- Hi, this is Kath Macaulay, what we're gonna do this time in "Pocket Sketching" is focal point.

It's a huge bugaboo.

How do you go from something with all this stuff in it, all this stuff, to picking a focal point and featuring it in about 20 minutes?

Really, this is a whale of a lot of fun.

Can't wait to have you come along and see how you do it.

(bright music) Hi, and welcome back to "Pocket Sketching."

We're gonna do something that's a tad on the discipline side today, but it's absolutely essential.

It's one of the biggest bugaboos going on out there.

You go outside and I'm gonna show you what happens.

This is actually a really nice photograph, but there's tons of stuff and you get overwhelmed.

And this is one of the biggest fears of beginning painters.

When you go outdoors, it's called plein air.

It's painting on location with reality, just the way it is.

The bugs, the gate, the people, whatever.

And the biggest, biggest problem is sorting it out.

So what do you do to sort it out?

You get there and there's too much, and you can't figure out what your focal point is, well, may I suggest this is one of the best times to bring your cellphone and simply take a picture.

Now you've got it.

Now you don't have to put it on your paper.

Thank goodness, because you already have it.

Now, I'm gonna show you what happens if you don't do something like that.

This was a very much fought-after sketch which is from one of our resorts in Tucson.

What I wanted was this area right there.

I wanted to get the idea of the mountains and the foliage.

But what happens is you split and get more than one focal point.

There's one, here's another.

And then there's basically one over here.

As soon as you've left that first one, you have left your focal point.

So after I got home, I wanted to know how long it would take to isolate that focal point and capture just that.

So I timed it.

This took 11 and a half minutes.

It's got it all.

It's got the buildings, mountain background, little bit of greenery, and the feeling.

There's no feeling in this.

And a camera would have done it much better than I did it.

So we're gonna go on from here and actually be using this lesson today.

It's a terrific lesson.

One you'll fight over, but it's worth the fight.

The piece that we've got up on the monitor, this one, let me show you where it came from.

It's in Ann Arbor.

It was this building.

And I had to figure out what I liked the best.

So you look, and when you're looking, something catches your eye.

Go back to that.

When you go back to it, now isolate it.

I use this as a viewfinder, look through the hole.

Use that as a viewfinder, this is a vertical, that's a horizontal.

You need no more equipment than that.

And then what do you need to bring in and what do you need to throw out to get it to work?

First, figure out what the focal point is.

Now, stay on point.

That's a bird dog term to use for setters, spaniels, pointers, stay on point, don't flinch.

That's really, really hard because you'll see the thing next to it and try to go to it.

So we're actually gonna use this photograph because we're not going outside, our weather's not perfect.

I'm gonna use this photograph and I can say it is confusing at best.

So it takes just a little bit to think about, okay, where's my focal point?

Is it there?

That's actually a second picture basically.

It is the same picture.

This is like Oswego in Oregon.

And there are channels with houses.

And you can take the boats on the channels or on the lake.

It's a lovely place.

I love this, this yard is right next to that yard, next to more yards on down the canal.

And the bridge is just right above this yard.

Now, I like this yard.

So if I like that yard, can I stay on point?

I don't know, can I stay on point?

If my point is this umbrella, this umbrella, well, now I'm looking for an angle on the umbrella.

Incidentally, if you hear your language or participate in your language when you are sketching, you will automatically pop into the left side of your brain.

That's your logical numbers, language side, away from your creative, meditative side.

So don't be talking.

Don't be listening to your language.

And by the way, I do a much better, much better work when I'm not talking.

Much better work.

And when I'm concentrating on what I'm doing, okay.

Hmm, well, right now, I've changed, I've changed, I don't have what I want.

Let's see what happens whether it'll work.

Will it work?

I've changed the angle where I can get these chairs, changed it completely.

Oh well, let's see what happens next.

This one, bring it in this way 'cause I can't get it.

I made this too big.

And sometimes you just go with what happens.

You might not like it, but you can go with it.

I'm trying to follow the angles on the paper, on the, on the, okay, I can handle this.

There's the arm, another arm, then this one has an arm.

I must say, having it on a two dimensional photograph has its advantages over reality.

Reality, I'd have to figure these angles.

I don't have to figure 'em because they're there for me.

That chair leg comes down about here, okay.

It was the umbrella that got my attention.

So I'm gonna try to get the umbrella.

And this comes in here.

There, these are narrower, narrower and back, okay.

Now, I'm not gonna do all this stuff back here.

No, watch me get out of it.

Watch me try to get out of it, (laughing) we're just trying to make it work, right?

There's the dirt, there's the boat, boat.

Let's see if we can get it.

It's all about this.

Remember, this is what's important.

This is where I have the chance to change focal point.

Go back and get the boat in the canal, right?

Wrong 'cause you do that and you've just changed focal point.

So try to not do that.

That's a dark, okay.

Then this is water, it comes in like this.

Love the flag.

Don't put it square up the middle.

That's really bad design, really bad design.

It's either gonna be over here and it's gonna attract attention.

It could be back here.

I'd planned to put the tree trunks in.

Not, we're just gonna move.

Remember I said you could design?

You are not stuck with what you see.

You are not stuck.

So here comes... Now, oddly enough, I'm not looking at a flag.

So I'm probably not gonna remember how many stars and how many stripes, oh well.

Okay, it's in there.

There's another one of these way back in the distance.

So I'm gonna put that in because I like it.

There, it goes back here.

Might help hide what I do to the flag too.

(laughing) Okay, that's in there, and there's other stuff back there.

Just things, but it gets it seriously dark.

Seriously dark.

Can we get that in there too?

Forget all the stuff that's going on.

Little bit of bunting, okay?

Maybe a fence with bunting over it.

How much stuff do I want in here?

Duh.

(laughing) Okay, I don't want that much stuff.

Come down here.

The water level is probably at my eye level.

It's way down here.

There are houses back there.

Do I want houses?

Do I want houses?

I don't know.

There's a house, it's not very big.

Trees, trees, big tree, big tree, big, big tree.

By the way, if your pen starts to wear out, the ones that are slightly wearing out, they are fabulous for fine lines.

Don't throw them out till they won't write.

When they won't write, by all means, But until then, okay, over in here, is this a white boat?

If it's a white boat, here is your chance to make that channel work.

There are some houses back there, dark, dark, dark, simplify, not simplify, slimplify.

Oh yeah, oh, and you can play with words while you're doing this, but don't be talking.

Don't bring this to the center of the page.

There's dark, dark, dark back here.

Really dark, there are trees.

I'm gonna worry about them later, dark.

So far, I'm looking for my darks.

Some of this in here, now up in here.

This is, this will tell you it's a tree.

It won't tell you right now.

Surely won't tell you right now.

Okay, don't repeat that exactly.

Got down to where, okay, I wanted this very simple umbrella.

That was the focal point with the two chairs.

I'm okay with this.

I'm not quite sure how that goes.

Maybe it'll show me, I don't know.

This tree reflects, again, it's gonna help show off the boat.

Don't let the boat take over.

Don't let the boat become the next focal point.

Shadows are straight.

They don't go sideways, they're straight.

Lights on the water are straight too.

I don't have any, but they're straight.

They're a reflection.

This is a dark, and there are flowers.

And there's light foliage.

How far down, ooh, almost, I almost whacked that back umbrella, almost.

Okay, I think I've got, we've got a bunch here.

Now, something I do occasionally, just occasionally, is set a color because I wanted to key other colors to it.

So I'm gonna see about, oh, by the way, I didn't tell you.

When you come outside, I put this here to remind myself, use a timer.

I've got this giant wristwatch.

And what I normally do when I'm outdoors, this is indoors, it's a little bit set up, let's say, let's say it were four o'clock when I started.

A half inch here is never gonna be a normal framing.

These pads are six and a half inches.

Normal, inexpensive framing, standard size is four by six, not four by six and a half.

I can put anything I want here.

So what I'd be putting here would be 20 minutes later.

I'd have 20 minutes, and then five minutes beyond that.

So at 4:20 on my watch, it's not the actual time, at 4:20 I have gotta be ready to either finish or split.

And let me tell you.

There's nothing quite as much fun, if you've got a bad one going, you got to 20 minutes, and you take a look at it and you say, loser, absolutely loser, I'm outta here.

My mother's not here.

There's nobody to make me do this.

I'm gone, count me gone, because you have a much better chance to start a new one that's good than to try to fix one that you're laboring over, that's going downhill.

Just don't take the ride downhill.

Just check that timer.

Oh, by the way, I don't need a timer on my table anymore.

I just wanted to remind myself.

Now, the reds, the reds are important.

They're in a couple of places.

The one over here, that's red and white.

Tough thing to handle because the ink is gonna flow into it a tad.

But I bet I can get it well enough, well enough to do that because I don't wanna lose it, there.

And then the other one I wanna be sure to get is this color.

It's here and it's there.

And that's just to remind me that those are there, and that they're very, very important in this case.

Okay, now, where do I wanna start?

I usually, well frequently, frequently start with my focal point because I wanna get it.

Sort of like if you don't get it, (laughing) why are you working on it a little harder and harder, really?

You already didn't get it, really?

Okay.

So I'm gonna do it, sort of like lipstick, it's kind of fun.

I'm not usually this careful.

Funny, sometimes you change.

On a given day you may be nitpicky.

You may be incredibly good and incredibly fast.

That's a given day, every day is different.

So don't let it bother you.

And when you have a bad day, go ahead and paint anyway because it's adding to the experience, and the next day is gonna be different.

Now, I don't usually stay in the lines.

This is just not like me at all.

I've just stayed in the lines, oh well.

(laughing) You do what you do.

I know what I want back here.

This is a green lawn.

So take a look at that green lawn, does it vary much?

I can always clean it up later.

At this point, the pen line is both the skeleton and your source of value changes.

Value changes, your black/white scale.

Everything, all your grays.

But I don't like having to stay away from that and it's wet.

So I'm just gonna put this in and go play someplace else for a while.

Forget that, back here it's a fairly light tree.

That's very dark on the bottom, too light, but that's okay.

I wanna get some of that yellow in there, just some.

And yellow is usually a foreground color.

But in this case it's mixed with green.

So I'm gonna go here and then pick up the green.

Yeah, that's okay.

Just mix it in.

The brush does this all for you.

Just go along with the brush.

Now, this is more like, this is more like I normally work.

Pick up that line, move it into something.

That's more, that's more me.

It just, it's funny, it's just, you change.

Okay, now, I'm trying to hurry along here a tad.

That big conifer in the background, I don't know if it's this dark.

It's more green than that.

Notice I'm mixing right on the paper?

You put something on, wrong color, change it.

You don't have to sit there was a huge hunk of blotter and be matching every color as you go.

Oh no, you can do it, there are many other ways.

Okay, coming all the way down here, I wanna go darker.

That's not a bad color, not bad.

It's kinda funny, this is my field paint set.

And I've got extra colors in it from what comes in the manufacturer, in this case.

And you can buy these things, they're are called half pans.

You can buy them and put in colors that you really, really like.

There, the boat's gonna start to stand out.

That ought to be quite dark, fairly dark, it goes almost to black in the photo.

Photography tends to darken your darks.

I'm okay with that.

So now it's hustle, hustle, hustle along.

So these are lighter greens, they're still greenish.

And there's always a question of, hey, is this gonna work?

(laughing) That's always a big one, but does it matter?

Why are you here?

Are you here so that somebody will say wow when they walk in the house and, "Oh, I didn't know you could paint," and, "Boy, that's spectacular."

Or are you here for pleasure?

If you're here for pleasure, you can certainly enjoy this differently.

Okay, now, does this come up?

What about, I didn't think of this before, but now I'm thinkin' about it.

Anybody for sky?

(laughing) Didn't think of that.

Right now, I'm just thinking of, hey, is this gonna come together, 'cause you don't know.

Is it gonna come together?

There is another umbrella.

There's nothing there.

It just changed the color of the stub on the top of this umbrella.

Well, changed the angle on that umbrella.

It's in there, changed the angle, I blew it.

Lost part of it, that's okay.

It's real dark.

And I wanted to make it real dark, but I did blow it on the umbrella, it's okay.

Maybe I don't want the umbrella back there.

Changing this and makin' it greener 'cause I want it to appear to be green, not black.

If you haven't noticed, you can change the color as you go.

You are not stuck.

A lot of people think you're stuck.

Now, a few leaves to make it look like leaves, just a few.

Hustling along now.

I don't wanna spend a lot of time because if I were doing this in my usual 20 minutes, I don't wanna spend forever on it.

Gonna bring this in a little bit here.

Bring that in, come in here.

Coming down on the sky there, okay, dark over here.

This part should go fast, should go, whoop.

Well, we just abandoned that back umbrella, how's that?

Change your mind, it's your path, your sketch.

And I got a little bit of that red that it's wet, more humid than I'm used to.

So it has flowed in, it shouldn't have, did.

But let's see how the rest of it works.

Brilliant blue.

Now, if I put it on there right now, it's gonna run.

So skip, skip that.

Come back in here instead and get the umbrella.

Get the umbrella.

Be sure to get the umbrella.

This does have angles.

It's striped.

I'm not gonna worry that it's not following exactly.

Good enough.

Any other red?

No, well, I'm done with the red.

How quickly.

Remember I said had flowers over in here?

There are some, there are flowers.

They may not look like flowers to you.

They look like flowers to me.

And there's gotta be green grass back in there, just a bit.

(laughing) You never know how these babies are gonna come together.

Got a problem with the rest of the other side.

Don't have this part done yet.

Come in here, and that tree is a green.

There's the boat, there's the water.

A bit of muck, do I have muck?

I need some muck.

There's the boat.

There's some plants over here.

Their bottoms are dark.

You need the legs on the chair.

I don't care that I've got green in the brush.

I need legs on the chair.

And there's one teeny, teeny, teeny thing left to go.

Just a teeny little thing.

It's right up here.

And this should be dry.

It is the 4th of July, done as fast as I could put it together.

Probably have a little bit of this in here, and in there, and in there like that, then there you go.

Now, that's as quickly as I could get just a focal point, and the vocal point is extremely important.

And I'm so glad you came along.

I think it worked pretty well for going really, really fast.

If you wanted sky, I suppose you could put some in, nah, it would just, I just slosh it in like that, but there'd be sky.

So this is it.

Thank you very much for coming along.

It's "Pocket Sketching."

Everything is compact.

You can do it fast.

It's a whale of a lot of fun.

Don't take it seriously.

You don't have to bring everything with you.

It's a tiny bit of equipment.

And you have a focal point you're after, that's it.

Enjoy, happy sketching.

Want to learn more about the wonderful world of pocket sketching?

Then visit my website at pocketsketching.com.

We have so much there for you to explore, including free tips and training videos, the pocket sketching supplies, photo galleries, and how to access additional training.

All this and more is available at pocketsketching.com.

Learn enough to play for a lifetime.

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