Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
People often ask how I get my loose watercolour sketching style.
The truth is that I don’t think it can really be taught as a technique.
This sketch was made on a beach on Brownsea Island while my wife and a newly-discovered relative braved the cold sea. Looking back at it, I realised that every brushstroke contains a memory of that moment.
In this video I try to recreate the sketch in the studio and explore why sketching is about much more than making pictures. It’s about paying attention.
In a world full of distractions, endless scrolling, AI-generated images and pressure to keep moving on to the next thing, perhaps the real value of sketching is that it forces us to stop and look.
Can a sketch hold more meaning than a photograph?
What do we gain when we spend twenty minutes observing instead of twenty seconds snapping?
Join me as I redraw the sketch, talk about loose watercolour, memory, travel, attention and the question that many artists are asking right now:
What is art actually for?
#watercolour #sketchbook #urbansketching #drawing #art #creativity #watercolorpainting #brownseaisland #illustration #attention
Subscribe to this channel ➡️ bit.ly/Sub2Shoo for lots more drawing videos
Twitter twitter.com/shoorayner
Instagram instagram.com/shoorayner
Website for my newsletter, images, books and to support this channel - shooraynerdrawing.com
Music by @cleffernotes
People often ask how I get my loose watercolour sketching style.
The truth is that I don’t think it can really be taught as a technique.
This sketch was made on a beach on Brownsea Island while my wife and a newly-discovered relative braved the cold sea. Looking back at it, I realised that every brushstroke contains a memory of that moment.
In this video I try to recreate the sketch in the studio and explore why sketching is about much more than making pictures. It’s about paying attention.
In a world full of distractions, endless scrolling, AI-generated images and pressure to keep moving on to the next thing, perhaps the real value of sketching is that it forces us to stop and look.
Can a sketch hold more meaning than a photograph?
What do we gain when we spend twenty minutes observing instead of twenty seconds snapping?
Join me as I redraw the sketch, talk about loose watercolour, memory, travel, attention and the question that many artists are asking right now:
What is art actually for?
#watercolour #sketchbook #urbansketching #drawing #art #creativity #watercolorpainting #brownseaisland #illustration #attention
Subscribe to this channel ➡️ bit.ly/Sub2Shoo for lots more drawing videos
Twitter twitter.com/shoorayner
Instagram instagram.com/shoorayner
Website for my newsletter, images, books and to support this channel - shooraynerdrawing.com
Music by @cleffernotes
