I have to admit that I’m pleased that this particular lesson (a review of previous lessons rather than a new concept) coincided with my big moving week as I’m not really in a super-sketching mood. Exhaustion and stiffness are more the order of the day. However, I can always sketch a teacup! So please forgive my lack of innovation when it comes to subject matter this week.

Lesson 7 is all about putting together the various concepts from Lessons 1 – 6 into a single sketch. As I am trying to do new stuff in this year’s Foundations Friday series (to demonstrate how I use these basic concepts in more advanced or experimental work) I decided to try a few fun techniques and live dangerously – ie. I had no plan beforehand what I was going to do, so I ended up improvising quite a bit!

Here are some progress photos with a few comments:

The first step was to do some measuring for the important dimensions of the teacup and saucer, thinking about its form – constructing volumes!

As I normally like to start my teacup sketches with the shape of the tea (Abstracting Shapes) I decided to do my Measured Setup in paint. These marks were able to be hidden in the completed painted shape. (Note to self: I should do this more often.) I then decided to use my watercolour pencils for locating the gold rims. Getting the volumes constructed is often my first step.

Then it was time to be a little looser (Minimal Setup), simplifying the pattern into a few shapes (abstracting shapes) and allowing myself to paint these freely, relying on my eye-hand coordination (feeling edges).

At this stage I could have finished the sketch, but for this exercise, I decided to layer some ink over the top. Why not?

I am testing a new ink (a water-soluble sepia ink) so in the spirit of Lesson 1’s concept – knowing and loving your materials – I decided to play with it a little more.

So there you have it – all six concepts in one sketch!

This is part of a series Foundations Friday where I am revisiting the lessons of my SketchingNow Foundations online class, and exploring the concepts in a new way. To find out more about the course click here.