I try to get out and sketch on the regular. The small sketchbook keeps the process from getting too precious, also making the sketch more immediate. Because standing, holding a sketchbook and watercolor palette, and working at the same time is a bit awkward, bordering on uncomfortable- keeping it quick! I do occasionally set up my steel easel and use a watercolor sketchbook in a 9x12 or 11x15” size. It helps with the flow of work, but I must mind myself and not spend too much time trying to create a finished piece.
It’s funny, I’m usually happier with the results of the small sketchbook vs. the sketchpad pieces. Both have their merits, and the thing I’m really trying to remember is that these are basically notations to myself. Just an excuse to be out on site, absorbing the feel of a place, and need to be treated as a conversation with me. Anyway, my artist friend Julyan Davis and I went to sketch while he was here, and ended up in Fort Macon, after getting sandblasted out on the beach at the Beaufort Inlet. I enjoyed working in a doorway, taking in the mirroring brick arches and worn surfaces.
