A little (color) goes a long way

I love color. I also like the challenge of fitting in a sketch in whatever time I have available and that can be at odds with a full-color sketch. Sometimes I’ll use a simplified approach to color that gives the effect of a full-color sketch but is much quicker to execute.

This sketch is from Tom’s Burnt Down Cafe on Madeline Island in Wisconsin: a monotone sketch with just a wee bit of colored accents added in with crayon.

And the sketch below is on a page I had pre-colored in my sketchbook with no idea of what I would sketch over it. (But it being a blazing hot summer day, I used colors to cue it) The sketch is in pen and pencil with colored pencils accents in select areas to highlight the chilis and tomatoes.

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If you love the idea of drawing people but aren’t confident about sketching them. Or if you’d love for the people in your sketches to look less wooden, you might want to sign up for my 4-week online class “People Alive! Sketches Full of Life” which starts in November.