14. Sketch Journal
Ducks and Daily Sketching with Gansai Tambi
Hello, fellow sketchers!
Welcome back to another edition of my sketch journal. I think I am going to drop ‘weekly’ from the title, because although it is my aim to make this weekly, it doesn’t always happen!! The last couple of weeks have been filled with timed sketches, new creative habits, and inspiring reads. Let’s dive in!
Sketching Session with Nikki: Timed Sketches of Ducks
My sister
and I decided to challenge ourselves with a fun and dynamic sketching session. We live about an hour away from each other, so decided to get together on zoom, where we focused on sketching some reference images of ducks I had selected on Unsplash. To keep things interesting and improve our quick-sketching skills, we set a timer for each sketch. The results were a mix of frantic lines and surprisingly charming renderings of our feathered friends.Highlights:
Timed Challenges: Setting a timer pushed us to capture the essence of the ducks quickly, improving our observational skills and speed.
Dynamic Poses: Ducks are never still for long, so I tried to select some references with varying poses to try and recreate as much of a live drawing scenario as possible.
Nikki and I recorded this zoom session, and will be offering it to our paid subscribers from Monday 22nd July - you can subscribe to our joint Substack here - we post free monthly challenges to help keep you motivated with your daily sketching habit :)
New Habit: Quick and Easy Daily Sketch Journaling
Inspired by FabWorksWatercolor on YouTube, I’ve finally found a way to keep up my goal of daily sketch journaling. Fab insists that anybody can use this method using a small sketchbook, loose continuous line and quick watercolour. There isn’t anything new in this idea, but the way Fab presents the concept really inspired me to stop making excuses and just get on with it! So each day, I spend a few minutes capturing something from my daily life in a small sketchbook. This practice is helping me stay consistent with my art and improving my ability to capture moments quickly.
Benefits:
Consistency: A manageable daily practice keeps the creative juices flowing.
Mindfulness: Helps me stay present and observe the small details in everyday life.
Fab goes into much more detail about his method in his Skillshare course - No Effort Sketch Journaling: Art Journaling Made Easy With Pen, Watercolors and a Tiny Sketchbook, but if you are not a member of Skillshare, I still think you can get a good idea of his technique by watching his youtube videos!
New Addition: Gansai Tambi Watercolor Sets
I'm thrilled with the latest addition to my art supplies: Gansai Tambi watercolor sets. These Japanese watercolors are an absolute delight to use, with vibrant, rich colors with a smooth, creamy consistency. They’ve quickly become a favourite for my fast and loose sketch journaling.
Vivid Colors: The pigments are highly saturated, producing bright and bold colors that pop on the page.
Application variation: The creamy consistency allows for variation with an opaque gouache style if you use only a little water, or the transparency of waterolour with more water.
Versatile: Great for both detailed work and splashy, expressive strokes.
I’ve been using these watercolors for my daily sketch journaling mentioned above. Their vibrant hues and ease of use make them perfect for capturing quick impressions with minimal fuss. I really love that there are so many colours as it means i don’t have to mix colours - which again, speeds up the process for me, and cuts out overthinking.
Current Reads: Art Books Inspiring My Work
I’m currently diving into two recent book purchases: Hola Miro by Swasky and Paris by David Gentleman.
Hola Miro by Swasky
This book explores the work of Joan Miró, blending biography with vibrant illustrations. Swasky's unique approach to storytelling and sketching brings Miró’s world to life, inspiring me to experiment with abstract forms and bold colors.
Paris by David Gentleman
David Gentleman’s sketches of Paris are a love letter to the city. His detailed, yet loose and atmospheric drawings are seriously impressive. My friend, Helen Birch recently hosted her bi-weekly “Literary Artist’ class using the Paris book as a starting point for exploring his style and techniques. Helen is one of my favourite art instructors. Have a look at Artist in Residence membership if you’d like to join in with her online weekly classes along with some other fantastic instructors (and myself!) :)
Until Next Time
That wraps up this week’s edition of Sketch Journal. As always, I’d love to hear about your experiences and see your sketches. Feel free to share in the comments below!
Happy sketching,
Emma x
Another lovely update! Great sketches - I love Fabs approach too - thanks for recommending him!