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It is now officially fall, now that the Durham Fair is over. This wonderful agricultural fair, the largest in Connecticut always ushers in the autumn for me.
I've gone to the fair many, many times in my twenty-seven years living in Connecticut. However, this is only the second year that I have sketched at the fair. Children and sketching at the fair don't really mix well. but now my children are all grown and I can take an entire day to enjoy the fair through my pens and paints.
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A big sketching outing like the fair takes some preparation to make the day really successful, I like to arrive early when the gates open on Friday to avoid the large Saturday crowds. Friday is the day for school field trips to the fair, and I think it's good for kids to see someone sketching in public.
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Wear the right clothing and shoes. I stand to sketch at the fair and our fair is on very hilly terrain so a good pair of light hikers is a must for me. ( also Advil before I leave so my back is not totally screaming half way through the day) Light weight sweater which I can roll up and stuff in my sketch bag, and vest with lots of pockets to stash pens, brushes watercolors etc. for easy access while I'm sketching. I clean out my sketch bag and travel with a minimum of carefully chosen supplies.
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I've learned over the years that a big "in public" day of sketching is not the time for me to be experimenting with new stuff. That said I ordered a totally new sketchbook to use at the fair, one I've never used before. I had every intention of testing it out first but I was just too busy with other projects so I went in to this not knowing how the paper would be. Fortunately, the paper was fine, not outstanding, but fine. Although it's 140 lb. hot press paper, I was surprised that it buckled a bit, not enough to be very concerned about and it flattened after drying I was just surprised and didn;t expect that to happen. In case you're wondering the sketchbook was The American Journey Journaling Sketchbook from CheapJoes, see it
HERE
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The journal is 9x12 and one of my intentions for the fair was to work large. I've been working in small sketchbooks since the beginning of the year and I really felt it was time for a change. I'm glad I did , as working large at the fair was very freeing and I think contributed to the bold character of the sketches. I also decided from the get go that the sketches would be large two, possibly only one per page. I didn't want to cram the pages with lots of little sketches, because then I might as well be working in a small sketchbook. So it felt really good to spread out and draw large,
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My usual method for sketching at big events like this is to start with a loose, quick light pencil sketch, just to get my bearings on the page and get the basic shape and gesture of the animal. then I switch to a Tradio Stylo pen. This is not a waterproof pen and I use it for exactly that reason. I can very quickly get tonal washes, areas of shadow, and deep ink blacks as well as interesting fluid inky areas n my sketches. The black ink also mixes with the watercolors toning down things a bit which is perfect for earth, natural subjects like farm animals. That ink mixing in with the colors in every sketch also brings a consistency to the look of each page of sketches from the fair, so they work as a whole series of related images.
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Using non-waterproof pen also reminds me to only use minimal washes and not get caught up trying to do complex many layered paintings, and it reminds me to leave bits of white for sparkle. When sketching at the fair I always try and remember that less is more.
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I took along my QoR watercolor set, and a brown Sharpie ultra fine point to write in the animals names, breeds, farms and any other information I could gather.
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During the rest of the weekend at home in the studio I added the borders, backgrounds and the stamped lettering.
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All in All after sketching for 6 hours I had filled eighteen pages with thirty sketches!
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Keep scrolling down to see all the rest of the pages.
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All the 'critters' are so charming!! (now I'm REALLY wanting to go sketch at a fair, too!! ). Super lovely (and motivating!)!!
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