The most important thing when sketching on location (next to bear spray)

[@JC-il4or]

Concise and very well made point. And true for me...get those shapes right and everything else falls into place. Thanks for the video!

[@brianashmorestudio]

Fantastic video! Loved watching that beautiful sketch come together. My wife was listening across the table while I watched. Regarding big shapes, she said, “Hey, you do that!” Ha ha. I’m just glad she pays at least a little attention to what I do. 😁

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Well, if she's anything like my Annie, she doesn't miss a thing and remembers it all!!! Thank you buddy for your kind words. I just bought a new Canon 70D and will be able to shoot my videos with something better than my smartphone. So, I'm hoping the quality will get so much better now. Thanks for watching and commenting, it means a lot to me!

[@azong98]

Love your videos and your art!! Thanks for sharing. I have learnt a lot

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Awesome! Thank you and best of luck to you.

[@rachelreadingart]

I love this! Thanks so much

[@diannebowell1149]

Your videos really make me want to get out and sketch, and that’s something I haven’t done for years, as I’m usually concentrating on portraits. But there are some really beautiful landscapes around here, so I might just have to!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

I really hope you do Dianne! When I paint or draw something on location, I always tell people that I remember doing every part of it. What song was playing (if I'm listening to music) when I painted a particular passage, or seeing some wildlife or met a curious passerby. It all gets locked into your memory, and when you see this work later on... even years later, it's still there!

[@mindofwatercolor]

Hey Steve! Another Steve here. Great advice! Big shapes has been such a difficult lesson for me over the years since I love to detail. I came over to watch at Brian Ashmore's recommendation and it was a good one. Welcome to the lively and active art community here on KZbin. I'm a watercolorist, a recovering illustrator and graphic designer (30 years worth) and look forward to hearing your advice in the fine art genre which I'm pretty new at. Welcome!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Hi Steve! Good to hear from you. I love your videos and have been a subscriber now for a while. I've even left a comment or two, lol! Thanks for all you do to promote watercolor and I've even used your (and Brian's) designs to make a tripod table for plein air drawing and painting (I'll be sharing my drawing kit in an upcoming vid). Thanks for all the teaching you've done and continue to do! I appreciate the encouragement and am trying to get better at filming my vids. Using a dslr to film not my phone's camera have helped a lot.... grin. I'm also a recovering illustrator and graphic designer. I started back in 1983 when we had to spec type and send it to the type house and set our own headlines using a stat camera, Yikes!! I'm old!

[@mindofwatercolor]

Oh, wow! Well, glad you've watched and commented. These days I have to rush through comments a bit. Thanks for your kind, encouraging words. They mean a lot when coming from a seasoned pro like yourself. I started about the same time as you, 1984 to be exact. Specifying type was a common activity for me too, as was waxing, cutting and pasting it up. Yuck! I was never so ready to go digital. I'll be very interested in seeing that drawing kit. Yeah the video shooting and editing part is a bit of a learning curve. I joke that shooting good video has been an expensive 4-year experiment for me. I have bought and tested 6 different cameras. All have their strengths and weaknesses. I think you made an excellent choice (saw your camera choice in Brian's comment). Looking forward to your content and trading war stories along the way. Speaking of stories, its probably one of the coolest aspects of your art. I do have to say though watching your slideshow video of paintings, I absolutely love the people-less landscapes of little out of the way places. The loose, fresh, interesting light and brush strokes are breath taking. All your work is great but those appeal to me particularly being such an avid landscape painter. Well done and glad to make your acquaintance. See you along the trail!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Oh heck, no worries! I know you get an insane amount of comments and couldn't possibly read 'em all, let alone answer 'em all! Thanks for the encouragement and I agree with you about the landscapes. The story paintings with people are so much more planning and work that sometimes I just wanna loosen up with a gorgeous light effect and loose brush strokes... See ya down the road!

[@frankhicklin715]

That's the way to do it!

[@everythingandnothing4856]

Maaann This information is really simple to absorb when you are explaining. Realöy helpful!! Please post more pencil landscape drawings.

[@drawinfo99]

Your video tutorial is amazing. I like your style. Really great and impressive. I also have similar stuffs on my channel. I do lot of on location sketches. Thank you for tips

[@Jon_Oates]

Great to see another 'leftie' shading. Thanks for the tips and permission to fail! I think so many people are put off trying because of that inner voice of self-criticism.

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Thanks Jon, yeah, us lefties have our challenges don't we, ha! Thanks for watching.

[@amysamin]

This was great, Steve!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Hi Amy, thanks for the nice comment! Hope it helps you and keep checking back, lots more coming soon...

[@andrewcadima]

An important point and well said!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Thanks Andrew! Don't you find that so much of what we have to share is just to repeat what we've learned along the way? This one point has made such a difference for me in the percentage of successful drawings and paintings. Love your vids, so thanks for the support!

[@andrewcadima]

For sure! I think the big leap in an artist usually occurs when they stop trusting their expectations and instead start trusting their eyes a bit more. Let what you know inform what you see, not the other way around. Pretty much the same thing you illustrated so well here.

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

So true, and well said Andrew! I used to try to paint what I wanted to see, rather than what my eyes were telling me, and I usually went down in flames. Then I started trusting my eye and had more success. Now that I have an understanding of what I'm seeing and why something works, I can change it into a more successful piece. Funny how it's all a big circle!

[@paulkingdesign5928]

Great stuff. Subscribed

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Thanks Paul, much appreciated... I've got some interesting topics in the works that I think you'll like. Some drawing, some painting!

[@romaisblooming]

Bear spray? Bear spray!!! In Minnesota we take mosquito and tick spray, but bear spray? Oh my!

[@SteveAtkinsonFineArt]

Hi Romaisblooming! Yep, we're not at the top of the food chain out here, lol! But, I lived in Minnesota for 20+ years and those skeeters... well, I think I'd rather take my chances with a hungry bear than a flock of those hungry mosquitoes!!! Thanks for checking in!