Sketching on the GO!

We will explore:

Gesture, Negative Space, Verticals (and the problems with a tipped vertical – listed vertical), drawing, light and shadow (the lock in), and structure, speed and dry and wet media

Subjects: Still Life, Simple Architecture and the Figure

Below: 10 minute sketch of Dad and Barclay the Wonder Dog resting.

The presentation from our class is below in video format (no sound) and you can stop it anywhere you wish.

Post Course Resources

• Presentation on Line Types
• Light as it Applies to Geometric Forms and Natural Objects (Creative Commons Video)
• Presentation of Demo Images in Downloadable PDF format
• Sketching on the GO! Handout
  
  Have Pen, Will Travel (Courtesy of John Thorton – sketchbooks contain life drawings)

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Exercises to Gain Speed! ALL exercises should be fast so not to overthink. Sketching and sustained drawing are two completely different practices. These are designed to be quick and spirited!

Exercise 1: Harvesting Gesture
Take fresh fruits and vegetables and arrange them in pleasing groups thinking about negative space and do short gesture drawing in pencil. Repeat in pen then add color and shadows in COLOR with basic watercolor. Don’t be afraid to leave lines behind.

Exercise 2: Verticals Are Vertical
Grab a park bench and do quick sketches of buildings. Remember verticals are vertical! Use siting to set up your perspective and keep in mind where your eye is will be straight or flat. Use the pinky trick to get straight lines in your sketchbook. (Hold pinky on edge of sketchbook while you draw your vertical lines.)

Exercise 3: Quick Sketches
Set up a still life and light it from one side. Mix a light and dark wash in watercolor. Draw your still life in pencil (no shading) and apply light and dark washes to the paper creating light and dark value patterns. BUT do these sketches in miniature several on a page.

Exercise 4: The Two Step
Do a series of small ink drawings from observation. Fill a sketchbook page with them! Then go back identifying a single source of light and use vibrant washes to add color AND SHADOWS. (Remember, shadows ground figures and objects.)

Exercise 5: Taking it to the Park (Cemetery Drawing too)
Take your sketchbook to the park or a place with statues such as a public historical site or cemetery. Do quick sketches in a variety of media. (Socially distance.)
 

• On Facebook I have been posting hyperlapse demos in my Isolation sketchbook. 
  • Hyperlapse Demo from Photograph: Three Figures Sitting on a Beach in Florida
  • Hyperlapse Demo from Two Photographs: Two Figures From Two Photos in One Sketchbook Spread
  • Hyperlapse Demo Strathmere in May in Opaque water-based paints
    
    BOOKS:
• The Sketching and Drawing Bible by Marilyn Scott
• The Urban Sketcher by Marc Taro Holmes
• Simon Jennings: The Complete Artist’s Manual

In a nutshell:
“Sketching is the most beneficial act of brevity in art!”