LESSON VI - Part 2: Ten BLUE Sketchbook/Color Exercises to Try

Try a few, or all, of these "very cool" BLUE exercises . . .


For the first few color studies, you will need some watercolor paper (this can be a watercolor sketchbook, paper from a watercolor pad, scraps of good watercolor paper, or the backs of your old paintings).


1)  FACES --

Start with a wet-in-wet underpainting, using all your blues, and a few analogous colors (like green and magenta).  Let this dry completely.

Find some faces from your magazines, and tear them out to use for references.  (For this exercise, I recommend NOT using photos of people you know, because then you'll be too worried about getting a likeness).  Don't worry about that.

Cut up your painted watercolor paper into 4 x 6 pieces, and do a contour drawing of a face, using a black felt pen, on each piece.  Try at least one face, but not more than 6 . . .

2)  A WINTER SKETCH --

Without drawing first, paint a quick color sketch, that gives the "feeling" of winter . . . 

3)  A FISH "OVER" WATER -- 

Start with a wet-in-wet mingling on a small piece of watercolor paper, using a granular blue (like French Ultramarine or Cerulean Blue), plus a little of an earth color or two (like Quinacridone Gold).  When this is dry, draw a fish, and then paint it, keeping most of the fish transparent, so as not to totally cover up the underpainting.  Finish with a few darks on the fish . . . 

4)  BLUE "WAVES" -- 

On dry paper and using a big brush, paint some big wavy, watery swaths of color -- mostly blues, with a little magenta and/or red -- and leaving just a few bits of white showing.  While this is drying, paint some more wavy lines, using more pigment this time (French Ultramarine and Phthalo Blue).  Finish with a little spattering of red . . . 

5)  SAILBOATS SURROUNDED BY BLUE -- 

With a soft 6B pencil, or a charcoal pencil, draw a sailboat in the water, near a dock or harbor.  With your watercolors, paint some wet blues for the sky and the water, leaving some white shapes unpainted.  Add a few spots of bright warm color, and finish your sketch with some darks (pencil or paint).

Use your sketchbook for the rest of the exercises . . . 

6)  IMPRESSIONS OF YOUR DAY -- Using a blue fine marker, or even a blue ballpoint pen, draw a few images of some things in your environment. And then, jot down a line or 2 next to each one -- all on the same sketchbook page.  Then, date the page . . . 

7)  A "BLUE" BIRD -- 

Draw a "blue" bird, either from life or from a photo, in pencil.  Add color with colored pencils (or watercolor pencils), using different blues, and adding a few spots of warm colors for contrast . . . 

8)  FLOWER DOODLES --

Find pictures of a few blue flowers, or you can use my doodles as reference.  

Now, just start drawing the flowers, shape by shape, with a black felt pen.  Once you're filled up your sketchbook page with your lines, you can add color with markers or colored pencils.

Comedian Larry David, in HBO's "Curb Your Enthusiasm" said, "I can't draw to save my life, but yet, I'm a very good doodler".

9)  BLUE CONTOUR DRAWINGS --

Using a blue felt tip pen, draw one or two contour drawings of something in your home . . . 

10)  JUST FOR FUN -- 

While looking at a stone wall, draw just the cracks, with a contour line in black felt pen.  Choose one of these shapes and turn it into a little creature.  Draw a frame around it with some lines in the background, to break up the negative space.  

Now, try some paint "sanding", in some of the background shapes.  Wet one of the shapes with clear water, and then, rub the end of any blue watercolor pencil on a sandpaper block, so the particles land on the wet shape.  (This only works with watercolor pencils, not regular colored pencils.)

All right!  Now, it's time for a cup of hot tea or coffee -- to warm up after all this COOL BLUE drawing and painting . . .