Every artist should have a sketchbook
Now that is quite a statement, and very tongue in cheek of course. However, I really do find that sketching is not only great fun, but a fabulous way of recording a scene the way your mind sees it, helping to avoid detail, simplifying and speeding the process ( an experienced sketcher will naturally leave out any unneccesary details). Whereas, painting from a photograph can without you realising it draw you into putting down all that extra detail a photo contains.
Of course photographs are a brilliant, handy and efficient tool to quicky record any scene, we all use them, especially the amazing cameras on smart phones, it makes it easy to quickly snap that sunset or fleeting stab of light with still or moving images. But a word of caution, unless you paint hyper realistic works, it is wise to only use a photo to help sketch out the main shapes. Once done, put it away and rely on your memory and experience do the rest.
Why! well you may find that you will fall into the trap all artists experience at some point. That "contemporary" work full of bold colour, drama and light you planned, somehow evolves into just a dull copy of the original photo. I know, it happend to me several times.
What do I need to sketch
Actually, not a great deal, a pencil or pen and some paper, thats it!. Many sketches are no more than a scribble, so much so, that onlookers may take it as someone who cannot even draw! But, to the artist, they are reminders of the motif or a particular section that caught their attention.
You can of course take sketching as far as you like (after all Plein Air painting is simply a more advanced type of sketching), adding proper sketch books of varying sizes and quality, watercolour or acrylic pads, coloured pencils, ink pens, pastels, acrylics, oils, watercolour and so much more.
Of course the more you include the less portable it becomes.
My own sketching kit
I am not a watercolour painter by any stretch of the imagination, and I leave that difficult medium to others. However I like to use colour in my sketches, in particular that lovely and underated medium of "Ink and Wash". Despite this, I do not include proper watercolour paper, I simply live with the fact that cartridge paper will buckle and lift and is good enough for my simple needs and skill. I do try and keep my own kit as smalland light as possible, so it can be easily packed into a smart shoulder bag for around town or a backpack when hiking. So my own sketch kit is as follows
A sketchbook (I like Seawhites 60 gsm ringbound so I can easily fold the pad over to lean on), pencils in HB,2B,6B, a putty rubber, pencil sharpener, fineliner waterproof ink pens in varying sizes from 0.1 to 0.5 ( including a white opaque pen for adding highlights), several aquatone water colour crayons, a tiny travel watercolour kit, a folding rubber water pot and 1 or 2 watercolour wash brushes that I have cut down the handle size .
Apart from the sketchbook and folding pot this all packs into a canvas wallet and the whole thing is easily transported. I find this is not overly heavy and is suitable for long hikes.
You could even leave out the watercolour kit and just use aquatone pencils and a wet finger from grass dew, streams or simply saliva to blend the colour. Several of the sketches I include below as examples use this very method.
Some examples from my Sketch Books
