How to draw outside

Lately I’ve been taking my son to the park and letting him play while I sit nearby and draw in my sketchbook. As a result, I’ve gotten some practice choosing the most efficient materials, sketching quickly, and being more decisive on what I want to communicate. 

This month I thought I’d share some takeaways from my recent drawing escapades. Hopefully they serve as a good framework in your work as well.

Big and small.

An easy way to simplify your process on location is to group your materials into two categories: big and small. Try starting every drawing using only big materials. Notice the large shadow shapes, the blocks of color, or whatever interests you and put that down first. For me, doing this provides a good foundation on which I can easily build the rest of my artwork and makes the whole process feel less intimidating.

Then, when you feel like the sketch has a clear direction, go in with your smaller materials and noodle out the details. I try to not stay on this step too long and risk overworking my drawing. I would guess that I spend about thirty percent of my time on details.

For me, thinking about composition and experimenting with materials is most satisfying working outside, and detail-work is most interesting at my desk.

Heyward made a few contributions to this page.

Dark, middle, light.

Effectively portraying value is the most important on-location drawing skill, full stop. Whenever an artwork of mine isn’t clear, it’s usually because there’s an issue with the values– which is why before adding something to my drawing I always ask myself “Is this a dark, middle, or light?”

In a good composition, values do most of the heavy-lifting. So I usually try and solve them in the beginning while I’m still working with bigger materials. This allows my smaller additions to be the icing on an already delicious cake.

Feeling over accuracy.

One of the most paradigm-shifting lessons from my time in the Cambridge MA was a workshop called “Character of Place.” With my extremely academic art background, I was new to the idea of conveying a scene’s spirit, rather than simply copying it on a page. 

While it might sound silly to some, the “Character of Place” workshop genuinely rocked my world and changed the way I approach drawing forever. These days, I try mightily to not copy what I see. Rather I think about how I feel in a certain location, then look for the reasons why and draw them.

The first thirty minutes is trudging through mud.

Drawing on location is a lot like running; do it every day and you feel on top of the world, but miss a few days and it feels like starting over. Working on location is an elusive skill and rust builds up fast.

For me, the first thirty minutes of on-location drawing is usually a bit frustrating. My work looks stiff and timid, and I struggle to make decisions. But after the thirty-minute slog, I usually get to the good stuff (a glorious hour or so of effortless art-making before my son throws my pencils into the stream).

Drawing outside has always been one of my favorite ways to make art. Lately I've especially enjoyed testing out new materials and loosening up my control. I hope this list inspires you to take your sketchbook out in the world and experiment as well.

What other tips would you add to the list?

-Audrey Day