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My sketches are done in pencil or pen with
the occasional bit of colour quickly applied, usually in quite a loose
manner, just to give a bit of feeling to the scene. I always go out sketching
with the prime aim of gathering information rather than with the intention of
producing a finished piece of work. After the sketch I will usually take a
photograph for reference. Quite often I will make a note of colours, tone, the
direction of the sun (even if it is cloudy), the name of the location, time of
day, date and the weather conditions.
For recording tones I use a scale of 1 to 4
where the lightest tone is 1 and the darkest tone is 4. The range of 1 to 4 is
a bit limiting so for in between tones I add another half to the number. I find
this easier to use compared with a scale of 10. Keeping a record of
information such as this is most useful when you decided to do something with
it some time in the future. I have a pile of sketchbooks with material recorded
in this way and is a readily available source of ideas for artwork I can turn
to. This is a better way of recording a scene rather than relying on
photographs alone.
Photographs are convenient and have their
place. It is not very often I use a complete photograph. I find there
is often more than one possible artwork in one photo. Making use
of this information I then work up ideas in a sketchbook. This
approach helps formulate different ideas and possibilities resulting in a
higher degree of satisfaction rather than slavishly copying everything on the
photo.
