Hello, from the Sketchy Traveler newsletter. A mostly bi-weekly newsletter on drawing and life design. Excited to have you join us! If you are enjoying this newsletter consider becoming a patron to help keep this newsletter financially sustainable.

With humans going back to the moon this week, thought I would touch on drawing night scenes. This is a growth area for me that I have been experimenting with in the last few years. I was first inspired to try out night drawings after seeing the watercolors by Mateusz Urbanowicx in his book “Tokyo at Night.” The book is filled with greater pointers on tools and techniques for drawing nighttime city scenes and I have been experimenting with night scenes ever since.

Sunsets

Probably the most interesting time of the time is the sunset and sunrise with their many colors scenes. The easiest way to handle sunsets is to do a wash for the sky and then diffuse the colors of the sunset into the wash. I find it is usually best to put down a light blue for the wash to start, since that is the main color of the sky. Then diffuse the colors of the sunset into the blue. This allows the colors to naturally blend into each other much like you find during a sunset.

The tricky part of sunsets is that the color is not just in the sky. Often the windows on buildings will reflect the color of the sunset and the color of the scene will have more of a yellow tint to it. For windows, I usually do the dark grey wash over the window that I usually put on them and then add a light wash of yellow or red over this darker wash once it has dried. For the rest of the scene, I will usually paint the scene as usual and then add a wash of yellow over the side of the building or object that is in the sun.

Dusk and Dawn

The other time of night that is particularly interesting to draw is dusk and dawn just after the sun goes down or comes up. The scene is much darker, but it still has some light from the sun below the horizon. It also comes with its own unique color considerations. When drawing a dusk scene, I find it is usually best to add color to the scene like it was daytime. Then add a wash of ultramarine blue over the entire painting. This way the colors are correct for the scene and then take on a consistent tone across the scene. Depending on the night, sometimes a dark purple is better given the lighting.

Deep night scenes are often challenging as they do not present much to draw. Mateusz gets around this in his Tokyo scenes by featuring massive lit up signs or extensive lighting. This is the type of night scene I struggle with the most as I find the need to have a very dark background is hard to show with watercolor. Where I have had the most success is often painting an indoor scene with views of the night scene through windows in the background.

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Sketchy Traveler Events

New Artist at the Corvallis Foundry Gallery

Excited to have Dee Perez in the Corvallis Foundry Gallery this month. Some by to see her work at the Corvallis Art Walk on the third Thursday of this month (April 16) between 4pm and 8pm at 527 SW Madison Ave.

Lunchtime Open Draw

Wednesdays, 12pm-1pm

Open drawing time with minimal instruction to sketch, share techniques and meet other artists in Corvallis. A subject and some basic materials are provided. You are welcome to bring your own materials and subjects to draw too.

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