- Hi, I'm Kath Macaulay and this is Pocket Sketching.

Where can you learn to do something in 20 minutes or less, not make a mess, have almost no time in clean up, and go outside and paint, and wear nice clothes?

Well, we're gonna do virtual travel sketching this time because I'm gonna use a photograph like you do.

We're gonna do it inside, but it's the same idea.

It's quick.

If it's bad, it doesn't matter, it's only 20 minutes and it's totally compact and clean.

Come join me, it's so much fun.

(upbeat music) I've taught workshops around the country for years and I hear problems constantly from going outdoors.

People are afraid to go.

There's too much stuff to bring along.

You're gonna have to schlep it all.

There's much more than that.

Here's a picture of me set up to do oil painting.

Now, that easel, when it's loaded with paints and brushes, it's about 20 pounds.

It also has to be unfolded.

It goes in a small box.

It has to be unfolded and set up and the paints get set out and you put a canvas on the top and there's a bucket of equipment down here.

And you haul all of this.

And you also wear grubby clothes because you're likely to get paint on yourself.

I mean, this is one of the reasons people don't wanna go.

They're thinking of taking the kitchen sink with them and loading up the car with all of this stuff.

This is a typical watercolorist.

It's a great painting, but a typical watercolorist.

He's brought a table.

He's brought paper.

He's got an umbrella.

And he's here to paint.

But this isn't all.

When you get done setting it up and painting, you get to put it away.

And by that time, you may be completely fed up with it.

There's another way.

I was out on a major, major painting trip and I was using pencil.

This is a pencil sketch.

It's all rubbed off.

And that happens in the field.

And I was using India ink, which is wonderfully permanent.

But you also spill it in the car and it looks like a Dell computer box.

And I turned around to write a note to a friend and I picked up a water-soluble pen, just total by accident.

And let me show you the difference between this and a ballpoint.

That's a water-soluble pen, this is a ballpoint.

Very, very traditional, you learn to hatch and crosshatch.

But on this, you have wiggle room.

Originally, her chin was here, and you can correct it and pull it out.

I had never seen this before and I began using it extensively.

And it's changed everything.

Pocket sketching is because of being able to be completely mobile.

Now, this is my equipment.

I'm totally up street side.

I can wear something like what I have on today and not make a mess out of it.

You'll see how fast this is to get out, set up, and use.

Paper pad, paint set, set it up.

Brush is in it, and water.

Open the water up.

Now, I'm working on a table.

I'm not gonna be outdoors.

And a friend of mine gave me the name for this.

She calls it virtual travel sketching.

We all have fabulous photos in our phones or in a camera.

And we liked it.

We liked the place, that's why we took the picture.

Well, you can stay at home and do this and not have to go anywhere, which is basically what I'm gonna be doing in a minute.

So I have a photo.

So there's my photo.

And I liked the photo, so this is what I'm gonna be using.

All of the equipment is right here.

There's nothing more than this.

And I'm ready to go.

I have to look at the photo for a minute.

Decide, okay, what's my focal point?

Where am I gonna start?

Oil painters start with the sky, everybody else has different methods.

Many people start with the biggest thing they're going to include.

And I probably do that.

Some people start with a focal point, gotta figure out what it is.

But just get started.

And there's no big commitment here.

There's no mess.

There's not gonna be any cleanup.

Wait till you see, no cleanup.

Do I want it to be vertical?

Yeah, I'm making a few decisions here because I can...

This is where you make the decisions.

I usually put my time on the top.

So this pad is six and a half inches long.

This will never be in standard framing.

So let's say I started at 12 o'clock.

I would put 20 minutes later on here.

That's a 20 minute time to sketch.

Oh, by the way, you don't have your equipment out if you're using oils.

You don't even have your equipment out to use it by this time.

So I'm just gonna sort of rough this out.

Rough it out.

Do I like...

I don't have to use the photo exactly.

I can change it.

Is that cactus gonna be in here?

I'm from Tucson, by the way, that's why I have cactus.

I love the light and dark pattern.

Maybe it's all about the light and dark pattern.

And at this point, try to get the cactus more or less.

More or less, more or less.

I mean... By the way, if you go out there and sketch them for real, they're quite different.

They're quite different, but this will work.

This will work for my purposes today.

It'll be okay.

Maybe it won't, but that's... We'll find out.

As my brother would say, "We'll see."

Which means nothing, really.

So I'm sort of getting it roughed out.

And I might wanna change my mind a tad.

Okay, where are the darks?

This is another way people start when they're... Don't make it exactly like the other side.

Ew...

Okay, it won't be like the other side.

That's gone.

Gone beyond gone.

Change it.

Now, with ballpoint, this is harder.

But with this pen, where's my darkest dark gonna be?

I think, I'll bet, I'll it's gonna be right about there.

There's a man in this photo.

Do I want a man?

He's got brush.

Oh, and I can get him out of here, too, if I don't like him.

Let's say I don't like him.

I can take him away.

Let's say I botch it, just like that branch on the cactus.

Make sure in my mind that's gone.

It's gone.

Just like that.

This...

I want the plant to come out over him.

I want that plant over him partly.

And then there's a dark.

Does his dark go straight across or do I want it to come down?

I want it to come down.

Now so far, I haven't gotten dirty.

I haven't spent time laying stuff out.

He's got a head on.

And he's wearing a hat.

And I think he's gonna do.

I think he's gonna be okay.

And he's dark.

So get him in.

If he's gonna be here, get him in so you remember that he's gonna be here.

Now, I'm just working from the photo, but I can change it.

You can put things in and out at your discretion.

You do not have to accept anything.

And one of the things I have just done is I put this guy so high on the page that I've changed the design.

And the cactus is now going to be more in the foreground.

Watch it change.

Now I could say, "Hey, that's an accident"?

You betcha.

I didn't plan it that way.

But one of the fun things about this is it's yours.

It's spontaneous.

You can do anything you want.

Nobody's gonna see this.

And I like to ask people, "Are you doing this so that when somebody "walks in your house, they say, 'Wow, that's terrific, "'who did that?'"?

Or are you doing this so you can be in shows and galleries?

Are you doing it to be a professional illustrator?

Or is it possible that you're doing this for fun?

For pleasure?

To enjoy?

Whether you're out sketching or whether it's a virtual travel sketch, is it for pleasure?

And if it is, don't take anything seriously.

Have fun.

So I'm gonna be working on this dark mountain, darkest dark.

Yes, you can get them out of the paints.

But the pen is dark.

(pen scratching) Now remember that everything came out of that little bag.

And if this is bad, I teach people to do this in a short period of time.

If it's bad at 20 minutes, you say, "I'm outta here.

"I don't like it.

"I don't have to hang out with it.

"I did not spend a week on it.

"I didn't spend two weeks, a month.

"I spent 20 minutes out of my life."

That's not very long.

20 minutes is, you got a lot of it.

You can make a lot of bad sketches and some of them are gonna be good.

Some of them are gonna be outstanding.

Now I'm looking at the photo, getting a sense of what color is back in here.

It's actually colored.

It's actually colored.

There's a bit of a rose color to it, and I like that.

Frankly, I could make it any color I wanted to.

Does the dark go all the way up to the top?

Is the top jagged because it's the desert?

We'll right now change it, it's jagged.

On top of that, it's rock.

So no feeble little line on rock.

Rock is solid, so use a solid line.

Nothing feeble.

Nothing wishy-washy.

Oh, and some days when you're sketching, everything you do will be wishy-washy.

Everything'll be weak.

Everything'll be unsatisfactory.

Stay there and sketch anyway, because the next time you go out, you're likely to get something really, really good.

And that time that you spent doing a bad one, it's gonna pay off.

That's practice.

I've got some cactus back there that are now darker and there also would be some that are lighter.

So I'm gonna have to figure out how to get those guys.

It is the design okay?

You kind of look at it and say, "Is it okay?

"Is it gonna work?"

There are some things that are coming up here and I'm gonna play with them later.

Color, is there color?

There are rocks up here.

Rocks are solid.

Rocks are solid.

Solid line.

Make sure you get a real rock.

Plants are soft.

I think I've got just about everything in here now.

And now it's just time to put the pen away.

They dry out if you don't put them away.

Pick up a brush.

And it doesn't matter what kind of brush.

This is a travel brush, neat thing that goes into its handle so that you don't ruin it, like shoving it in a purse this way.

And they come in different sizes.

And they come with screw-on lids or a slide-on lid.

So, a little bit of water and let's see what happens.

Then remember, it can be bad.

It's all mine.

And if it's bad, that's okay.

Where do I wanna start?

Do I wanna start with the darks?

Do I wanna start with the man?

I'm gonna start with the darks.

And I'm looking at that color that's up there.

So it's kind of a Alizarin Crimson with a bit of red.

And you haven't seen this before, see the backside of that color?

These are called half pans, and they're in half-pan containers.

You got two paint, you've got full pans that are bigger, half pans.

That's probably about it.

The far side is dirty because I've been using it.

The near side is clean.

So if I wanna get some clean red, I get it off the front, not off the back.

But I like the red that's up in these rocks.

That's a bit much.

Wait till it gets tempered with the black line, that's a neat color.

That's a neat color.

Ooh!

Now that black line is moving in with the water and I'm getting a gorgeous red-gray.

By the way, gray is your friend.

Gray makes other colors look better.

And gray can be infused with any color you choose.

That's a bit much up there, so just tone it a touch.

It's there.

So quick.

So unlike having to deal with tons of stuff.

Okay, I want some more red in here.

So, a little bit more water.

Go back and do it again.

A little of dirty red.

That's what I started with.

And in the photo over here, we have light on the mountain.

So go over and pick that up first, knowing that as you pick up the black line, it's going to get darker.

Now, it isn't coming down.

Why wouldn't it?

Why wouldn't it change?

It's mine.

I can do anything I want with this.

Why wouldn't it change?

Why wouldn't it go bluer?

And I gotta be sure I've got room to make some cactus in there.

Remember that extra branch on the cactus?

Not there anymore.

The guy is dark, I want him against a light background.

So don't go too dark back there.

And I'm beginning to come into, perhaps, blue.

I'm gonna try it.

Might like it.

You can change anything.

You're not locked in.

You can change anything.

It's, I like to think of watercolor as a movable feast.

You can change it.

You can make mistakes.

If you make mistakes, you don't have to start over.

When you make mistakes, either hide them or distract from them.

It's a different way to look at it.

Okay, I wanna get greenish in here.

(hums) I'm looking at the lid on my box.

Let's try this.

That's a pretty cool green.

I may want that.

I'm gonna to like it down here, I betcha.

No, that's dull.

Put it back there.

Put that dull green.

Now, I want it lighter behind the man.

Gotta keep that in mind.

Again, it doesn't matter quite what I do back here.

I want that to come out a little lighter, little lighter.

So I'm gonna go directly to yellow.

Lemon Yellow is the only color in this group of colors that's changed by the black line.

It will make a green.

Now I'm gonna want the same green in the background.

I've left some lines.

Now, go lighter and lighter.

Want the same green made out of Lemon Yellow.

See it work?

Why not do that cactus with it?

Always do a "why not?"

What happens?

Why not?

Why wouldn't you try something?

What happens if I fiddle with that?

Nothing.

Okay, let it be.

Over in here, I'd like that color.

I'm really pleased with that green.

So I'm gonna use it.

It's gotta be darker than the cactus.

Coming around the cactus, now I stick it up into here, fuse it up in there a little bit.

Notice how it's working, how it's blending?

This is gonna do something, and I don't know what.

Why not?

I love the "why not" of watercolor.

Now, the guy, this is a problem with this pen.

This is very black.

If I touch these lines from near it, they're gonna run.

So I'm gonna get them right now, get him in here.

Get his hat in.

May not get...

Okay, right there, just a touch.

Okay.

Done.

Come do something else while I'm waiting for that to dry a tad.

These light colors.

I'm gonna go back to Lemon Yellow, put it over here.

Okay, it's not warm enough.

Cad Yellow, warm enough.

Very nicely warm enough.

Yep, and then this is just a color field.

Cad Yellow.

And then I want it a little bit darker back in there, little richer, pick up a bit of Burnt Sienna.

It's a red-brown, really lovely color.

It's one of my favorites, actually.

Bring in the bottom of the bush.

Little... Notice I'm picking this up down here and then transferring it?

Just transfer it in.

You can come in pretty close to this guy.

Remember, I wanted that bush over him?

Great, great color changes in there.

I like that, I like that a lot.

So I'll do it again.

Kinda, as you're doing it, you're making... You're adjusting.

This yellow, there's a great yellow down in here.

So pick some of this up, stick it in here.

Following the photograph.

Come in dark over here.

And this dark can have color in it, may not.

It's got some.

It could have all kinds of plants.

Why not?

It could have green.

Got some.

Now, while this is wet, I wanna get some lines coming up through the plants.

Because they'll look right when I do it now.

And then get back in there.

It's greener, it's duller, it's further away.

This should be very dark.

And I'll go back to that red, that lovely, really red, red back there.

Wow, too much.

Way too much.

But what happens if?

What happens if that was that rock?

What if that is worked in?

I didn't get the cactus yet.

We've got a ways to go, still.

Gotta get... Oh, that's a great dirt color.

Super, super dirt color.

Go do dirt.

You got it.

Use it.

Now, bring it back to the lead into the guy.

He's in there.

You gotta get rid of whatever's next to him that's lighter and it's looks like that.

That color can come out of the lid.

The lid of your box is a fabulous source.

I didn't get enough color, but I'm gonna come back and play with it in a minute.

And it's gonna be close.

There's gotta be enough of him that you see him.

His head, by the way, is dark, too.

Can't do that yet.

Now I gotta deal with the cactus.

The cactus.

Got a light edge, see if I can get that.

It's a really yucky green.

Really yucky green.

Sometimes I mix here.

Sometimes I mix there.

Just never take yourself... That's a great color that came up.

It's a great color.

How fast can I get this in?

Are all of these, do they all have little light edges?

Good enough, needs to be stronger.

Now, when you put a human in, they automatically become a focal point.

Because we are, after all, humans.

And so, you notice them.

At this point, this is kind of smeary and I'm not thrilled with it.

What happens if we throw in a sunset with clouds?

Actually, that's gorgeous slosh.

Okay, now sunset color.

I can take it right out of the lid.

What happens, if?

Not bad.

Isn't that interesting?

I want a little bit of orange.

This just changed the time of day.

(laughs) So now we're looking toward evening.

That's pretty cool.

And I may not... Oh, here's a dark.

I wanna darken parts of this cactus.

It's a good dark, it's yucky.

Okay.

Now, step up something to get your attention back down here.

That bright yellow?

That bright yellow.

Yellow advances, as a color.

Blue goes away, as a color.

Get a little color theory in here, too.

Remember, this is a virtual travel sketch.

Virtual, not real, 'cause you're using a photograph.

But you can do this.

And you can do it again and again.

Darker dark, get that darker.

And I want a purple in there, because I think it's gonna be a fun color.

Come down in here.

Way dark.

Only got minutes on my time.

Put some rocks in here.

I wanna lead you in.

Darken that.

Each time you do something, you change what's happening.

I think the guy is distinct enough.

A little bit of violent color, bring this... Too much, too much.

Just changing my mind.

Now, as you see, it changes as you go.

Put a little bit up there.

And you're gonna see that sunset, and this is all happening in front of it.

Anything can happen while you're working on this.

It's fun.

If you don't like it, it doesn't matter, it took 20 minutes out of your life.

All your equipment is in one place.

This is, was, clean up.

Put it away, walk off.

You don't have to clean up all your oil paints.

You don't have to clean the oil up off you.

You're ready to go.

It's Pocket Sketching.

Watch how fast this closes.

And I am ready to wave and thank you for coming with me.

It's fun and fast, and portable.

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.

(upbeat music)