Susan Knapp Sketches

Sketching journal

  • Ready to roll, are you travel ready?

    Summer is upon us, whether you are going away or staying home keep your sketching kit ready!

    Here is a breakdown of my materials which I use near home and exactly the same when I travel.

    In the image above is a sketch of our trusty VW camping car which has taken us on numerous family holidays in Europe.

    Also sketches of my palette, which I often add to my pages to remind me of any changes I may have made.

    Below are images of my materials and underneath that a short description of the colours and brands.

    I keep all my materials in an Art Toolkit case, I have 2, this is the larger one.

    My palette is also Art Toolkit in which are 23 godets that I fill with tube colours. They might seem small but honestly they last a long time, I’ve never run out even on three week trips.

    Colours:

    Cobalt turquoise, Potters pink, Cobalt blue, Burnt Sienna, Quinacridone violet and Hookers green from Winsor and Newton.

    Cerulean blue chromium, Prussian blue, French ultramarine, , Indigo, Permanent Alizarin crimson, Quinacridone coral, Transparent pyrrole orange, Organic vermilion,Quinacridone rose, Buff titanium, Italian burnt Sienna, Monte amiata natural Sienna, New Gamboge, Hansa yellow light ( in two godets, as I often get one that turns green when I’m mixing),and Phtalo green from Daniel Smith.

    Quinacridone gold from Holbein.

    Pens are Lamy Safari, Inks de Atramentis, brushes Princeton and Rosemary & Co.

    Sketchbooks….. ahh the big question!

    I have several favourite brands and types, in general I like cold pressed, white but not too bright, !00% cotton ( or at leas 50% cotton). I like Portrait format, generally in A5, for tavelling I always take several Zigzag books.

    The brands are Hahnemuhle, Stillman & Birn, Canson and recently discovered Sennelier.

    I hope that this post is helpful, occasionally I add things but this is the base for everything I do, even in the studio.

  • Hooked on green

    Painting green can be fascinating or frustrating, or sometimes both at once.

    This post is a step by step guide to how I painted this double page, starting with greens and the blues of the sky.

    I sketched the pages on location in Italy on a hot sunny day but time constraints meant that I had to add the colour at home.

    This is the sketching spot, and my first sketch, I only had to turn to then sketch the other two vignettes.

    I nearly always start with the sky, that’s about the only academic rule that I follow.

    Then when I came to the greens I wanted to try and convey the contrast and the profusion so I decided to use a big brush, a Princeton Aqua Elite size 10. Above left.

    In doing so I had no choice but to paint in a loose and free style, letting the paint work its magic. My greens are mostly mixed from blues and yellows.

    The photo above right shows my first washes on the buildings, dropping colours onto wet paper. As you can see it’s very washed out and doesn’t look finished.

    Above left everything is starting to look better, with a second wash and more detail.

    Above right the finished pages, everything comes together when I add the shadows. Feel the heat of the sun!

    Two important things to note about shadows, they are not grey and they vary in darkness.

    I mix my shadows with browns and blues, yellows and purples, sometimes adding orange and red, there are so many possibilities. I never use black or grey.

    The part of the object that is in the shade is lighter than a shadow that is cast onto the object. just look at the triangle cast shadow on the side of the church tower, it it darker than the walls in shadow.

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  • CAFE LIFE

    I’m definitely spoilt for choice when it comes to cafes around and about our local villages near my home.

    It just happens that one of my favorite subjects alongside weathered facades and faded shutters is cafe parasols and these we have in abundance. Bright white or blues, yellows and reds or even striped.

    With the sunshine that we get for most of the year parasols are essential and I just love the shadows that they cast on the terraces.

    Imagine yourself sitting here, instant holiday vibes.

  • Springtime in Provence

    Each time of year has its colours, one of the colours of springtime is lilac.

    Lilac bushes in abundance, wisteria and iris’s too, along with the reds and pinks of the roses.

    All growing wild in the hedgerows or climbing up the village houses.

    It’s really a joy to have all these close at hand to paint.

  • BHUTAN, land of the Thunder Dragon

    This winter we travelled to a place that I’ve been longing to visit for many years, and I wasn’t disappointed.

    Bhutan, the land of the thunder dragon was as magical and beautiful as I had hoped, and a few days in Kolkata at either end added a sharp but equally enjoyable contrast. Just by the colours I used in my sketchbook you can see the difference. I even managed a Sunday outing with the Kolkata Urban Sketchers which was great fun!

    Visiting Dzongs, monasteries and museums whilst each day traveling further east we got to see some spectacular countryside too.

  • Lourmarin 2025

    Salon du Carnet de Voyage

    For the second year I was invited to participate in this wonderful annual event. It’s something that I have looked forward to all year and it didn’t disappoint.

    Meeting other carnettistes, sketchers and enthusiasts is so much fun and so inspiring. Running a workshop for twelve talented ladies was an important part of my weekend.
    I have to say that the subject I planned was really a little bit ambitious but after a few tours of the table and a little encouragement the results were really amazing!

  • Poznan, Urban Sketchers Symposium

    A whirlwind week in Poland for the 13th Urban Sketchers Symposium 2025, in Poznan.

    Starting out in Warsaw then moving onto Poznan for the symposium and after that on to Toruń.
    I managed to sketch in all three locations, really getting into the swing of it in Poznan and continuing with limited time in Toruń.

    I can’t describe how wonderful the symposium was, meeting old and new sketching friends, meeting people that I’ve learnt from and people that I’ve taught. An incredible atmosphere of friendship and sharing, with an amazing team of organizers, volunteers and sponsors.

  • A few days in Italy

    Just a few days in the valley of the Sesia river, mostly to test a kayak ( not me) but I managed to snatch a few sketches along with the exploring, restaurants and ice cream stops.

    In the last two you can see how I completed the sketch at home, because after I took the first photo of the ink stage my lunch arrived so I just had to stop and eat!

  • Just for fun…

    After a lovely family walk on a Sunday very near home we walked past some beautiful old cabanons and old farm buildings that I’d never seen before – not five minutes from home. So Monday morning I was back there with my sketchbook and here’s some on site sketches and the finished pages.

    You can find a short video of me painting the small ruin on my new YouTube channel

    Susan Knapp Sketches

  • Favorite sketchbook pages from 2024

    In 2024 I managed to finish 2 sketchbooks, and although that’s less than usual I am very happy looking back through them.

    I also participated in two festivals, printed a third “Vignettes “ booklet and finished a larger than usual amount of commissions.

    So now I’m looking forward to 2025 and aside from a resolution to sketch more I’m also going to try to learn more.

    It’s always a positive thing to take other artists classes, you end up with a fresh outlook, different ways of seeing things.

    I’m also hoping to teach more, on line and in person.

  • Autumn colours

    Before we slip into winter it’s about time that I added some of my autumn sketchbook pages. Autumn is a season I love and gives me a chance to use those wonderful oranges and yellows.
    It’s still warm enough to be outside and to enjoy all those colours that nature has to offer.

  • Cold Autumn snap

    A week away in the van was cut short to a long weekend because of the unseasonably cold weather, managed a few sketches though.

  • LOURMARIN

    The first weekend of September in Lourmarin.

    For the first time I participated in this amazing event, a sketchbook festival grouping together artists and sketchers from France and Europe. It was so nice to meet fellow sketchers exhibiting and all the people who had come to see us.

    The atmosphere and organization was brilliant.

    I ran a workshop, that I could have filled twice over, where we sketched vignettes of typical Provençal subjects. The hard working participants turned out great work in a very limited time and with a howling Mistral wind.

    Great fun! I was even featured in the newspaper……

  • Summer days

    Here in southern France it’s currently so hot that sketching outside is an early morning activity. Other option is to go a little bit north into the southern alps where being outside is a little bit cooler, those sketches will be in the following post.

  • Festival envie d’ailleurs

    weekend Of fun at mouans sartoux

    A few pictures of my stand before the crowds arrived.

    Then some pictures of my workshop which was such fun, see what the participants came up with in just 90 minutes!
    Ended the Saturday evening with a great pizza with friends then back to the camper and the cute campsite.

  • COMING SOON, VINGETTES VAN LIFE

    Another collection from my sketchbook travels, another little book in the making. This one is all about our summer travels in our 1979 VW Camper – a trusty member of the family for over 20 years.

  • VIGNETTES

    “Vignettes de Provence” and “Vignettes de l’Ubaye”

    Pages from my sketchbooks, edited in 2023 into two small booklets that were self published, somehow I forgot to post about them at the time.

    I had such fun trawling through my sketchbooks to choose the images, and I even had fun scanning them and putting it all together on Photoshop – although there were moments when I found it incredibly frustrating and out of my comfort zone!

    However they did really well, I had to re-order several times. So I’m taking a deep breath and I’m about to start another one, this time I’m taking my sketches from further afield, India, Nepal, Morocco, Myanmar and Laos.
    The current ones are available on my Etsy store, SusanKnappSketches

  • Cake

    I can have my cake and eat it too, as long as I sketch it first!

    At the top is a traditional Gâteau des Rois, eaten in France on the 6th of January, Epiphany.

    Below an Italian pastry filled with “ crema pasticcera “…….

    I don’t very often sketch food, but I really enjoy sketching cakes, perhaps I need to do more in 2024.

  • SOME OF MY FAVORITES FROM 2023

    These are not necessarily the ones that got the most likes on Instagram or Facebook, but the ones I had the most fun doing and hold the best memories.

    They are all from near home, not including any travel sketches.

  • NEPAL NOVEMBER 2023

    It’s ten years since I last visited Nepal, and despite the fact that it’s busier and with a definite increase in air pollution it remains at heart the same.
    The people are delightful and welcoming, the food is wonderful and the incredible monuments and buildings are just waiting to be sketched. Most of the historic buildings have been restored after the earthquakes but apparently not all the dwellings.

    Here is a small selection of sketches, I’m actually planning to do a “Travel Vignettes “ booklet in the new year……. Watch this space!

  • Sometime last summer

    Despite all my promises and good intentions summer did not go as planned, but I will try to catch up with a few sketches from home and travels near to home.

    Early summer, local villages and gardens.

  • Aix-en-provence

    Carnets de Voyage en Provence 2023

    A wonderful weekend at the end of February spent in the company of 60 other “carnettistes” , that is sketchers, showing our sketchbooks to the many, many appreciative visitors .

    The other sketchers were from all over France and Europe too and like me they had travelled and sketched all over the world.

    Such an amazing experience that I was proud to participate in.

  • Winter in Provence

    Pages from my sketchbooks over the winter months, from blue skies to snowy landscapes.

    Moving between the Var where we don’t often get snow to the Ubaye valley with its winter climate and ski stations.

  • India part two

    Ladakh to New Delhi via Kargil and Srinagar.

    An incredible and sometimes hair raising journey from the high mountains of Ladakh over pass’s of 5,000 meters, down to the beautiful Dal lake in Cashmere and then to New Delhi. Sketching all the way!

  • India, part one.

    August, September 2022.

    Leh, Ladakh.

    Some of the pages from my sketchbook, in and around Leh in Ladakh.

    A wonderful and peaceful region to sketch, predominately Buddhist, with incredible perched monasteries and fields full of Stupas and Chortens.
    All surrounded by hugely impressive high mountains with gardens and valleys full of flowers.
    Because of the altitude the colours appear so pure and bright, such a fabulous place to visit.

  • Italy

    Sea, mountains and beautiful old buildings.

    I have a lot of sketches to add, I’ve been very busy, so now I will try to catch up.

    These sketches were drawn from my photographs taken whilst on the Ligurian coast in and around Alassio.

  • More flowers….

    Just before moving onto a different subject, two more sketchbook pages involving flowers.

    These pages were done following the yearly flower market in Barcelonnette, such a riot of colours , impossible to resist.