{"id":513,"date":"2026-03-29T21:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/?p=513"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:04:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:04:22","slug":"exercise-3-2-travels-with-your-sketchbook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/exercise-3-2-travels-with-your-sketchbook\/","title":{"rendered":"Exercise 3.2 \u2022 Travels with your sketchbook"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Exercise prompt<\/summary>\n

What<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Make a series of 6\u20138 location studies outside using portable media, varying viewpoint and subject to build observational acuity and a felt sense of place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
    \n
  1. Before making any mark, pause and look: is the view balanced? Are there enough elements to make the study engaging?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Make your first study; aim for no more than 30 minutes (some may take only 10).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Move or shift viewpoint significantly before each new study \u2014 close-up, from below, reflected, rotated.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. In at least one study, prioritise capturing movement or the effect of light rather than static form.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Afterwards, review the sketchbook: which studies best capture a sense of place? Note observations in your learning log.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

    Study 1<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Location study no. 1. Gouache on A4 paper (Sketchbook). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    It was a sunny day but I must say the outdoor sketching is not my thing! I prefer to snap photographs and take them home with me. I was in the park with my daughter and my spouse on one of the first spring sunny days. I took a series of snapshots as prompts for this exercise. The first that caught my eye was this “obstacle”. I love the ambiguity of the fish feet and the hard shadows. I could see myself painting this! The picture has my feet in it and I debated whether to include them. I also liked the texture of the fish\/feet but I ran out of time to add them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Study 2<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Location study no. 2. Mixed media (Watercolour, crayons, and gouache). <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    I was trying to be more fluid, loose and bold with this second version. I lost the accuracy. There is part of me who just wants to let go of the loosey-goosey and would rather spend the next three hours on doing this “properly” rather than moving on to the next study, but I have more snapshots so will resist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Study 3<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Location study no. 3. Mixed media (colour pencils and watercolour) on paper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    This study was loosely inspired by a snapshot of my daughter and my spouse getting ready for skating in the park. I tried to free myself from the photograph while still conveying the mood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Study 4<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Location study no. 4. Mixed media (watercolour, pencils, and gouache) on paper<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    This was a difficult study. I wanted to convey movement but there was also a wonderful expression on my daughter’s face which I also wanted to convey except I could not get it. I spent so much time on that inch square! In the end, with a bit of luck and perseverance I got to a point where I could finally let go by giving up on the idea of getting the face “right” and leaving it up to the viewer to make it up! Looking back I feel I have captured her hesitant confidence on the skates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Study 5<\/h3>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Study no. 5. Charcoal and tinted graphite on paper.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    I tried different materials just for fun. I like the texture of the charcoal. These were XL blocks so they forced me to be less precise. I was trying to capture the light in the scene. The sky looks a little too dark as the only blue graphite block I have was already quite dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
    \"\"<\/figure><\/div>
    \"\"<\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
    \n
    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

    Study 6<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
    \"\"<\/a>
    Study no. 6. Mixed media (Charcoal, tinted graphite, watercolour, and gouache)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
    \n
    \"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

    For this last study I used another snapshot at the park. I like the composition. I tried to free myself from the reference and focus on the feeling and the light. The lined background was a little random and experimental to get me started. I like using that synthetic brush and lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Final thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    Did I enjoy this project? I think so! The tension between wanting to produce a satisfying end result and using the study as a tool to learn about my subject was real. But as I progressed through the study, I realise these were not to be “concluded” drawings like my drawing of a tree before. It was a struggle to keep the inner critic voice down and instead focussing on enjoying the process of thinking through making. I think I find it hard to simply looking without doing anything. I would happily just use a graphite pencils to draw the source. In fact I have done so in the past. My studies usually tend to be more refined but the challenge to complete several studies at once forced me to loosen up. I liked them all. Possibly studies no. 4 and 6 are my favourite ones, although when choosing one image to feature, I picked study no. 2 so I guess this one was my true favourite!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Developing artistic insight through fluid and bold mixed media techniques in diverse settings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,6],"tags":[35,38,36,33,34,37,39],"class_list":["post-513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-coursework","category-project-3","tag-felt_sense_of_place","tag-learning_log","tag-light_effect","tag-location_study","tag-outdoor_sketching","tag-sketchbook_review","tag-spring_sunny_day","has-thumbnail"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/APC_0133.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=513"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":550,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/513\/revisions\/550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=513"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=513"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gaelle-artstudio.com\/plog2026\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=513"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}