Book: Urban Watercolor Sketching

Always looking for a way to capture the moment with sketching, I was happy to find Felix Scheinberger's Urban Watercolor Sketching book this week at Blick Art Materials.

My doggie Becah is enjoying the book with me, too!

I'm loving the simplicity and excitement with which Felix writes, and EVERY page is filled with his loose and beautiful pen and pencil sketches enhanced with watercolor.

(c) 2011 Felix Scheinberger in Urban Watercolor Sketching 

Learning tons, and my favorite tidbit so far is, "The easiest way to learn it is simply to try it again and again." I also like his discussion of drawing vs painting, "...drawing mainly explains. Color is demanding and enriches our pictures with a sensual aspect. A drawing of a cake merely describes its shape, but a painting of a cake makes it mouthwatering."

Do you sketch with watercolor? What's your favorite urban travel kit? Leave comments below, can't see what you have to share! :D

HAPPY SKETCHING!  Tristina Dietz Elmes

View Into The Creative Process

I find I like to take the familiar, exaggerate it, and throw in bunches of color to come up with new ideas for painting series'. My latest series obsession is a Fantasy Tree idea born out of my art journal sketch books. Read on to check out my Creative Process...

Doodling with charcoal in one of my many sketchbooks.

Refining the Fantasy Tree concept with graphite on Bristol paper.

Experimenting with the concept using Pebeo Cerne Relief dimensional paint and Pebeo Fantasy paints in my Moleskin mixed media painting ideas book. 

Working out the Pebeo paints over gessoed watercolor paper for a test run.

Luvin' it!!!

"Purple Snow", 14in x 17in, fine art painting on paper, 

Pebeo cerne relief dimensional and liquid alkyd Fantasy paints over acrylic. 

And...must remember the GLITTER!

Hope this inspires you to grab a sketchbook (or 2 or 3 - I have MANY) and get to messing around. The lovely thing about a personal sketchbook is it is a place to get loose and BE YOUR AUTHENTIC SELF, letting crazy ideas percolate and surface for surprising results.

Now, grab a sketch pad and pencil, and get CREATING! 

Happy Arting! :D Tristina

Journal Mag Doodles and Paper Towel Journals

OK, now I'm hooked on Art Journaling and Bookmaking... I'm currently reading Somerset Studio's latest Art Journaling magazine and Cloth Paper Scissors latest Pages magazine. Very inspiring on both extreme journaling and unique bookmaking techniques. Here are my latest sketches from the mags:

I primarily use the Micron pens, but just bought the Pentel India Ink Brush Pen and am experimenting with it. I like that it gives me a brush stroke like a Chinese brush, but I don't have to keep filling it with ink; it comes with replacement cartridges! Haven't figured out how to get the light greys yet, but working on it with lots of water...

I'm working on a series of articles based on using colored paper towels created from sopping up the runny acrylic paints used when painting my PaperScapes (tm). Here is what my pile of paper towels looks like... Yummy!

Having a blast creating my Paper Towel Journal. Can't wait till I can show it to you!

Happy Doodling, Journaling and Painting!  Tristina