Are you interested in learning
to do watercolor sketches outdoors? I have included this section to
help beginners get started in this pleasant pursuit or perhaps you simply want
to know how I go about it, in which case this section may be of interest
to you.
When painting outdoors, I go for the simplest, lightest,
smallest painting equipment possible. In a studio one can tolerate
massive mixing palates, multitudinous tubes of paint of every color of the
rainbow, brushes of every shape and size and gallons of water. But
outside I make it my religion to simplify.
Here is all that you really need: Watercolor paper, a few
well-chosen watercolors in a portable form, a few brushes, both flat and
round, pencil and eraser, a small plastic water bottle, a small white area
for mixing color, and a comfortable stool. I will first describe the
materials, and then go on to suggest some of the techniques involved in
sketching and painting small watercolor sketches outdoors.
