Ever had that sinking feeling when you step back from your watercolour-in-progress, only to realise it's turning out to be about as striking as a pebble on a beach?

Well, fear not. Easy Notan sketches are your secret weapon against the dreaded "meh" painting. Set yourself up for success with this quick (and fun) two-minute exercise before you get out those paints. 

Let me show you how this simple step can transform your watercolours from "bland to grand" faster than you can rinse your brush.

What is a Notan sketch?

Notan means light/dark or weak/strong.It is a sketch of your reference in its simplest form.

Everything in the reference needs to be classified into one of two categories - light or dark.

Using just two values means that we have simplified the image to the maximum amount possible, in order to evaluate the composition. If the light and dark shapes make a striking form in your little notan sketch, the painting you create from that sketch is likely to be a compelling one.

How to Create a Notan Sketch

No fancy tools are required for this straightforward process. I like to use a big broad black marker, or brush tip marker and my sketch book. But really any rough paper you happen to have to hand will do.

There is no need to make a large sketch. For the purposes of this exercise a tiny thumbnail is sufficient. Start by creating a border in roughly the same proportions as the reference or at least as the intended painting.

View your reference through half closed eyes. This will reduce the amount of light coming into your eyes and therefore reduce the amount of information you see in the image. The first information to lose is colour, so you tend to find that the dark shapes jump out at you.

Use the marker to reproduce the dark shapes you see in the image. No details are required, just the solid masses.

Stand back and view your thumbnail sketch.

Is the composition pleasing?

Are the shapes striking?

Does your eye stay within the picture plane or tend to fall out of it?

You can try out multiple little variations of your notan and see if you can find a composition that you like better.

This is an easy way to experiment with alternate forms, like seeing if you prefer the image in a square vs a landscape format.

You can also experiment with adjustments like the effect of moving the horizon line in a landscape. It’s a fast way to find out what you like best - without spending a lot of time creating a full painting to find out you would have been better off moving the focal point at the beginning.

Notan vs Value Study

I know what you are thinking. Is a notan just a value study?

There are some who would fervently disagree with that. A value study is a monochromatic version of your painting.

So it could be black white and as many shades of grey as you care to include.

Perhaps we could say a notan is a value study with only 2 values. Its just semantics in my view so don’t let the pedants get you down. What is important is that each of these studies offer something slightly different.

I like to think of the notan as an x ray of your painting. It shows just the skeleton - only the bare bones.

I see the value study as the fleshed out skeleton. It has volume and form now, but without the complication of colour.

Adding the colour in my view, is like the fleshed out skeleton after the full hair, make up and wardrobe treatment.

How do Notan Studies Improve your Painting?

The notan quickly shows you the strength of your composition. Your composition is the arrangement of the elements in your painting and their relationship with one another.

Effectively, your composition is your painting, so this is an important thing to figure out as soon as possible. If the big simple shapes make a striking image in just two values then your painting will likely have impact.

As we established, it is much easier to try out a few variations in the simplest thumbnail form than it is to create full paintings.

Creating a notan sketch is like gifting yourself a map of your painting. Now that you know exactly where you are going you can relax and enjoy the journey.

I find it particularly helpful for watercolour since it is important to know which areas you want to keep light. With watercolour it is easier to make a painted section darker with an extra layer of paint, but you can’t lighten a section with quite as much ease.

(If you paint in an opaque medium like gouache, acrylic or oil then you can paint light over dark, unlike watercolour which is transparent.)

Do you Need Value Study as well as a Notan?

Your choice. To create the notan we have had to classify every single part of the painting as either dark or light. If it is a complex image and you want to think through where you will place some of those midtones, then a value study is probably a good idea.

A little preparation is always a good thing, but I do like to point out that you don’t want to get in procrastination mode. Too much preparation can start to make the full painting feel like a daunting task.

Painting is fun. If any part of the process is diminishing the fun, cease immediately.

The best paintings come from happy relaxed painters.

How to Create a Value Study

You can add a grey marker to your black and create a 3 value study in much the same way as the notan. Of course if you have a set of different greys then you can add more than one grey. You can also do this with a pencil of course and use different densities of hatching to create the different tones. And don't forget it doesn't really have to be black - just monochrome. So if you have a range of blue markers in different values of course you can use those. Nothing is stopping you creating a value study in paint either. Again, just pick one colour and use different values of that single colour.

I feel compelled to point out once more that you want to be kind to yourself and balance diligent preparation with the joy of just getting on with the fun of splashing the paint about.

My advice is to stack the odds of turning out an effective painting by starting off with a little notan study. It only delays the painting by a minute or two, but simplifies the process making it even more fun once you get the paints out.

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