Watercolor Sketch

When sketching in watercolor it seems to me that the outcome depends on intent. That is if the watercolor is as a record of information--for a subsequent painting, or memory, or other reasons--it may be done loosely and without minute details. The idea is recording color, shape, value, and so on of whatever the subject may be, paying little attention to strict rendering. on the other hand, sometimes a watercolor is intended as a stand alone artwork, and in most of those cases the image is more detailed in certain passages. 

I like to sketch small watercolors as mementos of a place or event, so while in the mountains last week I did this watercolor, about postcard size. It's a loosely painted rendering of a path we followed to a painting spot near a marsh. Light filtering through treetops gave a dappled appearance, with an occasional sunbeam penetrating to the forest floor. 

Here omitting detail a lot of detail didn't alter the feel of walking through a forest cathedral. 

The human brain often supplies details, even when the artist doesn't.