Materials noted in program... Watercolor kit (see supply list). New materials... gouache (Turner Design Gouache paint: jet black, white titanium, cobalt blue hue, permanent red, permanent lemon, permanent green light).. Bug stuff.. Murphy's Mosquito Repellant Balm (lemongrass, rosemary, cedar wood and peppermint, from Amazon). Neutral paper pad (a warm beige color) ... Magnani 1414, Annigoni 7x10" 117lb 100% cotton. (This paper is a great alternative to Kraft paper.)
Small studies do a lot for the artist:
1) Lock in a feeling, or strong sense of place
2) Capture color notes
3) Allow creative exploration, or 'play time'
Pitfalls of creating studies are:
1) Trying to put everything into the scene (the sketch will look weak or boring because a main idea was not selected)
2) Spending too long on one study (the idea will get diluted and the art will be overworked)
3) Having high expectations of the study to 'be good' (a study may appear as a crude effort to a passerby)
Learn how to harness the power of small quick paintings, sketches, or studies. Think of these as doodles or meditation on a scene. To get started plan on 20-30 minutes on each study. Don't walk around looking for the 'perfect' scene. The job of the artist is to prioritize and highlight the 'main idea'. Studies let you try out several main ideas in a short time to see what is engaging for you to work on. With time and practice you'll find your favorite ways to do studies and they will go faster.
Find out what type of artist you are. Do you like trying new materials? Do you like doing abstract dabs? Do you like drawing in pencil first? Do you feel the urge to write words (feelings, or concrete info such as time of day, etc) a long with your study?
Finally, when you take your studies into the studio, don't feel pressure to make a painting of the scene. Sometimes the study was just a moment on location. You are gathering raw material for your art. This visual and artistic practice should not be judged in the field. Over time you will find out how much you can use material from your studies. I find studies very useful, but I don't know which ones will be the 'good' ones - only later do I find this out! I also only use about 5% of my studies for large art inspiration, but I use the other 95% for on location experience I can tap into for my (mostly) intuitive painting.