As there is a group of people going through my SketchingNow Foundations course at the moment, I thought I would revisit the lessons as well. I want to find new ways of applying the concepts to my sketching as it is right now.

The first is all about getting to know (and love) your materials – and the challenge is to spend time with the materials that you already have, rather than buy up every art supply on the planet! You can read more about it here in last year’s Lesson 1 Foundations Friday article.

As I thought through my sketching kit, like last year, I realised that I don’t use my Aquarelle Graphite pencil much. And interestingly enough two of the significant sketches in 2016 were done using it.

This sketch was drawn the day I heard the tragic news about the passing away of Flaf. More about it here.

My favourite sketch of the Salute, Venice from my big Europe16 trip. More thoughts about this sketch here.

So just as I did last year, I decided to intentionally use this pencil again and see what type of sketching it suits.

At the moment I am in New Zealand, travelling with Chris Haldane and have lots going on (this is an understatement!) However on Tuesday I managed to use the Aquarelle Graphite pencil for three sketches and really enjoyed how quickly I was able to work. I loved using it both wet and dry and getting very expressive lines.

I would like to write a little more, but I only have time to  simply share the sketches… so feel free to ask questions and I will reply when I get a chance.

Note: Sometimes keeping up with an online course is a struggle and  you have to just do what you can to keep up with the group. So I am starting off this re-visit of Foundations this way!

If you are doing the course, I hope you get some good time to play with your materials this week! If you are a beginner, I hope that you really start the ‘bonding process’ with your tools. If you are a seasoned sketcher, I hope you find something new in your kit to explore. I would love to hear how you went!

If you are interested in joining in, click here for more details about SketchingNow Foundations.
Please note: this is a self directed course with ‘lifetime’ access so you can work at your own pace and come back to the lessons as many times as you like.