How to Use Negative Space in Urban Sketching
Paris again. I know, I know. But here I am, stealing an hour on my own while my husband does his thing nearby.
That's the trick when you travel with non-sketchers: carve out your own time.
Welcome to Draw Tip Tuesday!
There's a moment when you arrive somewhere beautiful and complicated and your brain just goes: too much. Too many details, too much to decide, too much that could go wrong on the page.
I've learned that the overwhelm fades as soon as you start drawing.
So I pick up my fountain pen. I begin at the top of the tower and work my way around the shape by drawing the sky around it rather than the building itself. It sounds like a small shift but it changes everything: suddenly I can filter out all the detail, I'm just drawing shapes. The negative shapes.
And then the rain starts. The drizzle is bleeding into my watercolor washes, and creates a beautiful texture to the sky in a way I couldn't have planned. I work fast, adding color while I still can, and somehow it all comes together in a way that feels... very Paris.
Speaking of Paris: I'm co-teaching a workshop there in September with Marcus and Cynthia.. Studio time, location sketching, and a whole week of filling pages. Check it out here.
click the image to watch the video
Materials:
Sailor De Mannen fountain pen with fude nib. 55 degree angle. Filled with Platinum Carbon Black ink.
Daniel Smith and Schminke watercolors
Pentel Aquash waterbrush pen
