Life drawing in watercolour

I’ve been attending more life drawing sessions, and exploring how to use watercolours and watercolour pencils. I’m still struggling in the short poses, but I feel like I’m getting a little better at 10 or 20 minute poses. Some thoughts on this so far:

• Watercolour pencils are cool for getting lines down quickly, then adding water for shape after, which is handy for 5 minute poses.
• Only bringing a couple of pencils helps keep things simple!
• I’m still getting used to mixing the right colours quickly, so sticking fairly monochromatic and focusing on value for now is helping. I have a Cadmium Red Light that I’m enjoying for this.
• Sketchbooks aren’t ideal because you can’t turn the page on the drying paint! I brought a watercolour pad I could tear sheets off for the most recent session, which was much better.
• I’m very reliant on my watercolour pencil sketch to guide my painting and also show edges. I’d like to move away from this and work just in paint, for looseness and speed.
• Drawing a live model in a room with other artists is SO different to drawing from a photo. I feel like my sketches have so much more life when drawing from life, I’m so in awe of what the awesome models bring to their craft, and the creative energy of everyone capturing the moment in their own way.