I Needed This!

One of the reasons I came back to the studio was because I felt guilty — not about leaving my art supplies untouched, not about making up lots of excuses as to why I just wasn’t ready to get back to art, but because a friend had taken a beautiful photo, and I’d asked her permission to use it as a reference for a landscape painting. She not only consented, but quickly sent several other photos she’d taken on that same day, showing different views of the scene.

I do love landscape painting. It’s “my niche” in the art world, and in time I’ll get back to my easel and my oils, and at some point I probably will use my friend’s photos for reference. For several weeks, however, those photos have just been sitting in my download folder. Each time I see them, that nagging guilty feeling has crept over me. “I really should do something. I really should get back to art. I really would like to paint this scene… someday.”

Finally the guilt became annoying enough that I bought a new sketchbook, dug out my drawing pencils, and said “All right, let’s get started again.”

I eased my way back with a few little watercolor exercises, and that was enough to really draw me in again. I laughed at my feeble watercolor attempts, then put them aside and grabbed the sketchbook. I’m not great at drawing, but I’m better with graphite than I am with watercolor!

You’ve seen my first “renewed” attempts. Pears. More pears. A drawing of one of our cats. A few shading exercises. It’s been an interesting process with equal parts of fun and frustration.

I’m reviewing lots of classes I’ve taken before, finding a few new videos, and browsing a lot through the blog, recalling different projects from the past.

One particular video — from a graphite course at The Virtual Instructor — nearly sent me into an artistic tailspin. The lesson topic is sketching, how it differs from drawing, and why sketching can be (and should be) a good daily exercise habit for an artist. Of course, the instructor’s idea of “a quick sketch” is a lot different from mine. Take a look at this “quick sketch” he made of an urban scene.

Yes, this IS a sketch, one that I watched him do. It’s not a “refined drawing” with careful attention to detail and precise values. It’s a “quick sketch” — but it was discouraging to watch him complete this sketch, all the while wishing my “finished, refined, completed drawings” could look anywhere near as good as this.

He then went on to complete two additional “quick sketches”, pointing out that these are helpful “studies” that can (a) familiarize us with details of a scene, (b) give us opportunities to explore an object’s form more closely, and (c) serve as preliminary steps or compositional tools for more detailed drawings.

I make a lot of “quick sketches”, not for any of the reasons listed above, but mostly because that’s about all I’m really capable of doing. Yes, in the past, I have completed a few drawings I’ve been proud of, but overall, my drawing skills have always been weak. Well, maybe “adequate” would be a better word. I learned to draw well enough to do what I needed to do.

While I’m not great at creating “finished drawings”, I’m not bad at doing “quick sketches”. In fact, I really enjoy the process. One thing pointed out in the lesson video was the importance of keeping our pencil moving while we do a quick sketch. It adds a bit of energy, makes the quick sketch seem alive somehow. It’s true.

So, I set aside my discouragement, reached for my sketchbook, and went into my photo gallery. I certainly wasn’t going to attempt the urban scene used in the lesson video. Urban sketching is definitely not my thing. But I did have those lovely photos from my friend, so why not do a quick sketch using one as a reference?

I took a deep breath, resolved to keep my pencil moving, and I was off and running… well, sketching, that is. And while my quick sketch isn’t completely accurate — I took a few liberties — I did capture the essence of the scene, I think. Even more, I had fun. I loved doing this quick sketch.

I think “quick sketching” like this is good because it does help me “loosen up”. I don’t put any pressure upon myself. I’m satisfied if I can just capture a “likeness”, and the quick movements do add a “lively” sense to a quick sketch.

It’s akin to scribbling in many ways, yet at the same time it does help us look at a scene and pick up on the key compositional elements. And for me, doing this quick sketch not only pushed aside the doubts and disappointments I’d been feeling, it also affirmed for me what sort of artist I want to be.

I love landscape art, especially doing landscapes in oils. That’s really what I love most. I also enjoy sketching, especially natural things like twigs, and leaves, and old sticks. I do still hope to improve my drawing skills and move from “adequate” to “somewhat proficient”, and I’m feeling encouraged enough right now to believe that just maybe I can do it.

And if not…? That’s all right, too. I can always find pleasure in making quick landscape sketches like this, or doing quick studies of pears. Yeah, there will be more pears. Sorry, I know you’re tired of seeing pears.

Speaking of which, I should go do a “pear study” now, using some of the tricks I learned about quick sketching. Even if I’m more of a landscape artist than a still life artist, fruits really are fun. Especially pears.