Two minute sketches using just one colour
Sometimes we can be overwhelmed by the amount of information that is presented to us in a scene. There seem to be too many decisions to make - what colours to use, how to mix them, what tones to get, how much detail to put in, and where to start and stop the sketch. This information can befuddle us so much that we don't even get started!
We can however choose to cut out most of these decisions by simply painting in just one colour as shown here. By using a brush instead of a pencil we can go straight in with blocks of tone, and so we don't get caught up in unnecessary detail. And by using just one colour we don't have to make any decisions about colour mixing. All we are interested in is tone.
See how easy this is to do by following the three simple steps below.
Three steps to a quick painting.
Step 1.
Choose a colour from your palette that will produce dark tones, such as ultramarine blue, burnt umber or, as here, burnt sienna.
Then lay in your lightest areas with a thin wash of that colour.
Step 2.
Then mix a mid tone of this paint and add in all the mid tone areas (those that are not light or too dark).
Step 3.
Finally mix a very dark tone (lots of paint and little water), and paint in the darkest areas. In this picture I have also mostly painted from far distance (pale) to middle distance (mid toned) to near distance (darkest).
So in three quick and easy steps we have captured all the tonal information we need to go on from here to produce a painting back in the studio.