Location Sketching Before It Was Cool

 

“The watercolour technique, on the borderline between drawing and painting, acquired prestige in the nineteenth century, particularly in Britain, where the “Watercolor Society” was founded in 1804.” – from Delacroix: Voyage au Maroc

Long before Gabi Campanario invented urban sketching, artists like Delacroix were doing what we now call travel journaling, nature journaling, and simply drawing stuff when they found a solid rock to sit on.  I thought some might like to see into that world a bit and, I guess, so does the Louvre.

They’ve produced an hour long seminar on early location sketching, presenting a lot of sketches from the 19th century, including a bunch showing sketchers in the sketches themselves.  There is a discussion of Delacroix, including looks at his sketchbooks and another section on Eugene Blery, an amazing nature journalist and artist.  The seminar is in French so it might be hard for some;  I understood about half of what is said, but the sketches are self-explanatory and a joy to see.