We’re all packed up and ready to head out for a weekend camping trip with the grandkids this morning, but I wanted to post one more Maine sketch before I go……
I can’t remember a time when I’ve felt more content than I did one beautiful June day in Blue Hill, Maine, when I sat in a meadow filled with wildflowers to do this sketch. It was pure happiness.
Bees were buzzing among the flowers, birds soared overhead, and a light breeze kept things cool enough to be comfortable. A plein air sketcher couldn’t ask for anything more.
I did a quick pencil block-in first then inked the sketch with my Sailor fude fountain pen filled with permanent black ink.
The sun was intense that day and the grasses glowed yellow-green in the distant meadows. I wanted my painting to reflect the direct summer light, so I kept things bright and sunny, painting the fields with washes of green and yellow, and allowing the colors to blend on the paper. Swathes of rust-colored weeds offered perfect complementary accents.
Wet-in-wet washes of ultramarine and phthalo blended with burnt sienna near the shoreline of the water. After they dried, I added a few dashes of darker blues to deepen the color where the water was deeper.
The trees were given a first pass with varied greens and yellows, then darker values were added wet-on-dry to give the trees dimension and suggest individual forms. (This technique is detailed in my “How to Paint Distant & Midground Trees & Foliage” tutorial, available here.)
While I was painting, my mom sat nearby with her library book, content to while away an hour with me in that picture-perfect place. She’s the best traveling companion.
I finished the bulk of the sketch on location that day then put a few finishing touches on the page later at home.
I had attempted to save the white of the paper for the daisies, but, in the end, I used a white pen to add a few more white petals where my greens had intruded on the flowers.
The font I chose for the title lettering is Elliottland J, a stylish adaptation of traditional Roman letterforms. I printed it out in the size I needed to fit the space then transferred it to my page using my own homemade graphite transfer paper. The letters were inked with a Pigma Micron 01 pen and painted with watercolor.
This sketch doesn’t have a fancy page layout or a hand-drawn border or any technical wizardry with paint or pen, but for me it captures a perfect moment of time in magical Maine.
19 Comments
Magical indeed! I love how beautifully flat your sketchbook lays.
This is the Etchr Perfect Sketchbook, and it does lay flat with just a smoothing-down of the page. I still put clips on the corners to keep the wind from blowing the pages and surprising me when I have a sketch full of wet washes.
Love all the details of how you did this wonderful sketch. How you did the lettering. Who would’ve know this tip. I always loved the way your mother had a good book to read. Precious moments.
There’s probably information in your handbook from the Croatia trip about how to transfer lettering. Might be a good refresher for you.
I love your ability to reduce the feel as well as the essence of a scene into a wonderful piece of art. Then to be able to teach others the technics to create their own art. Thanks a million!
Thank you for your sweet comment, Ann. I just want to spread the fun and joy of sketching. 🙂
I just love your sketches Leslie and the stories that go with them and feel thankful to have taken some classes with you in Florida. One question, you said you printed out Elliotland font and transferred them. I know how to transfer but how did you get the non standard font on your computer. I’m not very tech savvy. Thank you again for your beautiful stories.
Good news – I’m coming back to teach in Sarasota next February! I’ll be making an announcement very soon. Sure hope you can be there.
To install a font on your computer, look for the Download button next to the font. Click it and the font will go into your downloads folder. Double click it to open it, then click Install, and it will install onto your computer. Sometimes there are several fonts in the folder that downloads from dafont.com – choose the one that is a .ttf or .otf file. Sometimes they give you italic, bold, and thin font variations and you can install them, too, if you like.
These instructions work on a pc or laptop. I’m not sure how to add fonts to a tablet. Hope this helps you figure it out.
Thank you so much Leslie. I hope I can come to a course in Florida. Had so much fun last time!
This is really evocative for me. And since I’m a more “down and dirty” sketcher, I really appreciate the more simple format of this scene. I admire your more elaborate spreads, but this looks more attainable. Thank you!
Yeah, sometimes we just want to dive right in and get to it, and there’s a lot to be said for that. The only planning I did for this page was to leave space for a title across the sky.
Just beautiful Leslie!!!
Thanks, Beverlee!
I too feel lucky to have taken a class from you in FL. Love this spontaneous page. Your colors are bright and lovely. Not muddy. I struggle with that. And I’m jealous of you and your mom getting to spend so much time together. I miss my sweet mom. At least we got to play a little golf together!
I treasure every day with my mother. She just celebrated her 90th birthday, and I keep telling her I’m planning her 100th birthday party!
Thank you for sharing joy and beauty through your art! Please know we really appreciate your work to upload and post your newsletter.
Thanks so much, Laura. And thanks for reading and commenting!
Love your watercolor sketches of Maine and the close up photos to show your work. I took your class when you came to San Clemente a few years ago and enjoyed it so much……now I can’t wait for the French Alps trip in September to get more of your watercolor tips. The hardest part will be packing the Art Supplies. In your photo above showing your supplies, I was wondering which paint palette you are using. … looks like a metal palette? I did receive your tips for supplies to bring so I’m narrowing it down .
Hi Sandy – The palette shown in the photo is one I ordered from Amazon and filled with tube watercolors. Here’s the link: https://tinyurl.com/yh73t6ph
It’s a nice size for travel sketching (4.7″ x 2.6″) and, even though it’s small, there’s quite a bit of mixing space, and I can have 20 colors of paint. I put stick-on magnetic strips on my Coroplast board to hold the metal palette in place.