Failed opaque ink sketch and other limited palettes

I haven't been sharing my sketches on the blog and I hope to do so more regularly. The trick is really to scan your work immediately after they are done. Putting it away so that you will scan later just means you'll never get around to scanning it.

Below are some sketches that I've created for the video tutorials on my Youtube channel and for my patrons on Patreon.

The paper used is the Indigo Art Papers coldpress handmade watercolour paper that I bought on Amazon. I've got the paper bound into a sketchbook by SPD so that it's easier for me to work with, and having it in sketchbook format makes it easier for me to refer to in the future. The paper performs very similarly to Khadi Papers which is also handmade watercolour paper.

After being inspired by Italian illustrator Carlo Stanga recently, I've decided to use opaque inks with my watercolour sketches. My first experiment didn't go quite as planned.

The Derwent Graphik Line Painter that I used wasn't opaque enough to cover or block out the watercolour beneath.

The Graphik ink did produce an interesting look though.

You can watch the two videos I've created for the sketch above at https://youtu.be/d3kmHYezGT8 and https://youtu.be/_cuYDy6c3Ds

My sketch above didn't turn out well because the ink wasn't opaque enough so I contacted Carlo Stanga to ask him what he used. He told he used Uni Posca markers and so I got myself some to test.

Those Uni Posca markers are really opaque and a joy to work with.

The second sketch was created for a limited colour palette video.

Colours used in the sketch were DS Mayan Yellow + DS Prussian Blue + Schmincke Translucent Orange.

Schmincke's Translucent Orange was too orange for me and in the end I had to add DS Transparent Pyrrol Orange in order to have a more proper primary for red.

Last sketch I'm sharing today is also another one that I've created as a tutorial for Youtube and my patrons. You can check out the videos at https://youtu.be/iFtPpRoArDQ and https://youtu.be/DrDteYM6z44

The colours I used are from the Sennelier Aqua-Mini set. The Sap Green from that set is really weak. I had to mix the greens with the yellow and Ultramarine instead.

If you want to learn more about sketching and watercolour, do check out my Youtube channel or consider supporting me on Patreon to watch the full length tutorials