and I will start from the sketchbook. I currently use Moleskin sketchbook, so this is how it looks when it's used, and this is how it looks when it's brand new. So I will open one with you right now. I also have this square sketchbook from this brand here. I always forget the brand. The name is Tumuarta. This is the name of the sketchbook and it's really cute as well. Let's open the Moloskin one together. This one is from art collection. It's called watercolor album, it's 200 grams watercolor paper. The only downside of this sketchbook, I think, is the thickness of the paper. I prefer working on 300 grams. For example, this one is 300 grams sketchbook, but this one is only 200. The paper is a bit thin to me. I will show you how it looks like when it's used. You see some pages get a bit distorted when you use a lot of water. I think this is probably the only downside of this sketch book, but otherwise I really like it. I think the format is perfect. I absolutely love this horizontal long format, actually prefer it to the square one. I think this one gives you a bit more space, a bit more flexibility, and gives you more creative room for experiments. I can totally recommend this sketch book. Let's open it together. This one is brand new. Actually, I bought three of them for my trip so far. I am happy with this choice. There you go. When you open it, you can take the paper thing away and it's ready to use. Let's read about the paper quickly. We have 72 pages here. The paper is 200 grams. As I said, it's 20% cotton fiber, which is pretty good. It means we have 75% of cellulose in 25% cotton, which is pretty good. I usually prefer working on 100% cotton paper, but I've tested this one, and I think this is a pretty good compromise. It's cold pressed on both sides of the page. It means you can use every single side of the page. So you can paint on one page and then turn the page and paint on the other one. You can paint on all sides acid free. The size is 21 by 13 centimeters. It has an expandable inner pocket, which is quite cute. So we have this pocket where you can put some of your travel memories, for example, your tickets or receipts or something else. I think it's a nice thing to have and that's it. As for the other art supplies, let's pass to watercolors. Now, this is one of the most common questions I get about this small color palette. So I will open it to show you. This is how it looks like when it's open. It has these, these magnets here. I can stick it this way, and it remains as one piece. The magnets are not that strong, though. I like using this clip to hold the palette together and to actually clip it to my sketchbook. I will show you how that works. Let's try on the new sketchbook. Let's say I'm opening it. Let's say I want to paint on this side of the page. In this case, I will clip the palette here with this clip here, just very simply like this. And that's it. You see, it stays in place. I can even change the position of the sketchbook. I can hold it like this vertically. The palette is not going anywhere. It stays where I clipped it and it's handy. Very convenient. The eclipse is not included in the set. This palette. I just found it on Amazon. You can search for something like a small portable travel color palette, and I'm sure you will find something similar. One side of the palette is for the colors. It comes in empty with these empty pants that you need to fill with your own colors. Then on the right side, you have this area where you can mix the color. So I first was hesitant. I didn't know I would like this palette or not, but at the end, I loved it. I can totally recommend it. And you kind of get used to this small area here. In the beginning, I thought this space here will be too small for mixing colors. But actually it is perfect for traveling. As for the colors, I'm using colors in tubes. So let me show you the colors right now. So I will put this palette aside and I will show you some colors. So I filled this palette with my own colors. I mainly use colors from Nievskapalitra. It's a Russian brand. Nievskapalitra White Nights, this is how they look like. I also have a couple of colors from Daniel Smith, again in tubes. There you go, some Daniel Smith colors. I also like Windsor Newton, for example, I have indigo from Windsor Newton. But basically any professional watercolor will work out. If you have other brand on hand, it will totally work. I will walk you through my favorite colors for travel sketching. Because we have only 15 pans in this palette, I'm limited to have 15 colors. I will tell you which ones I'm using. My must haves first of all, are primary colors. It's very important to have primary colors. By primary colors, I mean yellow, blue, and red. These colors are very important because this is the base to mix a lot of different other colors. If you know color theory a little bit, know that primary colors are those that compose the whole spectrum of other colors. These are the colors you cannot obtain from anything else. Let's say for example, green is a secondary color. It means you can obtain green by mixing yellow and blue. That's why green is secondary. This is not primary, but you cannot just mix two colors and obtain a yellow. Or you can two colors obtain a blue or red. That's why blue, red, and yellow are primary. It means you cannot mix them from any other colors. On the other hand, purples, browns, oranges, these are the colors that you can totally mix from other colors. That's why you see, I don't have oranges here because orange is very easy to mix. You just mix it. We just mix yellow with red and you get orange. Purple is also very easy to mix. You just mix blue and red and you get purple. That's why I don't have them here in my set. I prefer having a pretty nice choice of primary colors. Of course, yellow, I have my cadmium yellow here. So it's a very simple warm yellow in Nevskpaltris, called cadmium yellow. But in other brands it can be colored differently, but just a basic, normal yellow also. I have Okra here, you see it on top of my yellow, which is not exactly a yellow color, but it's still yellowish. If I mix an Akra here, it will look like a little bit like a pastel yellow or something like this. Two yellows. Also I have reds. As for reds, I actually have three reds. Here I have my cadmium red, which is a warm red. Just a very basic warm red. This is the one actually. Then on top of it, here I have carmine. Carmine is a cold red. It tends to look more pinkish if you make watch this, the cadmium one will look more orange and more warm. Carmine will look more pink and more cold. That's why it's very important to have at least these two reds of different tones, warms and colts. And I also like this third red. This is completely optional, but I just like this color. This is called ruby again by Nevskepalitra. This is the one you have in the middle here. It's just a neutral, very vibrant red that I like. But again, this is not necessarily, this is just my personal choice. As for the blues, I have two blues here. Actually I have ultramarine. Or you can use cobalt. These are quite similar. You can choose the one you prefer. Ultramarine in cobalt doesn't really matter for me, the color I suggest you to have. This is the color all the time, is indigo. Indigo is a dark blue color, very intense, complex dark. I use this color to darken my colors. If I want to a green color, I will use indigo. If I want to darken my reds, a lot of times I will use indigo. Personally, I use this color a lot, and I find this color very versatile. I can totally recommend it also for other blues. Let me see. I have, this is not a really blue color, but I like how they look. These two are from Daniel Smith and I have Lunar blue. It's color with granulation. I think it's very nice for travel sketching. I also have this other color which is moon glow. Moon glow tends to purple color, so it's more purple. These are not necessary. These are just my personal colors that I like. But you don't have to have these. As for the other, must have colors. I like to have a green color that is already pre mixed. So as I said, you can easily mix a green by using blue and yellow. But I just like to have this green. It's called just green from Nievskapalitra. In other brands it may be called like something like sap green. So it's a very neutral green and it is very versatile. So I just like to grab it and use it, you know, as a green for everything. So if I want to make it a bit lighter, I mix it with Cadmium. If I want to make it a bit darker, I mix it with indigo, for example, or with cobalt. And I just think it's a very handy green to use. And it's very neutral and it's very natural. I also have another green here that I don't use as often. You can definitely see that this tube with green is almost empty. And then I have this green that is called green light. This is how it's called. This is a very strong color, so I don't use a lot of it. But sometimes if I want to paint the Sea, for example, I like to mix this color with cobalt or with ultramarine and obtain a turquoise color. So that's why I like having this color as well. For painting the sea, for example, or something. Very intense colors such as maybe like very particular flowers or insects for example. Sometimes insects have these very bright, very strong hues. I will make a swatch for you of these colors. I present them all, so don't worry, but let me finish with the colors. After that, I also have actually two more greens that I like. Again, these are optional, but I am really in love with these two. By Daniel Smith I have Cascade green and I have Paroline green. Cascade Green is a very complex color and I just love how it looks right from the tube. It's much more complex than the one by Nevskra, The green one, the cascade green. It's hard to describe. So I will just show you the Swatch. And then the Perlin green is also a very nice green. And this one is very good to paint something like forest or the greens that are far away. Because again, it's very nice right from the tube, and I don't have to mix it with anything. It just looks gorgeous as it is. Just to finish with presenting you the colors, I also have my browns. So I like to have pre mixed browns again, because I think it's just convenient to have them mixed already. That's why I have two browns. So I have a light brown which is this one. And I have a dark brown which is this one over here. And these are by Nivkepalitra. Again, I have my raw sienna. So this is the lightest color. So it looks a bit like Khaki color, like Okra, something more orange. And then I have this other color, which is sepia. So this is a dark brown. And this is all for the colors. And let's do the swatches now. 9. Swatching and Color Mixing: Let's do some swatches so that you can see how these colors look in real life. And this will already allow me to introduce you my other art supplies such as this spray bottle. This spray bottle is one of my favorite tools, so it's a very simple one, it's a very cheap one. But I love it how I can use it. Usually to wash my brush, all I need, I just spray some of it on my palette. And then I just do this movement to get the color out of the brush. I take a napkin and I dry it all. Or you can take a piece of old cloth instead of a napkin if you prefer. If you need to repeat this action until the water is clear, it's transparent and that's it. The other way you can use this bottle is to open it and to wash the brush directly in the bottle. Sometimes I do this as well, but usually what I prefer is just to spraying this way. This avoids me to carry a water container with me and water. In the beginning, I think there is this moment when you need to get used to it, just like with the palette. But once you get used to it, it is life changing basically because it fits in any bag. It's super light and you don't have to worry about water anymore before I start to show you the colors, because I have my brush in hands already. I will also speak about the brush. This is the brush I use for everything. This is by Niska Palitra White Knights. Again, same brand as the watercolor. And I am completely in love with this brush. So it's a mix of Kolinski and synthetic. So it means it's half natural hair and half synthetic. And the synthetic is used for the tip. You see how sharp the tip is, So when you put this brush in the water, you see that the body is quite round and like big and chunky. And then we have this tip that is super pointy. So it allows me to create both big washes, like big brush strokes, but at the same time, tiniest details. So I'm in love with this brush. You don't have to use the exact same one though. If you find something similar by other brands. I think it's amazing mix of natural hair and synthetic hair worked really well for me at least As for the number I'm using number four, I also have number six. But I realized that I use number four more just because it is a medium sized brush. It is suitable for everything, especially when you work on these kind of small formats, like this sketch book over here. I think this brush is just perfect because I usually don't need to cover like, huge areas of color. So this medium brush is more than enough for everything. So both for filling big areas of color, but also to make the tiniest details. And now let's pass to swatches. So I'll just have my watercolor album here, so just, you know, random paper to show you the colors on. And I will start from my yellows. So let me just grab my spray bottle. I will grab some of this cadmium yellow, and you can see it is just a very neutral yellow color. So I think it's a little bit dirty because I had some green into it, so I will try to grab a more pure version of it. So there you go. Now you see really well, I think it's a warm yellow color. As for Okra, you wash that, I think you all know what it is. It looks quite similar to yellow. You can see it, but it has this more brownish orange hue to it. I think you can see it. Okra is very nice. It's a very neutral color. You can use it for a lot of different things. So this is an absolute must have for me. So yellow and okra are my must haves. As for the other must haves, let's look at the primary colors. So the reds. Let me show you the difference between carmine and cadmium. Now this is cadmium, Cadmium red. And I was telling you that it is a warm red, so you can see it tends to look more orange. So I will take the pure version of it and you see it's just a ally, basic red color. As for the carmine, I told you it is a cold red, so it will look more pinkish. Let me show you how that works, how it looks, Just grabbing some, you see the difference is quite visible, right? So this looks very different. It's more pink, it's more cold. We definitely see the difference here. And in its more saturated version, you see it's kind of a. Strong, very strong, vibrant pink color. For me, at least you should have these two colors. So something warm and something cold. These are the must haves. If you want, you can add an additional red of your choice if you wish. I personally have this Ruby color here. I will wash my brush again and show you how Ruby looks. And it's kind of the color that is in between. So I would say it's something similar to both of these, but it still looks different. This is how it looks in a more saturated version. So I think it's more on a colder side, but it doesn't tend to be purple like this, like Carmine. I think this is something in between. Again, this is just my personal choice. You don't have to have it. So I think these two are more essential. As for the other, must have colors. Let's talk about blues now. We'll wash my brush again. There you go. I could take a proper water container now, but I just prefer to show you just the tools I'm using for travel sketching. And this straight bottle is what I use as for the blue, this one is cobalt, I believe. Yes, I can actually show you the difference between cobalt and ultramarine. But for me, these are interchangeable. This is how it looks in a more concentrated version. So this is cobalt. And then let me show you the ultra marine. So I will grab it right from the tube because I don't have it here, and we'll see how that looks. This is ultra marine. So it seems pretty similar really. There's not a huge difference there. I think ultramarine is probably a bit more saturated, but the difference is not very obvious. You can pick one or the other one, whatever you prefer. Also, my must have blue is, as I said, indigo. This blue is different. I have it right here. This is the tube on the palette. It looks almost like black color because it's a really dark blue. And you will see that the hue is already different. So you see that it is darker even when I dilute it with water. But when I take the strong color, so more pigment, you see how dark it looks. So this color, again, is perfect for darkening colors. You see how saturated, how deep this color is. I absolutely love it. And again, it's very versatile. I use it for a lot of different things. Let's pass to my other must haves that are not primary colors, but these colors are must have. At least for me, because I just think I tend to use these colors a lot and I love to have these colors in my palette. So first of all, green, be palitra. I will show you how that looks like. So as you can see, it's a very neutral green, very natural looking. That's why I just love it because it's good for anything that is green, trees, plants, basically anything. This is how it looks when it's in more saturated version, more pigment. You see it's getting pretty dark actually, we have this nice possibility to use. You see the light strokes, the light version of this color, and then the very dark one, I think it's awesome. And then if you mix it with let's say cadmium yellow, you can obtain more grass colors. I think it's a very versatile color. I just love it. As for the other greens I told you about, I will show you the light green that I use for painting the sea, for example. So this color is very strong, so you just need a tiny touch of it to get the idea. You see it is not a natural color, it looks a bit unnatural. There are not a lot of things in nature that have this colors. But as I said, for painting the sea, for example, I like it. Let's mix this color. Let's say with blue, you will see what effect it gives me. If I mix it with cobalt, I will obtain something like this. You see it's a very nice color for painting the sea. I personally like it, this is what I use it for. But otherwise, if you're not planning to paint the sea, you don't have to have it in your palette. I just want to encourage you to understand what you will be painting, what kind of places you're going to if you're painting, what kind of season you are painting in. If it's winter, you probably don't need a lot of these kind of colors if you are living by the sea, If you go on vacation near the sea, you will probably need these colors. It's a lot also about what you want to paint and what environment you will be. So that's why you can choose your colors accordingly. As for the other greens, I told you about, Cascade green by Daniel Smith. So let's try it out. This is how it looks like with just a tiny touch of water. You see it's a very neutral color. It tends to the blue color. And then if I use more of it, it's a very complex color. And I think it's very elegant noble. I absolutely love it. And it's very nice because it's different from this green right here that is warm. This green is colder, much colder. So you see it looks very similar to blues. And also this color separates in two pigments. So you don't see it probably on video, but I see it sometimes you can see these grains of blue color that get separated. It just creates very interesting, very nice effects that I think look very nice on sketches. Personally, I love this color. It's my must have for my palette. But again, it's up to you if you want to test it out. And then I will show you one more color by Daniel Smith. This one, this time it's paralling green. It's called green, but you will see that it's a very complex color once again, and I think it looks very, works very nice with cascade green. You see again, it's a very noble color and it's a very muted green. I think it's awesome for painting the forest or the trees that are far away because we don't want very intense greens for the trees that are far away, we want something more like this. And again, I think it's just perfect for these kind of things. As for the other must haves, let me show you the browns. The browns are my must haves. As I said, I like to have those already mixed for me on my palette. I use Rosiena again. This is the one. I will show it to you right here. It looks orange, it's very neutral, it's very versatile. I use it for a whole lot of different things. Absolutely recommended this or something similar. Also, you don't have to have the exact same colors. I'm showing you if you have something similar, you can totally use that. As for Pia, I will show you how that looks. It's just a very normal brown. Nothing special when I use more pigment. This is how it looks. Just a very normal brown. Again, you can replace it with anything else you like. But I personally love having two browns. I love to have a light one and a dark one. This way, I have at least two very dark colors in my set, which is this indigo and this brown. These are the darkest colors I have. I usually use them instead of black. You see, I don't have the black on my palette. I don't like using black. I think black is really limiting. I know a lot of especially beginner artists like to use to make their colors darker, to darken their colors. But personally, I don't recommend this approach. And I think you obtain much more interesting and rich colors if you use something else instead. So for example, if you use indigo instead, or if you use this sapia instead. As I said, this is just my personal choice. I don't like blacks, I don't use them. As for the other optional colors that I told you about, I have my moon glow. This is a color by Daniel Smith. And it, it's a purple color, I would say. It's a very interesting, very noble color. Again, like all colors by Daniel Smith. I like this brand and I will show you how it looks like. So there you go. It's kind of a pastel purple. Again, it looks awesome right from the tube. It's a very interesting color, very beautiful. That's probably it. This is all for the colors. Again, as I said, color choices are very personal. So you can totally tweak this up to your own needs. According to your own needs. Just what I suggest to you and what I think is necessary, no matter what kind of style you're painting with, or no matter where you're going, is to have at least the primary colors. So yellows, reds, and blues are absolutely necessary in any kind of watercolor set. I would also highly recommend you having the green. Something like a neutral green and a brown. Two browns, probably. So this will be my must have. And then if you want some, you know, more elegant shades of green or blue, such as these colors by Daniel Smith, Cascade or pearling green. If you want something more complex, more beautiful, you know you can choose moon glow or something else you like. But again, make sure to have at least yellow, blues, reds. So that was it for the colors. And let me finish with the other art supplies here. So I want to talk about pencils right now. So before painting, before to pass to the painting process, we actually need to sketch our subject. That's why I'm using regular graphite pencils for that, I usually use soft pencils for sketching. And I have B and two B pencils here by Kochenor. It's a check brand and I absolutely love it. These are my favorite pencils. If you have other favorite brand, stick with it. But I would suggest to you picking something not harder than H B, actually, I would prefer going with B or two B, not more than two B, because otherwise it's just going to be too soft. And you will just be staining the other pages of your sketchbook with pencil. And if you want to color your sketches, it will make your sketches look dirty if you use a very soft pencil. So that's why I think B and two B are perfect for everything. What else? I have my eraser, actually I have this needed eraser again by Genre, so I don't have a new one here. But usually when you buy it, it is a square piece, and when you start to use it, this is how it will look like a chewing gum. Basically, you see it's very soft and this is the trick of this eraser. It is very gentle for the paper, you see if I draw something, there are different options. You can use it, so you can make a sausage of it and roll it on your paper. It will help you to make the drawing lighter if you think your lines were too bold or you're just going to use it as a regular eraser, just like a normal eraser. The difference is that this one is more gentle to the paper than a regular hard eraser. I already told you about my spray bottle. And the last tool I want to show you is this dating stamp. I like to use it to date my drawings. For example, let me show you one. This one, you see I have the date here. I think it's just a really fun way of holding memories and remembering when you did this sketch. Again, this is optional, but I am having a lot of fun with it. Usually you can have like an ink pad that you can use it with, but because I don't have a lot of space, again, I just use my marker to create the stamp. What I need to do is I'm using this brush marker. I am just covering the letters with the marker. There you go. You can put a date on your paintings this way. That was all for the art supplies and I really hope that it will help you to choose your favorite and your must have art supplies for travel sketching. 10. Let's Map Out Our Spread: So in this lesson, let me show you how working on planning your spread can look like. Let's say I want to plan the spread. We will be painting during this class. I know I want to have three illustrations. As I said, I will paint one from life, one from life plus reference, and one from reference. And I know I want to have three of them. I want the main illustration to be in the center. So I will outline this area where I want to place it. And this is something like this, so I don't need paint anything or draw anything. I'm just putting a big shape and I know that my biggest scene, so the landscape will be here this way. I have these two spots for other two elements. So I know maybe I will put the element I will paint from life here and then I will paint the animal somewhere here. I'm just adding, you see these shapes, these blobs. So that they can guide me where I need to place things. And then I know these two spots are for the text. I don't have to outline them, but if you want, you can so that you have everything planned out since the beginning and you see that it's pretty similar to what we obtained at the end. So we have the main scene over here, just like we outlined it. We have the monkey over here, and then we have the architectural element over here. And then text placement. If you feel a bit overwhelmed about the composition and how to place the elements so that they look nice and cohesive, I suggest you to create this scene before starting to work on your final spread. And this will just help you to have a plan in mind, and this will help you to stay consistent and have a plan before actually starting to work on something. 11. Sketching a Landscape from Life: In this lesson, we will start our first sketch from the spread. I will be sketching from life. First of all, I'm just restoring the lines to guide me. While sketching, I position these shapes to let me know where I will be putting the sketches, and now it's time to start to outline the sketch itself. I'm starting from the basic shapes. As usual, I'm sketching this temple here with this huge tree in front of it. My first goal here is just to capture the basic shapes right away. So I'm not going into any details just yet. I've just outlined the first tower that is on the right side of my paper, and now I am outlining the tree. So I decided to position the tree somewhere in the middle of my page. Not exactly in the middle, but a bit more on the right side. Now I am sketching the left part of the drawing. I have other two towers there and a lot of other architectural elements that I would like to showcase on this sketch. Once I am happy with the left side of the sketch, I make it a bit more detailed. I can then proceed with the right side and give it the same amount of details as I did on the left side. Sketching architecture and especially old architecture can be tricky, but if you think of it as it should not be perfect, these blocks of stones are old. For me, it was important to give the viewer the idea that what is the material of these buildings? Stone, But I don't want it to be perfect. You see my lines are pretty organic, they are not straight. I'm not using any measuring tools, any rulers, nothing like this. I'm just using my hand to outline these elements. Now I'm working on the tree. I already have the rough shape of the tree, and now it's more about defining the roots better. If you see on the lower side of the tree, we have a lot of different roots. And I think it gives a lot of interest to the tree and will give a lot of interest to the sketch. That's why for me, it's important to outline these roots already at this stage so that it can guide me during my painting process, making the outline of the tree a bit better. And now it's just about adding some final touches, final touches on the tree, final touches on the architecture, maybe some details. You see, I'm outlining these columns here, these separate bricks. I will do the same thing on the towers. The towers are quite detailed, there are a lot of things going on, so I wanted to give them just a bit more detail. Now let's proceed with painting. I just mixed a very light color, it's a mix of okra and cadmium yellow. I'm also introducing some rosy llena to it. So I've added some rosy llena to my mix, and now I've added some sapia to my mix to obtain this darker brown color. You see, I'm painting on a spot, so I don't do any layering here. I am just going and filling the area of the tree with these colors. I started with the lightest color and then I'm proceeding with the darker ones. Now I'm working on the right part of the tree with the first light brown color, and then I'm gradually adding the darker details to mix this dark color. I just used more sepia. I introduced more sepia to my mix, then I can then use this color for the shadow areas of my tree. See that in between the roots we have shadows. That's why it's important for me already at this stage, to outline these shadows over there. Once the first layer got dry, you see it's pretty hot here. The paint gets dry really quickly. Then I can start to introduce a second layer. Now I've mixed a light gray color. I added some indigo to my mix and obtained this light gray color for the architecture. It's a cool color and I think it will be a very nice contrast between this yellow, warm tree and cool blue architecture. So I think it's a good color. And I will just proceed with filling the area of the building, so of the towers and of the other architectural elements with this color. I'm working with the whole body of my brush at this stage. I'm just filling the area of architecture without thinking about the details at this stage. Now. It's just about giving all the building this uniform look there. After that, I will be adding some details at a later stage. I have just added more indigo to my existing mix to make some of the parts of my building darker, especially in between the columns. Because I see this darker space, though, there is a room there. And it is naturally darker. So that's why I'm darkening this area already with my brush working on the right side. Right Now, outlining these elements a bit more, I've just mixed this pink color, so it's a dirty pink. I just introduced some cadmium red. You can also use carmine if you want. And I'm adding this colors to some elements of my sketch, such as these columns. For example, I am also using this color to outline the left side of my sketch. And I'm using more indigo to obtain this dark brown, brownish gray color. It's similar to the initial gray we had, but just in its darker version. And I'm using it for the lower part of my sketch. I want all the contrast to be concentrated there. That's what I'm using, this color. I've just mixed my pink color and I think it will support the initial dirty pink color I've mixed. It's purplish color. You see these colors are quite complex. I'm not using any simple, straightforward blues, or reds. All of these colors are mixed together to obtain elegant and beautiful shades. Now for example, I'm using this dark gray color for again, the inner part of my building, where I see most shadow is concentrated. As you can see, I'm not using any black, simple colors to darken my colors. As I explained previously. To darken my colors, I always use indigo or sapia. This is exactly what I used to darken my gray colors here. Also, as you can see, because we are sketching on the spot, I don't have the possibility to mix all of my colors beforehand to obtain my mixes. I'm usually adding a bit of this and a bit of that. And I am modifying and changing my mixes on a go. Right now, I am adding some details to my architecture. Already added them to the right side of the sketch, to the right tower, and now I'm adding them to the left tower. You see how am changing the ways I'm doing my strokes. If before I was filling big areas and using the whole body of my brush, now I'm working with the tip of my brush to add finest lines in details and outline these bricks. But I'm also using the body of my brush. For bigger brush strokes, it's important to diversify your strokes And use your brush this way, so that you can show tiniest details but also big areas of colors. Now I'm mixing a green color. I see that behind my building there are some green trees. I've mixed this light green color by using green and cadmium yellow. I am just adding these spontaneous brush strokes, you see first on the right side of my sketch, I see some bushes over there. You see, I'm not being very precise. I did not sketch them beforehand. I am just going and free handing the bushes because these are far away anyway, so I don't want them to be very detailed. That's why I just want to add a couple of spontaneous and lively brushstrokes and I think it will be enough to give a bit more interest, more charm, to our sketch. I think greens, plants, and trees always give some interest and some charm. I think it will be a nice element to add to our sketch. Now I'm proceeding with this dark brown color. I just added some sapia to my mix to obtain it. And I'm using this color to darken some areas of my sketch, such as these details of the tower, other architectural elements. I'm also adding these details especially to the foreground. I don't want the background to be very, very visible. And if you know the rules of air, perspective, and perspective in general, what is closer to us should appear darker. That's why I am using this dark color, especially on the foreground. I'm not using it on the elements that are very far away because I want the viewer's attention to be on the foreground. I'm just keep adding these details with my brush. I also diluted this color with water. And now you see I am using the same color but in a more light version to give some details of the tree and also to some details on the foreground of my sketch. Now I'm outlining the bricks, these individual bricks with the very tip of my brush. Again, you see my lines are pretty irregular and there you go. We finished our sketch on the spot, and now it's time to finish in the studio. 12. Finishing the Sketch in the Studio: Welcome back. After our plan air sketching session, I am ready to continue the work on this sketch in my studio. I will be using the exact same supplies we used for the outdoor sketching. I have my little palette here, my colors and the palette itself, where I'm mixing the colors. I have my exact same brush. I have my spray bottle that I can use as a water container if I open it. And then I can also spray on my palette and wash my brush this way as well. I have my napkins, so my tissue paper that is always nearby when I paint, and I have my reference picture. I took this picture on a spot when I was sketching. I uploaded it to my ipad so that I can have it nearby. When I sketch, I will be using it as a reference picture to finish this sketch. I think we're ready to go, so let's get started. First of all, I think I will start with the tree. I already had some water on my palette and I can start mix some colors for our tree. I think now it looks a bit light and I think it's lacking some details. I will mix this color containing okra and I will add some blue to it. Now it looks a bit greenish. I'm adding some brown. As for the brown, I'm just some sapa, something brown. More brown. I will use this color to give some shadows to the roots because I see that the lowest part of the tree is quite dark. There are some roots there, and I want to highlight these. I've mixed this color again containing two kinds of brown. I use Raena Spa. I also used some indigo. And, and I obtained this a dark color that I will be using now for the dark details over here. Because the tree is in the foreground, I want to make sure that the tree is nice and detailed because a lot of attention goes to the tree because this is the subject that is the closest subject to us. I'm not really satisfied with the color I got. I think it looks a bit too green. I just erase it from my palette and I will mix something else you see sometimes when you sketch on a spot, you are more into the moment. You don't have a lot of time to think about the exact color you want to mix, but where you are in the studio, you have this privilege. You see, I just quickly mixed another color. I used sepia and ruby instead. I think I prefer something more warm for these shadows. And I think this looks much better. Actually, I think the previous color was a bit too green. This is more neutral. I am happy with how this color turned out. I can use it to visually separate these roots from one another. Again, I want to give these roots some details. Just because I think it's on the foreground. We really want to make this tree stand out a bit more. It's important though not to over darken the shadows either. You see, I'm using quite of a light color, so it's not very dark. And I will gradually add these shadows until I'm happy, but I'm not going crazy dark at this stage. If I want to dilute the color a little bit more, I just spray with my spray bottle once again and you see my color is lighter. Now, you can adjust the intensity of your color on a go. It's really easy. Now you see I'm using the same color but in its lighter version. I think I'm quite happy with the tree right now. So I gave it some details, but I'm not getting crazy with details because I still wanted to look as a sketch. So I think I'm happy right now with it at this stage and I will maybe keep working on the architecture right now. Before I maybe add a couple of other details to the tree. I would like to make this part here darker, the lower part of the building, I would like to make it darker, so I will mix a color for that. Again, I'm using indigo. I will take some brown and I will add, just to touch of blue again, a bit more brown, because I think now it's missing more water if needed. Again, more blue. Sometimes you see in the studio, the process of mixing color can be a bit more long than during plenary sketch. I got this gray color, it tends to the blue color. So I think it looks bluish and I'm quite happy with it. I just wanted to give this lower part of the building more shadow just to visually separate the temple from the tree. I will keep using this color on this lower side. I think it's nice if we give this part of the sketch just a bit more contrast my color. You see it's light enough, it's not crazy dark, so we can still see what's going on underneath this color. And this is exactly what I want. It's important not to ruin your sketch when you are adding details because there is the risk of doing it. There is a really thin edge between making it look better and adding final details. Make it look more finished and everything, and between starting to ruin it, because sometimes we can be satisfied with what we did on a spot. And then once we start to dig deeper into the details and everything, we can start losing the initial, you know, freshness of the sketch. So that's why it's very important to work gradually, I think, on these details and observe what you're doing. So if you think that the details you're adding don't add up, but actually start to make, look your sketch more crowded or unnecessarily detailed. Then maybe that's the moment to actually start, stop the process, and just say, okay, that's it. I will try to keep this balance and not get carried away by the small details I'm using the same color and adding just a couple of thin lines to make the sketch look even more detailed. And then I will add the darkest details at the end. I'm not trying to paint all of the details I want right now. I'm just playing around adding these lines because I see these are the details of this part of the temple. I want to show them and I think at this stage I can do so. I'm just playing around with these lines. I think I am pretty much happy with how it is going. Again, you see I am using both the whole body of my brush to make big brush trucks and then I use just the tip of my brush to add these thin details because I see that our building is made of these blocks of stone, and I want them to be visible on my sketch. I want the viewer to understand that these are stone blocks. That's why I am creating this texture on some parts of my sketch. To create this texture, I'm using the very, very tip of my brush. I'm grabbing the same color and I'm also darkening this area over here. And also this one, you see, I'm not trying to be photo realistic here. If you look at my reference, you see that some of the things are different. There is not to actually create a photocopy of the picture. Our goal is just to make the sketch look nicer and more detailed. So it doesn't really matter if what you're doing now is the exact same thing you see on the picture. So some elements on your sketch can be different from the picture. If it looks good, it's totally fine. So no one will control you and go and see how this brick was not over there. You know, like this architectural element was slightly bigger, might light and smaller. These kind of details doesn't really matter as far as it looks trustworthy, your goal is to make things look realistic, but how you make it doesn't really matter. You see now I'm adding these lines because I think it will give the idea that there are some bricks and some things going on there. And I don't necessarily see them on my reference, but I still. Paint them because I think they will give details and this is how I can show that these towers are complex and they have plenty of details to them. So I'm not trying to repeat the exact same thing I see on the picture. I'm trying to replicate the impression that we have like by looking on at this scene. You know, I think we're ready to add final details now. I think I am pretty happy with how this sketch turned out. I will add a couple of details here and there to the towers. I will adjust the shape of the tower slightly, and also this one over here. Now, I will mix the darkest color using the same colors, but in a more concentrated version. So same indigo, same sapia color. But I will mix a much darker color, so you see it's very, very dark, almost black. I'm not sure if I am going to stick with this color, but I will try it on paper and see if I like it. Think it may work out. Probably I will use this color but very carefully. C not putting it everywhere, just in some areas where I think details are needed because this is the darkest color we're using. It's going to grab a lot of attention. I need to know where I want to put it. We want the viewer to look here, That's why I will use this darkest color only on the foreground. Because otherwise it will attract too much attention to the details that are far away. And we don't want that, want the most attention to be on the foreground. You see, I'm choosing the areas I want to highlight. And this is where I'm adding these thin strokes, but not everywhere. This is important. I think I will concentrate my effort on these details right here because they are quite close to us. And that's why you see I've added these lines over there. I will let you watch me adding the details, the final details to the sketch. Now I can start to add the final details to our sketch. I've added these darkest details on the foreground, and I think it looks quite nice with my lady here, we sketched from life. I think these two sketches look really good together. Now, all I need is just to add the final touches using the same color. I will add last details to the rem, I will underline some dark shadows and I am using the same color I was using for the architecture. Now I am going to mix a different color. I think for this purpose, for the inside area of the tree, I will use something more brown. I will get a touch of Siena and introduce it to my existing. It will make my mix look a bit more brown instead of just a black color. I will use this color to add the final touches to the roots. You see now I am working with the tip of my brush. I think I am almost done here. I think I will give the tree some texture so I can make the texture just by making these tiny lines. This is something I see on the real tree and this is how I will show the texture somewhere. Not everywhere, just in some places, in some spots, for example, maybe here on this route probably as well. Just use these lines to give the tree a bit more interest. I think I'm quite happy. Make the outline just a bit bolder. I will wash my palette and just give the greens some details as well. You can see in my reference, I have these trees on the background. I think I would like to give the trees some just an additional layer of details as well. I need to wash my brush first, so see it's dirty from the previous color. I just spray on my palette, rub my brush against the palette, and clean everything with my paper towel, with my napkin. If I need, I do this thing again until I obtain water or almost clear water when I spray. And you see now it's pretty much clear, so I can then mix a new color. So I will mix some yellow with green. I'm just using cadmium yellow and green color green bincpaltras just called green. And I will use it to add these final touches to my greens, to my bushes here. So I don't want the bushes get too much of attention. But I think it's still nice if we make them look just a bit darker. You see, I'm using these spots and dots to make my greens look quite spontaneous and organic. I will darken this color just a bit more. Just making the same color but a more intense version of it. And I will use this color to darken these lower areas where the bushes meet the architecture. I think it's nicer if they're dark. Again, as for the bushes you see I've invented them a little bit, so they're not exactly the same as you can see on my reference. But again, it's up to you what you want to create on your sketches. You don't have to blindly follow the reality if you don't want. That's why I think, especially for the greens, for the bushes, these things, you can be flexible and you can invent things a little bit. All right, in the next lesson, we will start to paint our final illustration. We will add one more sketch on the left side of the page to complete the spread. I will see you in the next lesson. 13. Drawing a Portrait from Life: In this lesson, I will show you how to make a sketch from start to finish on a spot. So, I selected what kind of subject I want to place on the right side of my spread, and I decided it will be on Apsara. You see her on the right side of the screen right now. Apsara is a spirit, so it's kind of a nymph or a goddess in Cambodian religion. And I thought it will be a very interesting subject to sketch. These female figures are everywhere here in Cambodia where I am sketching it. I think it was one of the most typical elements that I've encountered in these ancient temples. I decided why not sketching it. Now you see I already proceed with the outlining of the general shape of my female figure. I started from the head, just general proportion of the head, and now I'm adding some elements to the crown of our lady. If I need erase, of course, sketching is a process. Nothing is carved in stone. If you see that you made a mistake or proportions are off, you can totally take your eraser and erase. I'm proceeding with the face features. Now you see I'm putting these guiding lines. So to guide myself where the necklace will be, where the face features will be. Before painting the mouth or drawing the mouth, the eyes and the nose, I need to put these guiding lights that you see me putting right now. Also for the nose. It's a very gradual process. I switch from one part of the drawing to another one. After the face I may proceed with the crown and then get back to the face again, for example. Now it's time to outline the face features better, like the eyes, for example. I'm doing it with these short strokes and now I will gradually add other face features such as the nose and mouth. You see that it is a gradual process. As I said, I don't start my sketch with these final touches such as eyes, mouth, and other face features. But I always start with general shapes and big shapes, such as the whole oval of the face, the proportions of the crown of the face. Only after that, I can dig deeper into the details like I'm doing over here, for example. Now I'm focusing on these earrings and I'm getting a bit more precise with the proportions of, of the face. I can also add some details to the crown. I see that the crown of this Apsara is very interesting. It has a lot of these very interesting, typical elements that I would love to share to show in my sketch. This is exactly what I'm doing here. I'm first outlining them on the left side, and then I'm doing the same thing on the right side. These are pretty symmetrical. It's not very difficult to do these kind of things. Now, I am proceeding with just adding some details to the crown and to the face again. First things first, when I'm pretty much happy with how the general outline and general features of the face look, I can then proceed with other secondary elements. I see that there is this frame that surrounds my lady and now I think it's time to outline this frames. I'm giving it a little bit of details because I see there are these interesting elements to them that I would like to paint with watercolor. I am already outlining these things with pencil, also on the right side. Now it's time to give just a bit more details to the crown and to the face. It's important not to give too much details to your sketches because you will be painting your sketches anyways. But I think it's important to add the general details and the important elements with pencil already, because otherwise you can easily forget them when you will pass to the painting process. I think it is necessary to add some of them already. At this stage now, I'm outlining the body a bit better. I will not paint the whole entire figure but only a detail. You see, I decided to concentrate my efforts on the head and the upper part of the body. This is just my personal choice and I think this is what fits my page better. I am now proceeding with adding some details to the hand and to the face. The face is a very important part. I'm really taking my time here and trying to get the features as precise as I possibly can. Again, if I need to raise a little bit, I do, so I definitely take a little bit more time to get these proportions and the details right. You see, again, I'm working on the eyes right now, making sure they are in place. I'm also giving the lower edges of the eye this darker outline, same to the chin, and same to the earrings. I already like to give my outlines a bolder look when I think it's needed at this stage. For example, I use the bolder outline to outline the face and the earrings. Now I will draw the hand a bit better and also some other elements of my female figure and I will proceed with the painting. Very soon. You see that my sketch is now ready. 14. Painting a Portrait from Life: After we're finished our sketch, I can then proceed with painting. I am refilling some of the pants that were missing colors. For example, I added this cobalt to my palette and I'm mixing the first color. I'm mixing a light yellow color here. It's a mix of Okra with cadmium yellow. Or you can just mix only okra with water. And I'm adding it to the left side of the face of my lady and to the left side of the body as well. This is just the first light wash I'm making here. I want to give the light areas some color right now, that's why I'm starting with this very light yellow color. After that, I mixed a darker color, this time a bluish one. I'm used some cobalt to obtain this mix. You see that I will be using this color for the background. Basically, I want my figure, my female figure to stand out from the background. That's why I want it to be lighter. I'm using the principles of negative painting right now and you see I'm painting everything but the female figures. I'm painting the background and this will allow me to make the figure pop out of the page. Negative painting is a very nice tool that you can use in travel sketching. This is the exact demonstration of it. If you want something to appear lighter, one of the ways of doing it is to make the background darker. This is exactly what I'm doing here. I'm using the same blue color. Also here on the left side of my sketch, I am delicately covering the background with it. You see, I am avoiding the details of the crown of the body, but I'm still leaving some visible brushstrokes on the left side because it's a sketch and I want to give it some of this lively, sketchy look. I think some visible brushstrokes are nice to see on the sketches, and now it's time to introduce a darker color. So I've added some sapia and some indigo to my mix. And when my paper is still wet, I start to add these darker details. And you see that they blend with the rest of my painting very nicely. Because I'm using the wet in wet technique right now, I'm using the same thing on the right side. You see I'm doing it in correspondence of the outline of my Apsara, my lady. I'm adding the darkest color now. I just added a bit more indigo to my existing mix. And you see, I obtained an even darker color. And now I'm using it to underline the outline of the female figure you see. Especially on the top where I see the crown now, a little bit on the right side as well. Because I want to give the face a certain tone right now when the shape and the features of the face are starting to pop out. I think it's important to give some volume to the face. I'm starting from the chin, You see I gave the chin and I'm giving the face a bit more volume. This is the stage that will take some time. Phase features are usually the longest ones to obtain. It's a gradual process. Again, you see I just added a basic shadow now and I will continue this process later on. Meanwhile, I'm working on the chin and I'm working on the neck. And also some other details with faces. With these elements that involve faces, I think it's important to have a gradual approach. You see, I don't use very dark colors right away, but I prefer to add them later on because I know I will be able to do it now. For example, I'm adding the darkest tone I used until now. I'm being very careful and gentle. You see, I'm using the very tip of my brush and I'm adding this dark color only to some areas of the face and of the crown. It's the same color I've been using for the background. It's a mix of sapia and ultramarine. And I'm also using it for darkening the body of the female figure, also making the outline a bit more visible. And I think now it's time to proceed with introducing a new color. I see some pink hues on my real sculpture in front of me, so that's why I decided to mix this dusty, muddy, pink color, similar one that I was using for the architecture to recall it a little bit. And I introduced this color to some parts of my lady. Now I'm covering the chin and other parts of the face with this dark gray color. Basically, I'm using the exact same colors but changing them slightly. If I want to lighten them up a little bit, I'm just adding some water. If I want to darken them a little bit, I'm just adding ultramarine or Sapia. Now I'm using this dark gray color for this left element. I'm adding some lines to this frame because this is what I see in front of me. I just want to give this frame a bit more details. I think now it's time to take care of the body of my female figure. And this necklace, I think this necklace is a very characteristic element. I think it's very beautiful and gives the figure a lot of interest and charm. That's why I will work on this necklace right now. You see after introducing the mid tone, I am proceeding with the finest details. I'm using a dark color, so a darker color and the tip of my brush. I will also add the same exact details to the crown of the lady. I'm being very careful at this stage now. It's about refining. I work with the tip of my brush and you see how calculated my movements are. I'm adding this dark color, not everywhere. I don't want this outline to be very bold. I don't want it to be very uniform. I selecting the areas I want to add this color to, basically, it's mainly the outline and some inner parts that I think are the most important ones or that I want to highlight. So you can notice how I am doing it. Basically, I am just thinking of how I can make this sketch more interesting and make it stand out more. I think this dark outline really helps me to do so. But as I said, it's important not to add this dark line everywhere, because otherwise it will flatten the image and it will ruin what we just created there a little bit. That's why I am being quite conscious and quite careful with the dark colors. And remember that you can always add more dark, but you cannot just erase what you did with watercolor. With watercolor, you need to be mindful of these dark details. Because once you put them on paper, there will be there. I usually add them at the very end, at the end of my process. And I am giving these details a bit more attention and I am adding them with a bit more care and delicacy. Now I'm proceeding with the same exact thing on the body. Just darkening some areas that I think need to be darkened. For example, near the breasts and a little bit on the right side. Then I'm using the exact same color to add final touches to the crown. You see I'm adding these dots, using these dots and lines to add some interest to the crown. You can add these patterns, these things such as dots or lines, to add interest to your subjects. Now I am outlining this line that is on the face of my female figure, because it's made of stone blocks. I outlined this line that are separating the two blocks from one another and I'm using the exact same color for the face features. I just made lips, nose, and eyes darker. But again, be very careful with it. I'm using the same color to give some last touches to the body and to the crown. This is the darkest color I'm using. You see it looks quite dark, so it's almost black. But again, I'm not using any black. It's just a very concentrated mix of indigo and sepia. Again, same exact colors. I'm using only 15 colors in my set and two dark in my colors. Sepia and indigo are my favorite colors. So this is what I used to obtain this mix. I'm adding last touches to the crown, and I think at this stage, our sketch is almost ready. Just a few more lines to finalize this process. And I think I'm happy with how it turned out. 15. Drawing an Animal from a Reference Picture: Let's start with the drawing. I will use my regular pencil. So I have pencil here, but you can also use two if you want. I will sketch the monkey here. First of all, I will sketch the general outline how I want to position the monkey on the sheet of paper. I don't think the tail will fit. I will probably draw the tail until a certain point, but I will not do it all for now. My goal is to position the animal on the page so that I know that all of the body parts fit. I need to outline, you see the borders within which I need to fit the monkey. Especially because I have already a sketch on this side of the page. I need to be careful of making sure that all the body parts fit within this area. I am dedicating to this sketch here something like this, but I think I've probably positioned it too close to this sketch right here. So what I will do, I will actually erase it and move it more to the left side, because otherwise there's a lot of empty white space here I will duplicate. You see these lines I've created so that I don't start entirely from scratch. I will move the monkey that side to the left side. I need to grab my eraser. You see that? Now I already have something to work with. I don't have to, again, start from scratch. I will just erase this right part of the sketch and complete it. I think there's not a lot of space for the head here, let me think. I think I will actually move the monkey even lower. The tail is not that important, but the head is. That's why I prefer to sacrifice the tail a little bit, but give a bit more space to the head. Actually, I will move everything. Once again, sketching is actually a research. If you did something, don't think that it's carved in stone. And you have to go with what you just drew. You can erase, and you can start over if you're not satisfied, because the phase of drawing is actually the most important one. And this is what will determine whether it's a successful sketch or not. By a lot of means. If I'm not happy, and especially if I am painting using a reference picture, so I'm sketching using a reference picture. I know I can move things around until I am happy. So this is the privilege of working from pictures, not from real subjects. With pictures, you have the privilege of tweaking things until you are happy with them. So I think now I am more happy with the position of the head. I think we have more space on top of the head and it's much better. I think we needed some air there and I'm quite happy with how it looks. And once I have the general position, so the general outline of the monkey, I can then start to give this drawing a final look. As you see, I'm giving more details to the face than anything else. Because as we discussed, the most detailed part of the sketch will be the face of the monkey. This is exactly why we are trying to direct the whole attention of the viewer to the face. All I need to do now is to outline the ear. I think that I will then be ready to start painting. From here we can start the painting process. 16. Painting an Animal from a Reference Picture: So first thing, I will clean my palette here real quick from the previous color I've used. And I will start to mix the color for the monkey. So I will start with the fur. I will mix something neutral, so I see that the monkey has this grayish brownish color. And I think I will start from something like this. So just cleaning my brush, still have some green on my brush that I get, I need to get rid of. There you go. And I'm spraying a little bit of water on my palette and I can start mixing my color. So I'm starting with cobalt blue. So just grabbing a little bit from my palette and mixing it, and I will mix it with a little bit of sapia. I will obtain this cold gray, this color right here. And I will make it light enough so I will spray some water to make it lighter. And I will use this color as a starting point for my monkey. I will go and start covering the body with this color. I am doing these big brush strokes, working with the big side of my brush. I'm leaving some white spots for now. I will see then how I can fill them. Actually, I think I will cover this like this. Then I will then introduce the brown color. I will just add some raw sienna to my existing mix. That's it. I will not pre mix the color. I will mix it directly on a go, as you saw me doing here. I will introduce this new color to some areas where I want this color to be, on this side over here to have the same color. You see it blends together with the previous color. We've added very nicely for loose painting. It's important to have this freedom of the colors to mix in one another. So that's why you see I'm painting really quickly and now I've added just some water to this upper part of the monkey. And I think before I paint the head, so I will actually start painting the head. So I will give the head of the monkey this uniform color, but I will not touch the face just yet, actually, a little bit over here. But I want the face to be more pinkish because that's what I see for now. I will just leave it white and I will add this pink color afterwards. I think I have a pretty nice base here to work with. Now I can start to add the darkest tones. I will grab some brown. Again, I'm just looking at my reference and seeing where the darkest areas are. And this is where I will apply this darkest color when my painting is still wet. So it's important because in loose painting, again, we want these soft transitions. And it's a very nice way to create expressive animals and make them look alive. That's why I'm working really quickly here. You see I'm working with the tip of my brush now, so it's already the stage where I add details. So as I said, we're doing everything on just one or two layers. So that's why we need to start adding these details already at this stage if we want them. So I will just try to show the fur texture somewhere. Not everywhere, but in some areas, this is how I'm doing it. So basically with these short strokes and with the very tip of my brush, I'm just roughly showing the texture of the monkey. That there's fur that is there, but I'm not touching the body anymore. I will only touch, I think this area near the tail just to underline the tail a bit better. This is the only thing I will do then now I can finish with the texture again. I'm just adding it here and there. In some areas I think it can be added and my paper is actually already dry. This technique also will depend on the temperature you're, the temperature of the room you're working in. I'm working in a hot climate right now. So my paper is drying really quickly and you just need to adapt to these things. Well, maybe I will add some additional shadows over here. So this is layer number two already and I'm just using the same exact color. I'm using these more big, you see, brush strokes. I use these big brush strokes just to add shadows where I think it's needed here, For example, to underline the muscles. And right here, the light and shadow work is quite important. At this stage, I'm darkening the tail because I see it's quite dark. Also, I will darken this part of the back a little bit more as well. I think that's pretty much it. Again, if you want, you can add even more texture at this stage somewhere. For example, I will add on the arms of the monkey. I will add here on the legs of the monkey as well. But it's up to you, this is pretty much it also. I can still add just a few more darkest details where I think I want them. I think I will already start to outline the background. I want to have a little bit of a background for this monkey. I want this dark blue behind. I will grab the blue and start painting the background. And also right here as well, under the toe. Some painting really quickly and kind of deciding how to place my brush strokes on a go also. This is one more tip to lose painting is to make some nice and expressive brush strokes. I think this back side of the monkey can be dark as well. I've created this little background here. Before I finish the background, I actually want to finish the monkey. I will maybe use this darkest color. I just use for the background in a couple of areas, like over the tail, near the tail, maybe maybe over here as well. Basically, that's it for the dark color. Now just a couple of details on the tail. I think I will stop for now. Maybe I will already add just a little bit of dark color here to outline the fur. But that's it for now. I will pass to painting the face. Now for the face, I need to clean my brush and my palette. I've been using a very dark blue color. Now I need to get rid of it. I'm spraying some water, using my dirty napkins to clean the most part of the color. Again, doing the same thing, spraying again. This is the method I usually use when I sketch outdoors. I like this spray bottle, It's so convenient and this is how I usually clean my brush. I think it's very easy. So sometimes you just need to repeat the process several times, but now you see that the water is almost transparent. So it means my brush is clean and I'm cleaning the palette one more time. And I can now mix a new color for the face. I'm mixing something pinkish. So let's spray some water, grab some of this carmine red, and I will see how I can mix this pinkish color. So I don't want it to be totally pink. That's why I'm adding some rosanna to my color because I want it to be quite neutral. And I obtained this light a bit dirty pink. This is what I will be using for the face. So I will cover the whole face, including the eyes with this color. Just trying to be careful of not going beyond the area of the face with loose painting with these loose sketches, The important thing you need to be careful only when you do these thin details, and especially on faces. With faces, I suggest being a bit more careful then you can be expressive with the fur and with the background, but with the face, you need to be a bit more careful. But you see I just roughly covered it with the pink color and I am quite happy with it. At this stage, I will let it dry, and meanwhile I will add just a few more details to the hair of the monkey. So I'm mixing my sapia with some blue again. So to create this more brown color, it's more brown than blue, so something grayish but tending to brown. And I will just add these few strokes on the head to see. I just gave the idea that there is this hair moving, but I'm not giving any big details. Also do some the same thing under the ears and also I will use the same color for this forehead area because I see it's quite dark, so I'm using the same color and maybe also creatums really quick texture. You see just two lines. Two brush strokes are enough to sketch the texture and sketch such details as hair. Then I can use the same color for the shadows on the face. I see that the face has these shadows under the eyes, for example, I am already using this color to outline these shadows. I also see this shadow under the nose. I'm touching really lightly. And you see it creates the shadows very quickly for me already. Because my brush, sorry, my paper is still wet. So I just introduced this color variation. And there you go. Now I think I need to wait for the face to dry a little bit before I add final details. And now I will start already to mix the color for the final details for the face features such as eyes and ears, these are the darkest details. I will mix the dark color for these and I will also use the same color for the ear because I see the ear is quite dark. So for this purpose, I will use again, brown and blue. So these are the same colors I've used for everything. So I will remain within the same color palette. And I will just probably introduce some red there because it will recall the color of the face. So I got this like purple color and I think it's pretty close to what we have on the reference. And I will start to paint the ear already. So I just need to make sure my paper is dry. And I started to paint and I see the paint remains where I put it. So it means the paper is dry. I'm using the wet on dry technique now, so I don't want my paint to go anywhere now. I think the face is also dry. Again, grabbing the same color and adding these deeper shadows where I see the neck because I see that there's shadow there also. I see this where the chin is, under the nose and again the eyes. Now, this is the time when I need to be careful. I will take some time to add these final touches. So you see, the painting process of the body was actually pretty, pretty quick. So the body, I wanted the body to be like, nice, loose and expressive, and I did it very quickly. Now with the face, I want to spend just a little bit more time making sure that I'm not messing it up. So now we'll just add a few touches here. On the fur of the head and maybe same thing over here. I see there are like these hair growing out of there. I'm doing this now. It's time to add final details to do so, I just mixed a very dark color. I used indigo and sapia. Again, I'm working with the very tip of my brush. I am now focusing on the eyes. I will also add these details to the nose and to the mouth. I will let you watch. Now it's time to make the ear even darker. I added one layer of color to it already, and now I will darken it even more because I think this is what we need right now. I just mix this dark color again, same color. It's a dark purple color. I will apply it to some areas of the ear of the monkey. I don't want the year to be uniformly dark, but I want to underline this lower part of it because I see it's quite dark. And this area inside the ear as well, and I will make the outline of the ear dark as well. So I just mixed this darkest color. And I'm using the very, very tip of my brush. After that, I will wash my brush, clean it with my paper towel. And now I have this bluish color that I obtained. I will just put it in the eye. I want to make the eye look a bit more uniform, will cover the eye with this color. I think now it looks nice and dark. This is what I wanted. I will also use a similar color for the other eye that we don't really see. But I want to make these eye lashes visible so that we understand that the eye is somewhere there. And I think at this point, it's just about adding these final touches, these final details. I think everything looks fine. It's important not to overwork again the face. So we want to add a couple of details, but we don't want to make it too detailed either. Maybe now I will add just a couple of final touches to some spots I want to highlight. And I think that's it. And then I can add a little bit more background here near the face. I think I decided to add just a bit more color to the face, and I think I want something pinkish again. I will mix my warm red, this time this is cadmium red with some rasiena. And I obtained this nice and warm color. I will apply it to some areas of the face. For example, here under the chin and under the nose. And I will blend them nicely with the rest. So I think the face just needed this extra touch of color now. I think I'm pretty happy with how it all looks. So you see sometimes just a tiny touch of color. It can really change things in a sketch. So I think now I'm happy with the face. I will just do one more last adjustment. I will make the dark detail in the eye a bit more visible so that we can see the eye. There you go. And same thing in the ear. So you see final details, just refining these things a little bit. And now I think I'm happy with it. Time to add the background. I see that on the picture we have this nice blurry background near the face of the monkey and behind as well. I'm not sure. I will add the background near the face. Actually, maybe I will. Let's try it out. First, I need to clean my palette. I'm spraying on my palette again. And I need to clean my brush as well, spraying clean the palette. Cleaning the brush, doing it several times. There you go. I can start to mix the color for the background. I think because the monkey is quite cold, so the color of the monkey is cold, I will probably choose something warm for this left side, some cooler for this area near the face. Let's start from the warm color. Actually, I will spray and use some Rossi Llena mixed with brown. Again, my sapia color. I forgot the name. Let's see how this color works for the background here. Sometimes you can actually try things. If you're not convinced by something, it's okay, can try something else. I will start to apply this color and then I will see if I like it or not. I think it's actually not bad. I will use this color to outline these architectural elements. A little bit over here, you see I'm using both the body of my brush and also the tip of my brush. I don't want to give a lot of details to these elements, but I still want them to be visible. That's why I'm using these big breast trucks and then left some of these areas white. I will maybe even give it some texture to make the viewer understand it's there's something going on there but I think this is enough already. And then I will start to mix the cooler color for the area near the face. Something's wrong with my spray bottle. I think there's air inside. So it gets a bit hard to spray. Now it works better. I'm cleaning my palette and we'll add this cobalt. I don't want it to be too strong, so I still want it to be a neutral color. But I think this cobalt will work nice with the colors I have on the face of the monkey. I want this fur to be white because this is how I see it on the reference. I will leave the little pieces of fur white. I will paint all around the face of the monkey with this color. I'm leaving a thin line between the face of the monkey and the background. I'm creating something like this, something expressive here, Not really just giving a few lines something to unite this sketch with the other sketches on this page. I think the back of the monkey needs to be darker. This area behind the monkey should be darker in this area here as well. I just mixed some brown with blue. I'm using this color to this area here. It's going to look nicer if we make this area here. Yes, I think I actually like it because it gives more contrast and it makes the monkey stand out even more. Instead, I will underline some other architectural elements here. Again, just adding a few lines just to make the viewer understand that there's something behind but we don't really see what. I think it's just going to give the whole painting a more finished look. More of these lines. I think we see the background, that looks like a sky or something. Then we still see the monkey nicely. I will outline of the back just a bit darker now. And you see at the same time I'm adding the texture of the fur with these thin lines. There you go. I think at this stage our monkey is finished. Now, I will just see if I want to add a couple of additional dark details to the head. Maybe I will add just a few darker brush strokes, again to remind the viewer that the face is the most important part of the monkey. Just dark color under the forehead. And I think we are pretty just adding the darkest details behind the monkey. Continuing these lines to the lower area of the drawing as well, just to again create the idea that this architectural element is there as well. I think I am happy with how it turned out. There you go. 17. Final Tips and Class Project: And this is it. This is the final spread we got. We have three different illustrations here that we positioned on the spread. We have the one we painted entirely from life, this element here. We have the one we painted from life and then finished in the studio. And then we have this last illustration that we paint entirely from a reference picture. The important thing is that you need to give unity to the whole spread. No matter the technique or the approach you use, you should obtain the uniform look. I think we managed to do it here. Also, one more thing about the spread is it's better if you remain within the same color palette. You see I've used browns, blues, and okra colors across each one of these sketches. And then I added green as an accent only to the central sketch, which attracts most attention. It's important that you remain within the same color palette if you want the spread to look nice and cohesive. One more important tip is to have the variety of subjects. For example, we have this landscape here. So architecture with the tree, we have a detail. So I choose this detail of this beautiful portrait of a woman, and then I have an animal. So three completely different subjects that in my opinion, created a very nice and varied spread that is interesting to look at, to see all the details, and I think it really captures the atmosphere of these places really nicely. You see sometimes I also add some lettering to my sketchbook, so in case you want to remember the place where you sketched or a particular thought during that day, You can also include these elements in your sketchbook, and it can give an additional layer of interest to the composition into the spread itself. I usually like to use these little arrows to indicate what place I was sketching in. But of course, feel free to do anything you want. Sometimes I also like to put the date on my sketches, so that's why I've purchased this date stamp. So I will put today's date and this will add a final touch to my spread. I usually do it this way. I take a marker and I color the letters so I don't have a separate pad, an ink pad, just because it's quite bulky to carry with me. So I just use my marker and then when I'm ready I can put my stamp. I think I will put it over here. And there you have it. Now, I also have a date on my page, and I can tell that now my spread is ready.