Sketching on the bow of our cruise ship at 0700 in the morning I was attempting to capture what was a magnificent panorama. Sweeping vistas dazzle our sight and motivate us to grab our sketchpads. Yet these same landscapes are some of the trickiest to capture. Over the years I have spent hours on them only to end up with a flat boring blob on the paper.
One way to overcome this dilemma is to identify an object or focal point. Even if you are looking at a string of mountains, as I was on the ship, find one that is particularly interesting. Then, with a viewfinder, place that object one third of the way in from the right or left. The viewfinder will limit the scene and keep you focused on what will fit on the paper. If you don’t have a real viewfinder using your hands like the comic movie directors do, it works quite well.
Failure to have a focal point or a main object is one of the major components of poor composition, in painting or photography. This more than anything else will improve our compositions immediately.
The second challenge I faced was that the scene before me was black and white, or at least that is what my brain was telling me. You would think after long years of sketching I would know better, but still, I tried to use black and white – what a mess. I started over while chatting with a passenger about the mountains before us. She made a casual comment about the “blues” in the scene. Immediately I knew the problem, it is about gray and blue, albeit very dark blues. I sketched a few of these scenes, but here is one, using a bit of ultramarine blue to make the grays work.
We made it to Iceland, I was feeling better again so I did a few quick sketches.
Our friend Shirley requested a postcard from Iceland, as it holds a special place in her heart. This church is iconic in Reykjavík, it will go in the mail tomorrow. I love doing postcards, so don’t hesitate to ask.
It is good to be back home, and warmer. Ours was a good trip, but quite different than what we expected. I did learn a few things about painting in the north, and did enjoy sitting out in the cold.
theTravelsketcher 
Nice post.
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I think one should wear glasses with coloured lenses when visiting that cold part of the world 😉. I think you did very well with the sketch from the ship (in fact, I can feel how cold it is, looking at those patches of snow between the blue mountains).
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It does have a beauty, quite different from the lurch Ness around where we live. It was cold, but invigorating.
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You met with success after some frustration! Amazing how that independent set of eyes can see what we’re missing. I love Reykjavik and recognized the church immediately. Cheers.
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They help us see, and remind us of what we are missing.
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It defies the imagination that the Travelsketcher could leave a “flat boring blob on paper.” I do remember the view finder suggestion from one of your workshops. This intrepid and super fledgling sketcher will keep that in mind. And the postcard sketch of the iconic church in Iceland is wonderful. Can’t wait (thank you!!)
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Well even Monet did things he hated. Thanks so much.
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Thanks this idea . We visited Norway on this boat . Let’s follow our blogs. Anita
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https://100countrytrek.com/
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On the bottom right side page click the follow button. Let me know
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You have mastered the art of making black and white interesting. Adding blue really works! I guess it’s finding the color among the gray.
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I remember what a painter friend of mine said, the one I met when we were in Edinburgh, he never used black paint because he said there was no black in nature, and in reality he was right. The challenge of painting is to use the darkest of blues and such, in the end the results is better than using black paint. And of course gray is just the mixture of opposites on the color wheel, I have to remind myself of that now and then.
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Thanks for taking us on the journey with you.
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No, thanks for joining the journey.
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