close-ups
For me, the drawing is very much part of the watercolor painting! I don’t try to hide my lines. In fact, I find it quite nice to see them through most washes (except the dark ones) It gives my work more movement and life.
Some artists are obsessed with getting rid of pencil lines. I don’t understand it, but, as I always say: to each their own!
Drawing skills are the foundation for good painting. It’s a bit like building a house. If your foundation is faulty, your house probably won’t be great in the end, no matter how well some of it is done!
Most students greatly underestimate drawing skills and many a drawing looks stiff, contrived and has perspective problems. That’s because they only draw when they paint. Never for the sake of drawing!
I keep a sketch book with me most times, so when there’s no opportunity to paint I can at least do a quick pencil sketch. I use 2B and 3B leads in a mechanical pencil and a simple eraser. Not much to lug around at all. Good times to sketch are while watching TV, when waiting for someone or in a café while enjoying a cup of coffee.
It is so hard to capture moving shapes! Nobody poses for you and even if they did, it wouldn’t be the same! It would feel staged, because that’s what it is. Simply no better teacher than real life!
You can see that my lines are pretty loose, just squiggles here and there. These are close-ups of a bigger street scene and I took the time to snap a few pics before painting. Once an accomplished artist with lots of hours of drawing under your belt, you will develop what we call a ‘strich’ in German. I think the English equivalent is ‘your own hand’. A very distinctive way of drawing which translates right into your painting work. The better you draw, the better you paint. End of story!
FRANK EBER: A PAINTER'S BLOG 