Exercise: Plein Air Sketch...Using Colored Pencil

This Sketch was drawn at Playa ( Beach) Los Cerritos on the Pacific coast of the peninsula while spending a day relaxing on the sand under an umbrella. The picture is of a portion of a hotel that sits up on a cliff above the beach.  It was done on watercolor paper (which is very textured) because that is what I had with me.  I used my pencil nubs, since they are small and take up little room. I didn't have every color with me.  I just grabbed a handful of nubs, put them in a small plastic container along with a pencil sharpener and I left the eraser home.  In this sketch, I went back in at the end with a pen to define and darken some areas.  Drawing from life, instead of a photo, is good practice.  You learn to work quickly to capture the fleeting light and to improve observation skills.  You also learn to filter out details and simplify what you see .....to concentrate and ignore wind, bugs, people and everything else that disturbs. You become lost in the creative process.  Drawings like these are more about the process than the product.  Remember that the fewer materials you bring, the easier it is to work and the more fun you will have.