A Study of Mountains 🍁 | Sketchbook Story Sunday
hello it’s Lilith, and welcome to
sketchbook story sunday. in today’s video, we’re gonna be looking at how to sketch
based on a photo. the photo I have here, I found in my parents house, and I love the
blue-gray hues. starting out with a box, I roughly estimated the size of the
photograph; because this sketch is a study, I want the drawing to be at a
1:1scale relationship with the photograph. for the concentration of the
study, I want the atmosphere of the colors as a whole to be cohesive. I’m using acrylic wash today using titanium white, viridian green, burnt sienna, yellow
ochre, mint green, and black. my professors always discouraged us from using black
in painting, but I chose black because I knew it would mix a warm grey, as opposed to a cool grey or a cool brown that I would get from mixing brown and dark
green. even though they are complementary, and theoretically creates a true neutral,
this green has a strong tinting strength and isn’t ideal for making greys in the
first place I am keying the sketch with blue green.
this means every color I apply, whether for the sky, or the road, or the snow, the
color will contain a tint of blue green in some way. the term ‘color key’ differs
from ‘monochromatic,’ which means various tints and shades of one hue. here, we are
using multiple hues throughout the piece, but the colors are unified by the blue
green. because the composition is still fairly
blank and white, I knew my first attempt of snow will be inaccurate, simply
because my judgment will be skewed due to the white paper itself, whereas the
reference photo contained very little real white. color exists completely and
solely in our minds, and therefore it’s normal to mix up the perfect color on a
pallet and have it be completely wrong once it’s put down. keeping these things
in mind, I work quickly throughout the piece and often pause to observe the
photograph as a whole instead of just focusing on the mountain or the road or
the clouds. one great thing about art school is that I learned the rules in
order to break them. there is no right or wrong way of working, but my method here
is not academically correct, which is to paint the sky first because it’s the
background, then the big mountain as translucent darks, and then the snow as
opaque lights. today, I didn’t *feel* like painting the sky first! I really wanted
to play with my interpretation of the mountain, since I wasn’t going for
anything realistic, I wanted my drawing to be a drawing. it’s not pretending to
be anything else, and the drawing contains my hand, and my marks.
even if my color is not perfect, as long as the value relationships are correct,
the drawing is still successful. I started to add on different tints of
blue green to give the mountain more definition. another thing I wanted to
experiment with today is dry brush, in which I load paint with very little
water mixed in to create an inconsistent flow. I thought the dry brush effect can
emulate snow dusted on the mountain crest and valleys. again, the road here I knew I wouldn’t
land on a first try; I kind of finessed with it more than I’d like, so it became
quite thick. I did not achieve the icy feeling I wanted because of the opacity. working around negative shape takes
practice, and in this case I am dry brushing around the lights and viewing
the white paper shape as snow. even though this way of working is still
considered positive (because I am not erasing or cutting away the medium), it
can be a bit counter-intuitive at first, but you will be surprised at how easy it
becomes after just a little bit of practice. I squint my eyes slightly to
look at the values of the photograph rather than one specific area. when I felt like I was about to overwork
the whole thing, I stopped my paintbrush and moved to pencil. the marks of the
mechanical pencil was too small, which made the paint marks look too loose, so I
switched to a colored pencil, sticking to the blue green color key. because this is
a winter landscape, I made sure the grass looked stiff and cold, keeping the lines
short, staggering them on top of each other, and having them go in different
directions. it’s important to know when to deviate from the reference image. a
photograph captures light from the physical world and contains that light
on the silver plate. a drawing captures light from my mind my thoughts and my
emotions the image is altered, much like what memory does and becomes unique to
my experience. that’s the magic of art the texture of the color pencil suited
the dried grass better than paint. and because I was more comfortable with
pencil than paintbrush, I was able to mentally pause and evaluate the piece,
observing how the paint becomes more atmospheric as the pencil details came
into the foreground. I am varying my pressure with the pencil,
and I reposition it in my hand often to keep the points sharp. working with white
color pencil is one of my favorite things; I burnish the white on top of the
darks of the mountain, pressing down very hard and grinding the pigment into the
crevices of the paper. I was satisfied with how it made the shadows look
foggier and less flat. after that I went back in with white paint to layer on
snow. since the road is more opaque than I intended,
I wanted a snow to match in opacity and dimensionality. at one point, I thought I
could go in with a middle gray to define the clouds, but decided that it was a bad
idea because it was too distracting, so I pushed it back with more white colored
pencil. then, I move past working from the box I
initially drew to address the rest of the page, to acknowledge that I left a
lot of negative space around the sketch (but I didn’t really feel like filling it
up.) sometimes, it’s okay not to work the whole page of a sketchbook. if I view
this page as an exercise to learn and improve, rather than a final product I
have a much better overall experience and I will likely draw in the sketchbook more. setting high expectations for how a sketchbook should look discourages me
from drawing because I don’t want to mess it up. that’s why I also work in
multiple sketchbooks, so I don’t get attached to one and think that’s
precious, because that will slow down my improvement. and here is the final
product~ the white lines are very subtle, which I
love. I hope you found this video helpful, and let me know if you want to see more
landscapes like this one~ I hope you have a wonderful day or night, and I will see
you next Friday ^_^
7:03 pm
I can already tell it’s lovely ❤️
7:05 pm
Relaxing .. love the video
7:10 pm
For some reason I have collected art supplies over the years but hardly ever use them because I dont think I know how to use them properly?…but I realize that unless I decide to become a professional artist it doesnt hurt to have some fun with art. I never thought to use paint and color pencils which shows just how much I have to learn about different medium and such😊
7:14 pm
I love this so much😻😻😻
7:19 pm
I feel like already Lilith is so much more comfortable talking to the camera and I can't wait to see her become more comfortable with sharing and telling us about her art ❤️❤️❤️
7:23 pm
This make my night✨💖
7:30 pm
Hi, i really love the final result! But i was wondering if you or your sister could do a video showing how to draw animal textures? (hair, scales,etc) or textures on general. Thanks in advance✨✨✨
7:44 pm
I really want to learn how to paint…
7:44 pm
Fantastic! My best regards from Romania
7:44 pm
that sketchbook advice is REALLY good. i find myself hesitant to practice for those same reasons, not wanting to mess up!
7:45 pm
Beautiful
7:49 pm
you areso talented! can you do an anatomy video?
7:51 pm
Soo so cool
7:54 pm
Lilith, I love how articulate you are, how you describe why you made your choices, how you work on the drawing, and how accurately you captured it all in one. Also I love that you chose not to paint it in the academic order, because we really dont need to stick to the rules all the time, and I love how you meant the drawing to be a drawing and nothing else.
<3 love from Juula
7:54 pm
I've been a bit sick recently, and quite stressed. thankfully, your videos are helping me calm down, and learn along the way! thank you ^0^
7:54 pm
💛💛💛
8:19 pm
Thank you so much for this video! Your advice is always really helpful, thanks to you guys I finally got back into art, after neglecting it for too long. It's mesmerizing how you guys manage to capture the magic of art in such a calming and inviting way. Hope you'll keep you amazing work up, you're truly doing a lot for so many people. Sending lots of love to the two of you! ♥
8:21 pm
So beautiful!!! I love landscape paintings, you are both so talented and I just wish there were even more videos to watch!!! Ahaha greedy me! Thanks for making these videos! Have a great week!
8:24 pm
Youre a wonderful teacher i think you could have a successful online class if consider doing that.
8:27 pm
amazing!! so many valuable lessons here. you've really grown my admiration for the art of painting and illustration.
8:40 pm
This was so lovely 🙁
8:57 pm
I have never been so fast in Youtube for past 6months. I love this channel, Lilith + Annabelle ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ thank u for sharing ur artwork and stories, as aways. My two favorite sisters ❤️❤️
9:00 pm
yes more landscapes please :3
9:23 pm
I feel like i learned more in 10 minutes than in 2 years at art school 😁 but really, i loved this piece, and i think i liked your voiceover even more! I paint a lot too, so it was really cool to hear you explain your thought process as you go.
Also, the music reminded me of the soundtrack from The Shape Of Water! If you haven’t heard it yet, i think you would like it 🙂
9:24 pm
you’re room looks so cute!! you should do a art desk tour or something like that ✨
9:32 pm
This is so pretty 😍
9:50 pm
These tips are very helpful and you're a great artist!
9:56 pm
your vocabulary is on point 😭
10:06 pm
Beautiful painting/drawing and beautiful video! I just found this channel… yesterday? I love the personal touch in all the details, the hints of esotericism and vintage style. I look forward to more wonderful content! 💕✨
10:07 pm
So beautiful and calming 💙
10:20 pm
Lilith, hello! Im currently studying graphic design at Texas state and your way of describing color theory through story telling is truly so inspiring and SO HELPFUL 💛
10:20 pm
☺️💖 I enjoyed looking at this video i feel like painting with you.🥰 i would love to see another video how mountain views. Also your vocabulary, is just wow i love the words you put in describing your steps, reason what likes and dislikes. Critique yourself which is something i want to try but then ill just be talking to myself 😅
10:22 pm
You explained the process of your srt making so well 🥺 It’s so calming to look at too. You’re doing great Lilith ❤️✨
10:36 pm
I enjoyed watching you paint. You inspired me to sketch and paint a photograph of mushrooms I took on my little adventure in the woods today.
10:48 pm
I loveeee this video! As someone said before, you sound so self-assured and confident teaching us your techniques! I love seeing you grow as a creator, and I love seeing you break the rules of art to create something beautiful and unique 💫
12:26 am
MORE LANDSCAPES !!!!!
1:36 am
the almost olive green on the road made the whole painting !! it was perfect !
3:46 am
WOW just wow! <3
3:53 am
I really like your approach to art. This video feels like a tutorial but also encouragement to do art. I love your emphasis on doing art to learn or just because rather than for it to be perfect.
4:32 am
i loved this. thank you for reminding me not to hold my sketch book to high expectations
5:17 am
I’m also studying how to use gouache too!! I love your finished piece and your explanation is very helpful~ May I ask a question: can you share the link of the BGM? I really love the music but I couldn’t find the same one!! Thanks~
8:11 am
I loved this, always down for more landscapes!
11:23 am
I loved this video! Not only was the art fantastic, but your commentary as well, you sound and work so professional, I don't think I could ever reach that level 😀 Loved the insight about sketchbooks as well.
12:19 pm
Your study turned out very good! I would love to see more of them!!
5:06 pm
your mark-making is just so mesmerizing <3 can't wait for more drawing/painting videos like this one from you and anabelle <3 ilysm
8:56 pm
Omg Lilith – all this looks so effortless and easy when you do it. I immediately wanna sit my ass down and paint wooooow everything about this. Great job 🥺it turned out SO amazing woooooow
11:32 pm
You explain everything so articulately. I love it! Thank you Lilith 💚
2:01 am
I love how as you were working you were explaining the thought process behind what you were doing. I also love how you taught us some theory from art school. Really loved this video! <3 Peace.
1:13 pm
❤❤❤ I low your approach to art
1:56 pm
This is such a nice video! Maybe you could do a pencil sketch next? I love your style❤
3:06 pm
i absolutely love this
4:08 pm
I adore this channel so much; the content is nice, the evolution is interesting. These videos always help me relax and inspire me to keep doing what I love. Thank you for this <3
11:20 pm
This channel always inspires me to do more art, love you guys💗💗
12:35 am
which program do you use to edit your videos, everything about your videos is so aesthetically pleasing, from the fonts you use to the close-up shots ugh so pretty
12:52 am
Hello, this was a very beautiful painting and video editing! I think it was really magical. I have a question, what is the name of that song in the video? Or does anybody else know?
2:40 am
ahh I absolutely love this!! it's nice to see art and learn the process <33 please do more landscapes ;;-;;
4:50 am
This is such a breathe of fresh air 🙂 you can really tell the differences between a self taught artist and someone who is a formally educated. YouTube needs more of you !
3:55 pm
I lovvvveeee this drawing so much! 💛 I would love to see more landscapes in the future as drawing them is something I still struggle with
5:02 pm
this is so pretty! i love the pencil details!!
12:35 am
Awesome video! 🙂 I really like the commentary particularly the comment about the colors and what you're thinking when you apply them. Thanks for the upload!
9:50 pm
that random one dislike tho, guess they were bored
10:34 pm
I have difficulty at drawing landscape, thanks for your insight 🙂
4:43 am
HANDS UP.. who else squinted when she said "I squint my eyes" and was like 'WOOOOO!!"???!?!?!?!?!!?
1:20 pm
I like your detail work ………Pencil work…………………….& Big like…..👈
8:33 am
who the hecc was that one who clicked dislike?!? LET'S HUNT THIS JEALOUS BISH DOWN
11:10 am
This channel is literally GOLD ! Its filling all my aesthetics so much
6:47 pm
woooow 😍