around the world with a sketchbook and a bicycle!
this video made me want to leave my house and head out on an urban sketch assignment.
i marvel at how much more difficult it is to draw urban scenes from life than from a photo. a photo is all set up. flat. ready to be captured. life is BIG. and unruly. with telephone poles with wires going 14 different directions. things are. moving!
drawing from television. that's like a giant photo. nothing moves when you click pause. good for beginners. like me!
i drew the blue man with just a waterbrush. i like the thick clumsy line.
while watching the ken burns national park series on netflix instant watch, i paused to do a quick sketch.
then i put a chair in front of me and got out my ipad. drawing on the ipad is like heaven after drawing on paper. erasing is so so easy. each line you lay down is like dragging a toothpick through a big pat of soft butter. such a fun change.
i'm interested in ALL OF IT. every last thing. okay! off on my urban jaunt through the mean streets. promise not to laugh at what i come back with. just don't.
Thank you!
sketchbook pro
Years ago my friend showed me one of her paintings and waited for comments. I knew it was a copy of an original in a local museum, a Matisse I believe, and I said a few things. I could see she was crushed. Finally I said…it’s a very good/accurate copy but I HATE the original. A major exhale from her. I had no idea how brave it was to show one’s art. I realize my emotional skin is much much tougher.
Now that I have an iPad, and another artist friend who may start iPad work, do tell which app you are using in your each of your iPad works, pretty please. (yes, a lot to ask…) I find most of the art apps confounding, mainly because I don’t draw or paint in real life. Otherwise, I can out geek many.
Always love seeing your sketches. I finished the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Such a good book-so much to think about.
The thick lines of the waterbrush do look great! I would frame and hang the national park sketch you did, I adore that, great job!
LLoooooving your painting from El Capitan. Well, it looks like El Capitan to me. You are slowly getting me into drawing, even if I grew up with an artistic sister and being made aware of my non capabilities… Looks like you are getting everything out of your sabbatical that possibly might be in it…
I agree with poster Joan; you are more brave than most. Perhaps for some more ‘real life’ practice, try drawing Catboy and Catgirl. I draw the dachshunds, and they are good little models. They do move around a bit, but this prepares you quite adequately for the wide world I think. They are also quite unjudgemental, these critters.
I love your style Mary Ann! Your personality comes through in your drawing which is what makes it so beautiful and interesting! I’ve really become interested in sketching too, and agree that drawing from life seems wayyyyy more difficult! I love iHanna’s idea of using a viewfinder. I might try that, if I ever get the guts to take to the streets with my sketchbook!
Why would any of us laugh at your drawings? I think you’re incredibly brave and open to put them out here for all to see. I would never criticize or laugh at you. I had a kindergarten teacher tell me there was no such thing as a pink cow when I presented her with the picture I’d drawn of my grandad’s cow, Rosie…she was a pinkish brown colored Jersey…after that humiliation in front of the class, I didn’t pick up a paint brush or pencil to draw/paint anything for 60 years. No, I don’t laugh or criticize anyone’s drawings. OH, I love the one of the national park…the perspective is great…love the foreground trees. Bang up job!
I promise cuz i love these snippet peeks, you so very kindly open the door to all the possibilities that can flow from our fingers, pen, pencil, brush, fine or chunky lines all skittering happily across the page and I think that is the key, to do it happy, keep it light but while staying focused, concentrating just enough to capture it, me and sketching are akin to a hummingbird, flapping her wings furiously enough to stay poised at the feeder but one slight movement and I’m gone…I’m trying very hard to be a brave wee bird, not toppling over into the lines….
I especially love your chair, I think it’s the yellow. Please take us with you on your sketching journeys!
I’ve been watching all your sketching lately, and feeling a twinge inside me to try. Today’s post was a much bigger spark! Will be giving it a whirl on my next day off. And I’m planning on a post next week on my blog with the video you shared. It was too inspiring! Thanks for sharing your adventures and ideas. You have become one of my favorite 3 blogs that I must look at daily.
What a great collection today, your sketches, the video, your thoughts! I especially enjoy the variety of sketches you’re doing. I’m glad to hear the Ken Burns show is on Netflix streaming. I didn’t realize that and I’ve wanted to watch more of it.
I am in love with the IDEA of sketch crawls…and I attend one with an artist about an hour away 3 or 4 times a year. I also go once a month with a couple of friends …. BUT I NEVER get anything decent out of my sketch crawls! You are soooo right that drawing from life is a thousand times more difficult than drawing from photos! I just keep plugging away, knowing that practice is the only road to success.
Drawing from life is SO difficult, but I guess with practice it will get easier. Try a viewfinder if you need to narrow it down a bit and not get overwhelmed.
Happy Easter!
Loved the video. I wish I could draw like him. I love seeing your sketches! And your attitude towards your sketching is wonderful. It gives me encouragement to sketch again. Thaank you! Keep inspiring me, please!