I was looking through my sketches of the Isle of Lewis the other day and came across two versions of the coastline at the Port Of Ness. One is small (occupying the top part of an A4 page) and the other takes up a double-page spread in an A4 sketchbook. I thought it would be fun to put them side by side and in particular to add some white space around the smaller sketch so I could look at it more easily.   The first sketch was done in 2016 and I had a limited time frame due to being with family. (At least my wee niece was fully occupied at the time!)   It had been a bit of a crazy ..read more

This week a question came up inside my Foundations course about how to handle water when sketching on location. And I realised that I’ve never actually dedicated a blog article to this topic. So that’s what I’m going to do today! For many years I have used the same system – two small water containers which always contain water (either clean or dirty). This is the best solution for me as I always have water on hand and if needed I can do a sketch using dirty water. (More about this below.) I have two options – often one is dirty and one is clean, but if both are dirty I can choose the less d ..read more

I’m particularly interested in exploring ways of creating layered colour and texture in my work. And so last Friday as I was sipping my coffee, I started with a Cobalt Blue wash. It’s getting cooler in the morning here in Sydney so this cool undertone just felt right.  Cobalt Blue (PB28) is such a lovely pigment to play with and a great way to start my workday. The post Starting with Cobalt Blue appeared first on Liz Steel ..read more

  The other day I did three quick sketches in minutes just before rushing to appointments, using a Castell 9000 2B graphite pencil.  I think I have a new ‘fast tool’! A fast tool is one that I know I can use for super quick sketches and typically they can produce a variety of line quality. They also have to be able to move smoothly over the page. There is just a lovely feeling when drawing with this Castell graphite pencil that perfectly suits sketching during in-between moments. On all three occasions, it would have been easy to tell myself ‘I don’t have enough time’ and so I’m sup ..read more

On Monday I had the great pleasure of teaching a sketching workshop at Cockatoo Island for the wonderful team at Campbell Architecture. This workshop was originally planned for December last year but rain meant that it was postponed. I was super thankful that we had perfect weather on the day. Here is the gang with their Seawhite concertina sketchbooks open at the end of the workshop.   I chose one of my favourite spots on the island and this provided us with a great variety of subject matter for all the workshop exercises.   Using a combination of tools (permanent Uni-Pin pens (0 ..read more

I know that it will take a little time for me to feel settled after my big move and to find my flow again with my sketching. But one thing is certain… I’m very thankful for my morning routine of going out for a walk, picking up a takeaway coffee and doing a quick sketch. This means that no matter what is going on, most workdays I manage to do an urban sketch and that makes me happy. I wrote the following in my newsletter/monthly digest which went out last week: My new local area isn’t very pretty but it’s much more interesting than Lindfield (lots of street scenes to sketch) and I’m looking f ..read more

For the next three months, I’m doing a Foundations Friday series of posts on Instagram – sharing concepts from my Foundations course. On Friday it was all about Foundations Lesson 1: Knowing (and loving) your materials and I did an updated sketch of what I’m currently carrying around with me. So here is the notated page in a large size (click on the image below to view larger): And here are some links to more info relating to these items: Why I like the Lamy Joy and the Sailor Fude The ink I use  in these pens (and other options) Why I love using a dagger brush New Watercolour Pencil ..read more

I haven’t been sketching teacups lately but a few days ago I was so in control of my unpacking that I could sit down quietly and do a teacup sketch. I chose one of my favourite cups to paint – Lady Carlyle by Royal Albert – and shortly after starting I realised that the result would be very loose. I did this teacup sketch to celebrate starting to put my teacups in a wall unit.  As mentioned in a previous article, my teacups were the first items I moved across to my new place so it makes me happy to have them out of my kitchen pantry and visible. For the first time ever they are on displ ..read more

If somehow you’ve missed it… I’ve recently moved home (and studio) and I wanted to sketch as much as I could during the crazy times associated with a big move. The last time I moved it was a much smaller task. I only intended to be in Lindfield for 6-12 months (it turned out to be 7 years!) so I only moved the essentials (the rest was packed and sent to my storage unit later). I remember finding it hard to sketch and only managed a coffee sketch most mornings (see here). This time the move was much bigger and except for the move day itself I managed to get out for a morning walk and coffee a ..read more

Last week was OneWeek100People2024 and I love doing this challenge! Some years I’ve been able to dedicate a fair amount of time to sketching people… but this year was not one of them. I’ve recently moved and so I was flat out building furniture, unpacking boxes and all the chores associated with setting up a new place. (BTW the packing and move all went very smoothly and I’m extremely happy with my new home and studio! I’ll share more soon!) I wasn’t sure how I would manage to get 100 people drawn but I did have a scheduled trip on the Wednesday night to the airport (picking up friends) so I ..read more