Jackie Sumerfield creates beautiful watercolour sketches of her travels, bringing a sense of serenity and peace to viewers. She’s sketched in lots of incredible destinations, including Barbados and Morocco. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do!
Your paintings have a lovely peaceful style to them. How did this develop?
My style developed over a number of years, it wasn’t instant. I visit a lot of galleries and exhibitions, read a lot of art books, both history and technique, and try out new things. So if I visit an exhibition and see an artist’s approach to colour which I like, I’ll have a go at incorporating it into my work. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I draw a lot and keep a journal too, so my eye is constantly looking for subjects. I’ve always worked on having a loose, lively, impressionistic style and that is true to me and my personality.
Man and shadow, city walls, Marrakech
Let’s talk about process. What steps do you take when creating each piece?
I try to sketch on site whenever possible. They are my most successful pieces. Sometimes I will work from a back up photo or preliminary sketch. Usually I start with the palest background wash and layer my painting accordingly, looking especially carefully at the tonal values as I find them challenging.
Lanterns in St. Ann’s Square, Manchester
Aside from travel what inspires your sketches?
Inspiration comes from a beautiful place or object or scene, doesn’t matter where it is. I’ll happily paint things around me at home. Usually though it’s the colours in a landscape or set of objects that I respond to and want to get down in paint.
What do you hope your sketches tell viewers about the places they depict?
I hope they will feel the essence of the place or person or object; ……the cold, the sun, the rain, the colours, the movement, the atmosphere.
Where has been your favourite place to sketch and why?
My favourite places are the hot sunny ones, Greece, Barbados, Morocco. I love the colours and the light.
If you could travel to any place in the world and sketch, where would it be and why?
I’d like to go back to India. I had a trip there in 2011 but I didn’t do enough painting when I was there as it was a busy trip. I loved the hot spicy colours, the contrasts and bustle of the place, I’d like to try and capture that.
Pink House, Hole Town, Barbados
Finally, do you have any tips for readers who might be interested in painting whilst they travel?
Take it with you! Make sure you always have a travel kit for painting that fits in your bag, including a bottle of water. And do it. Even if you are with a group or family, detach yourself for ten minutes and get it down on paper, plus a few photos. Those sketches are gold dust.
The other tip is be prepared. Be mindful of the need for hat, sun cream, insect repellent etc. I’ve been caught out a few times. You learn!
One of the other things I do apart from finished paintings is keep a journal. It makes me draw every day, loosens me up and helps with composition. It frees up the ‘it must be perfect’ syndrome and of course is perfect for travel as you can incorporate other bits into it.
You can see more of Jackie’s work on her Facebook page.
