Coastal Georgia Sketching

Coastal Georgia is one of my favorite places to sketch. The barrier islands, from the Lowcountry near Charleston to the Golden Isles of South Georgia, are extraordinarily beautiful. There is always something amazing to sketch, from wildlife to sweeping landscapes. I always return from a trip renewed and inspired to paint more.

Palmettos in my journal.

I usually bring at least a journal and a watercolor block. That way, I can alternate while the other is drying since I like doing about 3 washes on each sketch.

This trip, I was particularly inspired by the palmetto palms - as usual. The wonderful shadows, basketweave effect on the trunks, and the bright light patches broken up by the fronds make for fantastic sketching.

In my studio, I usually reserve whites with a combination of wax crayon and masking. Plein aire, I don't use masking since it takes too long and gets to messy. Instead, I use wax and some marvelous water-soluble wax pastel crayons by Caran d'Ache. I have white pastels to mimic the white paper and a light gold to give golden highlights. They're a bit tempting to over use, but since they are water-soluble, over-enthusiasm can be dimmed, at least!

In this sketch, I got a little over-enthusiastic with my water-soluble wax pastels!

I usually bring at least a journal and a watercolor block. That way, I can alternate while the other is drying since I like doing about 3 washes on each sketch.

This trip, I was particularly inspired by the palmetto palms - as usual. The wonderful shadows, basketweave effect on the trunks, and the bright light patches broken up by the fronds make for fantastic sketching.

In my studio, I usually reserve whites with a combination of wax crayon and masking. Plein aire, I don't use masking since it takes too long and gets too messy. Instead, I use wax and some marvelous water-soluble wax pastel crayons by Caran d'Ache. I have white pastels to mimic the white paper and a light gold to give golden highlights. They're a bit tempting to over use, but since they are water-soluble, over-enthusiasm can be dimmed, at least!

I camped with my 2 boys this trip. I usually like camping since I'm staying in the middle of what I'm painting. Three of these sketches were done next to my tent, so I didn't even have to go anywhere. That makes for a very productive week!

I rarely travel somewhere I don't want to be outside during the day, so camping is perfect. Plus, s'mores!

Staying next to the scenery is one of the biggest luxuries an artist can have.

Besides being easy to start painting, you see your subjects in several different lights. By the end of the week, you have a much better idea of how you want to present them.

I was really concentrating on the water in this sketch. This sketch is more about learning how to paint that muddy water / sky reflections effect than a pretty sketch.

Sometimes I'll paint to remember a gorgeous scene. Other times, I'm just learning how to paint one aspect of the scene and composition and pretty goes out the window.

I can't tell you how many times I've sketched salt marshes and how many times I've tried to get the water movement, mud churning, sky reflections where it really looked alive. Each time I come a little closer, but it's a huge challenge - and great fun!

This was my last sketch of the trip. It started out great, but was finished in a big hurry when my bug spray wore off and the gnats attacked!

I'm posting a more detailed video on this sketch soon.

As you can see, watercolor sketching doesn't need a lot of equipment. If you're more adventurous, it's easy to leave the easel, chair and table and pack it all in a backpack. It's what watercolor was designed to do, after all.

Going on a trip and sketching half the days is just one of the best things in the world to do. I hope the video inspires some of you to go sketch a little today. And maybe plan a camping and sketching adventure!