Category: Sketch

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Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Sunday I met more friends!

Yes, on Sunday I met more art friends. This time it was an unofficial Urban Sketchers meetup. We met at Humlegården in central Stockholm and enjoyed the sun soaked day.
I managed to do two sketches, one trying to capture the light in the trees and the other is of the statue of Linné, the famous Swedish botanist.
It was so nice to meet my friends. I know now it is really important to have social contact, I feel so much better for it. Luckily sketching is an outdoors activity and so it’s relatively safe to meet friends in this the year of Corona.

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Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Inspired by Turner

It was early Saturday morning, I broke the plastic sealing wrapper from around a William Turner book I had purchased – The ‘Skies’ Sketchbook by David Blayney Brown. Once I had studied it for a while I had this enormous urge to get outside and paint some clouds. Luckily the sky was very beautiful during the weekend, the soft pillow type cushions sailed past quickly which meant the scene in front of me changed completely every few minutes. I sat in my new camper van at Nacka Strand protected from the cool wind, I was inspired and I enjoyed every moment of it.

  • Cloud study #1
  • Cloud study #2
  • Cloud study #3
  • Pencil sketch
  • Protected from the wind
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Sketch Watercolour

Portraits of a female model

Female portrait practice – 35 minute poses.

One of the schools I attend to sketch life drawing has started a class where one can paint portraits of a model live. There are 3 poses each evening and the length is 35 minutes which is perfect for my rather short attention span. I really want to improve when it comes to doing portraits so I’m really happy this class has started.
Here is a link to the class. (In Swedish) The watercolours are about A5 in size.

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Plein air Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Last sketch from Åland

Fisherman in Fiskö

This was the last sketch from our month-long sailing trip to Finland and Åland. I finished the painting yesterday but I actually painted most of it at Fiskö, on the 25th of July. I really miss being out sailing, it’s not as much fun sitting here in my Studio.

I actually am going to make a break for it tomorrow morning! I am going to camp on an island that I have been wanting to sketch for years. I’ll tell you more about that in a later post.

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Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Two sketches

From my Sketchbook
From my Sketchbook

I thought this might be interesting for a few. I mask my sketckbook page with tape when I create a border. I like it that way.

From my Sketchbook
From my Sketchbook

< Click the image to see full size

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Sketch watercolor Watercolour

A sketch a day keeps me heading the right way.

Kungsgatan by David Meldrum
Kungsgatan

I try to sketch everyday but of course life keeps getting in the way. This last week has been really busy, mostly seasonal stuff like getting the boat ready for launch and putting summer tyres on the car etc. The seasons are very clear here in Sweden. Half the year is dark and cold and the other half is light and warm(ish), simple.
I continue to do some urban sketching. I painted this from a fuzzy iPhone photo I took while I was walking, I never bothered to stop, I just snapped off a bunch of pictures. It’s not a bad technique really, I got some interesting angles.

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Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Abandoned Caravan watercolour

Abandoned Caravan watercolour sketch
Abandoned Caravan

I wandered around the caravan park I was staying on the last day of my painting trip. The park was pretty empty, it was a day after the Easter weekend. I discovered this abandoned caravan tucked away in a corner, I thought the composition was wonderful so I took a few shots with my phone. I stumbled across the images again this morning when I was wondering what to paint. I decided to do a sketch first and I’m happy with the result. I must do a larger version of it very soon, I still feel it is a great composition.

I stayed at the Moby Dick Caravan Park very close to the centre of Calella. It was quiet and the family running the park were charming.

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Sketch Sketches urban sketching watercolor Watercolour

A Sketch is so important

Sketches of Stockholm by David Meldrum
Sketches of Stockholm

I am talking to myself when I say, “Sketches are so important”.
It is so easy to just be lazy and start painting directly with a photo that is in front of you. We rarely succeed when shortcuts are taken, a photo needs to be interpreted, analysed and broken down. It needs to be simplified and elements moved or removed. So this is why doing a quick sketch beforehand is so important, we discover what should be done to achieve a good watercolour.
In the perfect world I would prefer to sketch outdoors but that not possible here for a large part of the year, it’s minus degrees and windy here in Stockholm today.
Next week I travel to Costa Brava in Spain for a week of sketching. More about that in an upcoming post.


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David Meldrum Sketch watercolor Watercolour

Sketching at the Maritime Museum

David Meldrum sketches
David Meldrum sketches

I was photographed in full concentration while sketching at the Stockholm Maritime Museum. I had a great day there and I am sure I will be returning again soon.

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