- Hi, and welcome.

I'm Kath Macaulay, and where I've been Pocket Sketching, and what are we going to do today?

We get the fun of going outdoors.

We're going outdoors in Tucson, Arizona, where there's cactus everywhere, strong sunshine.

But we're outside working out how to do Pocket Sketching outdoors, plein air, which means on location.

We're gonna have a lot of fun.

Come along.

(bright music) We're here in Tohono Chul Park in Tucson.

This is a nice desert park.

I'm looking for something I wanna sketch.

A bird just floated by.

It went too fast.

Cactus here.

I want something bigger.

Oddly enough, there are cacti that are gonna bloom today, but they're not blooming yet.

This is a saguaro next to me, this great big guy.

That's a cute cactus.

I don't think I wanna wait for it to open.

That's too long.

This is one of the many agaves.

We're really in a nice piece of desert, here, and I'm looking for lights and darks.

There's a beautiful dark tree over there with cacti in front of it, but nothing of any great note.

Still looking, I love the brittlebush.

Don't know if I can include that or not.

Coming, I'm now on a nice dirt trail, and these trails are beautiful.

I'm pretty sure you could use a wheelchair on 'em if you wanted to.

And that's always a consideration.

Really nice cactus right through here.

Very nice cactus.

And then, mm, hey, this is nice.

I'm set up and sitting.

The shade is wonderful.

It's grand to have shade.

But in my view now is a big creosote bush blocking out a lot of the view.

So, I'm gonna have to bob back and forth a little bit to see things I want, but that's okay.

Another interesting thing over there, we'll show it to you a little later, and I'm gonna take the hat off 'cause I don't need it.

These are great because they don't wreck your hairstyle, but they do give you shade.

But I don't need it right now.

Now, what I put on my paper when I started was these lines to remind me I wanted to get some of the trail in.

And to do that and get the mountains, I'm gonna have to go vertical.

Can't go horizontal.

So, let's start there.

Get it, at least the backside at the same, you can use both sides of the paper.

This is extremely an inexpensive, wonderful thing to do as a hobby.

My time when I get started and quit chatting will be 8:30.

So, I'm writing my time on the top of the pad where it'll never be seen, and then it'll be 8:50 when I've hit 20 minutes, so that I can stay within 25 minutes.

If you're doing a building, you can spend a little longer.

Now, just to lay it in, remember, I wanted the trail.

I really do want some of the trail.

It's gonna be down here.

It's low on the page.

You can use your pen to see what angle it is compared to the pen.

And it's way over on that side coming from here, going across way low.

However, rocks on this side are in the way.

I want you to know it's a rocky, rock-bounded trail, but skip the creosote bush or move it.

It's not bad.

Creosote smells like creosote when it rains, and when it rains here, that is the most typical thing of the desert.

Now, the lay of the ground in front of me.

Gonna come down like this.

This is really roughing it in and I'm having to look through the creosote.

There does happen to be a saguaro in there, so I'm gonna get it in.

It's coming up here.

And you know, I've been using this faint pen and may switch to the other one in a minute.

Then, it's gonna come out like this.

There's a green tree back in there.

But the one I like is coming over here, and it's big.

And then, the mountain.

This is one of the funny things about working a lot outdoors.

You get to where you don't look at the paper much.

You actually follow what you're doing.

I mean, I'm not gonna get all the way up to the top of the mountain, but that's mountain.

And there's a line with shade there, but it's not much different.

And a line with shade here.

Sun's coming from behind it, so I can see all of these.

Don't put too many in, it'll get confusing.

Are all these lines parallel?

Bad design.

Make sure some of them are not.

You just make little changes as you go.

Now, this cactus is pretty obnoxious.

There's gonna be another one, 'cause there's a beauty over here, and it's about there.

And I'm gonna block it in so that I don't lose it.

And it's got a side branch which is really right close to it.

And then, tons of junky plants.

I love to call 'em junky plants 'cause they're just lights and darks.

Rocks here, trail there.

How about a nice dark-bottomed plant here?

'Cause it's gonna partly obscure the bottom of the cactus.

Dark tree behind the cactus.

So, that one's gonna get highlighted.

Shape of that dark tree, comes out here dark, comes there.

Again, it's one of these filamentous desert trees.

The one that was back there has got real leaves and it's a different grain.

I'm gonna park it right about there.

And we're fairly close to a road outside the park.

But I like this area 'cause of the cactus.

I think I've got enough stuff in here.

Now, this is a big area of sky to deal with.

And if I don't wanna deal with a big area of sky, we're gonna have clouds.

Clouds are wonderful.

You can put them where you want something.

Here, it's gonna be light, relatively light.

Why not put a brittlebush or two in there?

They've got those bright yellow flowers.

They're around here, I can see one up that way.

And then, in here, the ever present palo verde.

Palo verde, green stick.

The stems are green.

Oh, I got enough, let's not get too much stuff in here.

I was gonna throw in a couple cactus, but nah.

You've got enough.

Put the pen away.

Put the pad under your wing.

Get your water out.

Each of these in.

Make sure that you put the bag where it's gonna be convenient to hold it.

And you wanna keep it in the shade.

If you wind up with your work in the sun, and you're sketching, it's extremely hard on your eyes.

So, if you have to get a sketch in the sun, get it in the sun and then go into the nearest shade to finish it.

You can step back out in the sun, but be looking at that reflecting white pad.

First, your colors are all gonna be off.

After that, you're gonna hurt your eyes.

Don't do it.

Now, this is gonna go across here, the strap, in a minute.

But first, get the paints out.

Open them.

Open the brush.

In other words, right now, I'm not being bothered by my pad of paper.

And I'm comfortable, and it's cool, and no flies yet.

We're early in the season.

If I didn't mention it before, the big earrings, they're very lightweight.

They're for flies.

They work beautifully.

Now, what am I going to do about this?

If I have to do the sky the way it is, it's a graduated wash.

It's dark at the top, light at the bottom, and has no flaws.

That is hard to do.

First, get the strap out of the way.

It goes through the bag.

So, where do I want the clouds?

You may not see them.

Put water in.

You wanna get natural-looking clouds.

Where the clouds are gonna touch this edge of the mountain, you can touch that line right now and bring it into what's gonna be clouds.

Get it down there and just smear it in.

I'll make 'em go about that far.

Don't wanna cut 'em right in the middle of the page.

Bad design.

This is clouds.

Okay, I need a cloud color.

I'm looking at the dirty stuff in the lid of my box.

I bet this is a good cloud color.

Yep, nice cloud color.

Pull it away.

Do we have clouds?

Now, we need a little bit of sunlight poke, or blue sky poking through.

I think I can live with that.

So, here comes some blue sky color.

Not a lot 'cause the other side's, ooh, I like that.

Always look at what your brush strokes do, because your brush strokes have life to them.

Something you may not have noticed, I don't do this.

I can't, actually.

Got a problem with cartilage in the base of my thumb.

So, everything is coming out of my arm.

Now, over here, I do want a graduated wash.

And in this case, I'm gonna want this to come down below.

And if I get a little blue in there, it won't hurt a thing.

So, come in at the top dark.

There might be some light clouds over there.

It may be too much fun to not, it's too much fun to not have a cloudy sky with bright light.

Way too much fun.

I like this.

Let's see how that works later.

Okay, since I am working down from the top, if I put land color in here now, it's gonna run into the sky.

So, what I'm gonna do is come down here and get probably my cacti and the trees behind them, you real yucky desert greens.

Real yucky desert greens.

So, sap green is way too bright for back there.

I see a way to gray it, right there.

Then I want it to be, well, there's the dark of that big tree.

Start with that.

Block that in.

There's a cactus there, and I'm blocking in part of the tree.

Now, it's feathery.

Like the sky, it's feathery.

So, how'd we get a feathery sky?

Water.

How do you get a feathery bush?

Probably the same way.

And I must say, as you're working and something seems like it might work, give it a go.

That just occurred to me, if I wanted to be feathery, to use water, just like in the clouds.

What do you know?

Now, right now, can I get this area that's down here dark to go into that area?

Yes.

Now, something's gonna happen as this dries.

These are gonna be very dark.

That's okay.

That's almost an ocotillo, one of my very favorite plants.

Maybe it's not here.

That doesn't matter, it's something I just sketched now.

And in the background, you can probably hear tourists.

You could be one here.

It's a really pretty place.

This bush back here happens to be a brighter green, so I'm gonna try to get it.

And we're gonna hear people coming.

Now, I want to get the mountain.

How about a clean place here where I can get some clean color?

Here's how you do it.

It's relatively not gonna crud up the water much.

So, I'm just flicking it away, and I'm gonna pick up some color for the mountains.

Too dark, way too dark.

And we're gonna have people nearby soon, I think.

I can hear 'em.

They may have a docent.

You may get to hear some of the neat things about the desert.

Okay, as I go back, this is gonna be too dark, way too dark.

Come back in here.

Dilute it.

I like the color, dilute it.

So, I put water in the brush.

Is that sky dry enough to come right up to?

Yeah, it is.

It's gotta be darker than the sky.

Now, it's gotta be quite a bit darker than the sky, 'cause I've got clouds.

And then, it's gonna include yellow ochre as we come down here.

And this is very dark, up here.

Now, one of the cool things about this whole setup, I'm in my personal space.

I will probably not be bothered by any tourists, but if I am, I'll show you what to do.

Darker as they come closer to me.

And they can come right through.

It doesn't matter.

I don't wanna stop 'em.

They're having fun.

Running out of paint.

What do you do when you run out of paint?

You mix it again.

And if you have to, you put things together.

How am I doing on time?

Haven't watched recently.

I've still got 10 minutes.

Little yellow ochre in there.

Little bit more, 'cause I wanna get the sun coming across those mountains.

It isn't much.

And that's also gonna have a waterline, and I get to figure out what I wanna do about that waterline when I see it, 'cause I had more water in my brush.

Some of these things look awful as you're doing them.

They may look a lot better in a minute.

Don't let it bother you too much.

We do have mountains.

We're coming in on crummy foliage.

This should be a tad greener.

Notice, I simply took green paint from the lid of my box and stuck it over this deadly gray area, and it came out better.

On top of that, the black lines that I put in, the lines that I pressed in, they are coming out darker, because any available liquid flows into those depressions.

It's one of the fun things.

Now, a little bit more yellow.

Gonna start with yellow ochre coming into some of the bushes that are closer to me.

Boy, is that a weak yellow.

That's really weak.

Got another cactus.

I want that one to be quite a bit darker.

There are adjustments to be made at the end.

If we're lucky, we're gonna hear birds.

This is really fun out in the desert.

We got a lot of birds here.

Okay, I want this cactus, okay, the light's coming from behind it, so I have a problem.

It's got a penumbra of light yellow.

I've just gone into a green.

I want that penumbra.

Come in first to the outside of the cactus.

This'll be a little tricky, but I wanna see if I can get it.

Outside the line, 'cause that's where the thorns are.

Let that dry a bit.

And I'm gonna have some over in here, too, but I've already, okay, when you wet a line and it dries, I don't know if this is dry yet.

Use the side of your finger to find out.

It's dry.

We're in the desert, it dries super fast.

So, in this case, where I've got a dark edge, it is dry.

I can come in right next to it on the light area with this that will be a background color in a minute.

it's gonna be more, well, that's only one, there.

Let's see if it works.

And one of my favorite things that I love to say is, why not?

Why not?

Why not find out if something works?

You don't know if it works until you've given it a go.

And if it's a bomb, you've only wasted 25 minutes out of your life.

And I think most of us can afford that much.

I want that tree that's back in there a little brighter, so I'm gonna add a bit of lemon yellow to it, which is gonna make it a heck of a lot brighter.

And put it over there.

I moved it.

The camera is stuck with what it sees.

You are not.

You can move anything you want to anywhere it is convenient.

I want a real dark, not right in the middle of the picture.

I think I'll put it right there and there, really dark.

So, I'm gonna go for sap, ultramarine blue.

It's sticking to the brush.

Too much blue.

I'm quite dry.

That's why everything's sticking.

And come in here with a super dark, stick it in there, too.

I don't know what that's going to be, but it's a form.

And then, although I liked that, I'm gonna come in real dark here behind so that that cactus sticks out.

Not done, there.

What about the other cactus?

This should all be dry because we're in a desert.

It's sort of a blue-green.

It's gonna come out of here.

Is this dark enough?

Don't know.

Layers will make it darker.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) Because I've got branches everywhere else, put some in there.

Not much.

And stick one through there.

And I think I'm done.

It's okay.

We've got saguaros.

That guy could be a tad darker in the middle.

That'll make it a tad darker.

This should be broken.

So, now it is.

Little bit brighter bright, just for the fun of it, just a bit.

You know what's gonna happen now?

I'm running over my time.

I'm used to working in a set time.

And you know what I'm gonna do?

I'm gonna wreck it next.

If I keep playing with this, it'll get worse, worse, and bad.

And if I leave it here, it'll remind me of where I am today.

It's better to let it go, 'cause the more I sit here and fiddle around, I can actually show you what happens.

Anything I do to this now is gonna make it worse.

Ah.

Seeing that it's okay, I don't wanna do that.

I'm okay with it right now.

Love these rocks.

It's okay.

So, that's that.

So, now I've got a wet painting.

I've got a credit card in my hand.

Put that away first.

Move this over so you've got control of it.

Now, watch the finger.

Get the brush put away.

Should rinse it first.

It's been rinsed.

Again, I get to flick, it's outside.

Put the brush away.

Back it off and close it, otherwise, it gets real tight.

Now, this has to be dealt with.

This is dry.

Put it on your hand, bring the lid down.

Do not put it up like that or they all fall out.

Put it away.

Next, now, if you're gonna stand up and you're wearing the water 'cause you're gonna sketch again, you have to use the waitress squat, because if you lean over, it goes down your leg.

If it's a hot day, that feels great.

If it's a cold day, it does not feel so terrific.

So, next, I'm going to close the water.

Again, the painting's wet.

Now, we have a super dry climate.

By now, this is probably all dry.

You may be someplace with humidity.

This time of year, we may be at 7%.

If I put a piece of steak on the counter, it's gonna dry out, not rot.

That's away.

So, now, because this is my climate, I can put the whole thing away, probably, at this point.

Now, you can see that it's really nice in this light.

But if I put it over here, it's gonna glare.

So much easier to work in the shade.

Try to find shade somehow or another.

If you need to move back and forth to get your view, that's fine.

But go back into the shade to do the sketching.

It's so much easier.

And I'll bet, I'll look at it in the sunlight.

There's not a wet spot on it, so I can close this and tuck it away.

But if you're, oh, I'll show you what to do if you're in a wetter climate, 'cause most people are in a wetter climate.

At this point, if it's wet, you hold it by the corner right down here.

You get yourself up.

I've been sitting a while, that might be kind of awkward, but get myself up.

I am still holding it.

I can walk off with it until it's dry.

When it's dry, then you can put it down and you have another piece of paper to work on.

But that, you can carry it wet.

And I've been in climates where it was so wet, I told people, "Get three pads of paper."

The first one might be dry by the time you get to the sketch on the third one.

So, I'm ready to take this off now.

Put it back on the other strap, and I can walk off.

(bright music) And nobody's bothered me.

And I can go five feet away from here and get another great sketch.

It's terrific.

Perfect for traveling.

Want to learn more about the wonderful world of Pocket Sketching?

Then visit my website at pocketsketching.com.

We have so much there for you to explore, including free tips and training videos, the Pocket Sketching supplies, photo galleries, and how to access additional training.

All this and more is available at pocketsketching.com.

Learn enough to play for a lifetime.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues)