Watercolor Artist - USA (2020-06)

62 Watercolor artist | JUNE 2020

W

henI wasinTuscanyforthreeweekslast

fall,teachingpleinairworkshops,thefinal

excursionofthetripwasa visittothebeau-

tifulItaliancityofSiena.Aftera morning

teachingsession,I gavetheparticipantsfree

timetoexploretheareaontheirownbeforemeetingback

atthepickuplocation.Everybodyhada differentplan—

fromshoppingortakinga walkingtour,tosketchingor

havinga leisurelylunchina café.

I decidedtostrikeoutonmyowntoseekouta back

street,perhapswhereI couldsitandsketchinconspicuously,

observingeverydaylifeinSiena.Afterwalkingaroundforan

hourorso,I foundtheperfectspot.Sittingthere,I wasable

towatchkidscominghomefromschool,girlsflirtingwith

boysandwomencarryinggroceries.EverythingI couldhope

for!I alsohada perfectviewofSantaMariaChurch,plus

Sketching

SienaSiena

SKETCHING ON LOCATION IS GOOD

FOR HONING YOUR ART SKILLS,

BUT IT’S ALSO A PRACTICE THAT

CAN ELEVATE YOUR EXPERIENCE

OF A PLACE. AN AFTERNOON SPENT

SKETCHING ON A SIDE STREET IN

SIENA, ITALY, BROUGHT HOME

THIS IDEA IN A POWERFUL WAY.

By Brenda Swenson

One Scene, Five Takes

When I sketch on location, the scene and events of the

day remain vivid for weeks, months, even years. The

practice helps the image become burned into my

heart and mind. Photos are a wonderful tool, but they

seldom capture the emotion of a scene in the same

way that a sketch can.

The sketches on

these pages depict

the same scene in

Siena—each one a bit

different. I’ve used a

reference photo (at

right) and my original

sketch, done on

location (above).

I’ve drawn from the

emotional experience

as a guide as well.

I plan to do a painting

eventually, but for

now I’m trying out

different surfaces.

As you can see,

I’m not done

exploring the multitude ofwaysI caninterpretthe

same scene. Exploring various approaches and

materials is a good way to stretch creative muscles

and grow in new directions.

My original

sketch of Siena

was created in

a 10x8-inch

Stillman & Birn

Beta series

sketchbook.