As posted in the "Sketchbook Challenge" blog today -
I've been seriously pursuing "Urban Sketching" for about a year.
The first few times that I went, my pen marks were very light...kinda wobbly and probably not to good.
I was not feeling secure about sketching in public.
But the longer that I sit in public places and sketch, the less I worry about the end product - the actual sketch.
I'm loving the practice of urban sketching.
It makes me feel a little more secure in my abilities, a little less concerned about what other people think of my sketching and, above all, it lets me stop and really see the world around me.
That's one of the "side effects", if you will, of this urban sketching activity.
You begin to truly look at and see every little thing in your world.
Not just the things that you are drawing but the potential subjects.
Everything begins to look like a sketch waiting to happen.
It makes the world a more beautiful place.
It allows you to celebrate the beauty in the ugly things around you.
I've got page after page of urban sketches - some of them aren't too bad, some of them continue to hide in my sketchbook - embarrassed by the thought of being shown in public.
I'll share a few more with you today.
 |
| This is a partial sketch of the Greenville Art Museum. I added a tiny bit of watercolor on site but wasn't able to complete this there. I usually don't add any more details/paint at home. |
 |
| A playground robot stands guard over the playground . |
 |
| I plucked some lavender from the garden and drew it before I took it in the house. I was drawing on a piece of cold press watercolor paper - I love the way that the uneven paper grabs the graphite. |
 |
| While sitting in my car, waiting on my sketching buddies, I drew a local McDonald's as a warm-up sketch. I had forgot my water brush so I used watercolor pencils instead. |
 |
| This is a metal sculpture in Greenville SC. I love the lines of it. I had to draw it several times to get the lines right... I can see from this sketch that I need more practice with it! |
 |
| This is one of the beautiful old buildings in downtown Greenville SC. Our city has spent many, many hours (and dollars) on revitalization of the area. I am so proud to call this area home. I love to see people milling about downtown, enjoying this beautiful and busy city. |
It will reward you in ways that you would not expect if you just give it a chance.
My plan now is to step a little farther out of my own comfort zone and begin sketching more people.
Real live moving people...
What's your plan?
1 comment:
I am always in awe of what urban sketchers can do. Not only sketching in public, but being able to do it so quickly and to take a slice of real life and interpret it in their own way. It's been really interesting for me to see a group of people sketch the same building or statue or or other point of focus and to see how the results from each is so different and so stamped with their personal style. I hope one day to be able to loosen up enough to be able to do something like that. Your jumping in and just doing it is inspiration. Thanks for sharing your art.
Post a Comment