It’s time for my yearly sketch review… so here goes…
In 2024 I filled 12.5 sketchbooks, capturing moments from my life and adding a fair amount of written notes as well. Flipping through these pages in the past few days has been very special and reminded me that a lot happened in the past 12 months!
I exclusively used Alpha sketchbooks in four different sizes (see below) and I also filled a number of teaching sketchbooks, which I haven’t included in this collection.
The actual number of sketchbooks that I completed is not important, and I certainly do not want you to compare my output with yours! However, I do find it very interesting to compare this year’s total sketchbooks completed with those of previous years. The 2024 collection is the smallest ever, but I’m still happy with what I achieved.
My main thought as I flipped through my 2024 sketchbooks is that I had little time dedicated to sketching this year.
My sketching was nearly always fitted into other activities, and creating an online course devoted to quick travel sketching certainly impacted my approach this year. 🙂
Most of the year was affected by my big move and the creation of this new Travel Sketching course. Both were big projects and affected the amount of sketching I did on a daily basis. I know that I often only did one sketch per workday (in previous years, I often completed multiple double-page spreads each day).
I’ve identified three major themes this year:
- Developing my morning sketching routine
- Exploring ways of capturing the essence of a scene without sketching everything
- Experimenting with texture and complex colour.
1. Developing my morning sketching routine
My morning sketch and coffee routine has become an essential part of the day for a number of years. It’s good to be outside, get some fresh air, sun, and a little human interaction (cafe staff). A dose of caffeine is nice too!:-)
I love starting my work day with some sketching on location. This means that even if I get caught up with work and other activities, I’ve got something in my sketchbook. Getting my creative juices flowing at the start of a work day (playing with shapes and lines) is good for my productivity while doing the more mundane and technical aspects of my job. The most important aspect of the morning sketch is the act of doing something at the start of the day. I don’t judge the result.
The very nature of my morning sketch habit is that the subject matter is repetitive. So, to keep myself motivated to sketch the same scenes over and over, I’m constantly experimenting with different media.
This year, my morning sketch routine has changed three times!
When I lived in Lindfield, my sketches were extremely repetitive as I sketched the Village Green over and over again. Although I enjoyed doing them at the time, I now realise how boring they were!
And then when I moved to my new neighborhood, I sketched a few local scenes, but there were not many spots where I could sit and sip my coffee while sketching. I also wasn’t 100% happy with the local coffee.
In July, a new cafe opened in the area (with amazing coffee and super nice staff) and now I drive to get my coffee. The result is a new theme for my sketching: local houses.
Even though I prefer to sketch outside (even in winter) rather than sitting in my car, I now have many more possible locations. Although I’m still sketching some houses repeatedly, there is much more variety! And that makes me very happy.
2. Exploring ways of capturing the essence of a scene without sketching everything
I particularly enjoy sketching complex scenes and always look for ways to simplify the scene into lines and shapes and then compose the sketch intuitively.
This was a major theme of exploration during the year (especially as I was preparing for Lesson 3 of my Travel Sketching course), and I hope to continue this in 2025.
There are lots of different ways of approaching this way of working…
- On the left: ink, Neocolor, and Poscas.
- On the right: ink, watercolour pencil and water-soluble markers (Tombows).
This approach is enjoyable for boring/ugly scenes.
Here are a few more examples using ink, watercolour pencils, and a little marker (examples on the right).
When I have limited time, I love putting down a few big shapes first and then adding details over the top as time allows.
3. Experimenting with texture and complex colour
I’ve always been interested in creating texture with my unique rapid mark-making. That’s why I prefer Alpha paper and ‘bad’ watercolour marks to the smooth washes created by 100% cotton paper (see more about that here).
My love of texture (and complex colour) is only increasing as I experiment with mixing media. I particularly enjoy layering media under watercolour, creating unexpected results. I’ve been adding watercolour over watercolour pencil for years…
but now I combine Neocolor and watercolour.
And in recent weeks it’s been Neocolor and Posca paint markers!
Doing more mixed media work definitely increases my enjoyment of my everyday sketching. It’s so much easier to play!
As for materials…
Drawing in ink and painting with watercolour remain my favourite media for sketching – even though I go on lots of mixed media tangents!
I’m drawing most of my lines with my 55 Degree Fude de Mannen with Black De Atramentis Document Ink. My palette hasn’t changed much over the last five years, but I finally got around to updating my blog article listing all the colours here.
Using watercolour pencils was a big part of 2024, and I used these colours (top left) throughout the year. These were specially designed for my Travel Sketching course and were chosen to complement my watercolour palette.
When in Melbourne, I tried a smaller palette, but it didn’t suit me. However, this year, I actually really enjoyed using a water brush (this is a big deal!).
I continue to use Neocolor 2 water-soluble crayons. I don’t always carry them, but they are my mainstay at the moment!
I also continue to use graphite for really quick sketches – either with ink as shown here (bottom right) or simply using a 2B Castell 9000 line drawing.
Final thoughts
This has been a long article, so it’s time to wrap up with some closing thoughts…
I know that I didn’t do as many finished pieces this year, and although I would like to have more dedicated time to sketch, my general rule is to do what I can in the time that I have. But having said that, my recent trip to Port Macquarie was just what I needed -unlimited time to sketch!
As the goal of my art is to capture moments from my day and create a narrative of my life, when life is busy, my sketching gets simpler. That’s just the way it is. So, as I mentioned at the beginning of the article, I’m happy with my output this year. But of course I am thinking about how to develop my art more in the new year. But I need a separate article for that – so stay tuned for my 2025 sketching goals next week!
What about you?
Are you planning to review all your sketching from this year? Or have you already? Are you pleased with what you achieved? I would love to hear from you in the comments below.
(If you are reading this via email, please click on the article title link below and add a comment on my blog. Thanks!)
8 Comments
Had an opportunity to create sketches on my trip down the Douro River. I took your travel sketch course … so glad I did! Thanks Liz!
Thank you so much Liz for continuing to inspire and teach us so much in every post . Your generosity in allowing us to keep coming back to previously purchased classes — and join updates for new information is unique and so appreciated .
And kudos also to you and your friendly staff for the next day responses to questions and occasional requests for website assistance! Happy new year – I look forward to another year of your beautiful work and generous teaching .
I’m always amazed at the amount of sketching that you accomplish. I know it has to do with priorities. I ca barely prioritize getting up in the morning. 😉
I’ve had great intentions to sketch every day but of course I didn’t. I did however create a card for friends and family using ink and watercolour throughout the year. Your suggestion to decide which lines are important when drawing has helped me with perspective and proportion.
Many thanks Liz for your teaching.
Best wishes to you, Liz, and to your readers – for a healthy and creative 2025. I always enjoy reading your overview of the year just past, and have started into mine. It has taken me a few afternoons each time I’ve tried it (this will be my third) but I agree, it’s a pleasure to look back and remember the outings, the discoveries, the characters met out on location, and even some the struggles.
Of course, the QUALITIES are the really interesting aspects, but may I say one thing about QUANTITY ? I’ve taken your cue to compare me to me – not to you – year over year. I don’t fill as many books as you do, probably never will, and am just fine with that. But 2024 is the second year when I’ve tracked how many days I make an entry, large or small, in my sketchbook. (I both date every sketch and keep a running tally in my day planner.) I had as a goal for 2024 to meet or exceed my 2023 activity, and I came within a hair of meeting it. “More” isn’t the point, but I now find that having two years at a steady rate very satisfying and hopeful – because this year, as every year will do, has brought its own “special” (happy or otherwise), um, let’s call them chapters. Sketching more in recent years has both steadied my mind through a variety of changes and opened up new areas of interest.
If I can just keep the flow going, then who knows what really good, really delicious surprises await? Tracking the number of times I make an entry, while it may seem to some a bit “Type A” has in fact egged me on, little by little, week over week. I do push myself regarding quantity – but gently – and, at the end of the year, I have something I can touch and count to prove what I can do (to myself, before anybody else). So thank you for that cue, and for so many others. /BR
Very inspiring. My other half gifted me your 5 minute Architecture book for Christmas and even only after reading the first few pages I found myself looking at buildings in a completely different way. It’s so readable (and digestible). My New Year’s resolution is to sketch in a sketch book every day …not just doodle on a piece of scrap paper.
Hi Caro – that’s great to hear! All the best for your sketching in 2025
Reviewing the year is so valuable! I totally forgot to do that for my own 2024 sketching. Now I’m curious! What does my whole year look like? I may have to dive and do my own review! I certainly have loved reading yours!
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