Sketching Outdoors

This past weekend I had a great time sketching outdoors with my sketching club. The Swiftsure Yacht Race was on and our club started on the top of a hill. From the top of the hill, we got an expansive landscape view, and all the yachts waiting to start. I normally don't do landscapes, but this view was just too good to pass up. The shoreline, the water with the yachts, and the mountains in the background. There is just something about a perfectly clear day, fresh air, and the colours of nature that make sketching outdoors so wonderful.

After I completed my first sketch, I moved down the hill to the shoreline. There were still yatchs waiting to start, and people to draw as well. The real challenge with people at events is that they move alot and often get up and walk away. I love this challenge though, and try to rough in the sketch first, so if the people leave, I still can fill in the details from my imagination.

The second sketch I did was of a cluster of three people with a dog. I just got it roughed in when they decided to leave. As they passed me by, they commented on how nice the sketch was, especially with the dog. I guess they appreciated that I didn't leave their dog out of the drawing!

The third sketch I did was of about five people who arrived right after the first group left. I know I would have probably at least 10 minutes before they would leave, and roughed the sketch in quickly, as they still do wiggle about. In all these sketches I put the yachts and water and mountain in last, since these will still be there after the people go.

I really had fun with this as I did the first sketch in graphite, the second in charcoal, and the third was pen and ink. I use these sketching sessions as learning experiences. I used to create drawings that I could sell, but the learning experience is more important. Where I used to complete one drawing, now I am up to three sketches, and can try multiple medium. If my production drawings and paintings ever get caught up, I plan to try to create finished paintings from some of these sketches. I probably should have brought my camera to get reference photos as well, for color and details, but alas I didn't. I left it behind on the prior sketching weekend, and was nervous about bringing it along this time. I will next time.

I am hoping now that the weather is getting better to do some painting outdoors as well. Alla prima. Direct and complete.

I find that combining the beautiful weather with the wonders of drawing to be one of the most pleasurable things I can do. Hurray, Spring!

The image I am posting with this blog was done on another day out on my own. I drew this one, then painted it in. It was an alla prima painting in watercolour. Not a sketch, but it was fun anyway, and that is what art is really all about isn't it?

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What Makes Good Art?

I was pondering in the shower today on what makes good art. I came to the conclusion that one way of looking at good art is looking at the audience that is deciding whether it is good art or not.

I could identify four audiences that I tend to refer to when I am trying to determine what is "good" art. These are the public, art buyers, the art community, and the artist himself or herself. Let's look at each one individually.

• The Public - I am a firm believer in public art, and try to participate in many public art programs. I believe most people really do enjoy art, and many do not have the means to purchase art for themselves. I know that artists in different cultures are treated differently. In Europe, artists are treated a bit like celebrities. In the United States and Canada, I think they are though of as a bit eccentric, and not main stream. I remember when I was a kid I told my Dad I wanted to be an artist when I graduated high school, and he said that is nice, but what was I going to do for a living? I think this was the same thing his father had said to him.
  
  I draw a lot in coffee shops, and do a lot of outdoor sketching and I am always amazed at the percentage of people in the public who feel compelled to look at my work and discuss it with me. I see true appreciation of the art in their eyes, and I get many ego inflating compliments about my work. The public seems to react directly to a piece of art, either they like it or they don't. This is the kindest audience when it comes to deciding if art is "good" or not.
  
  
• The Buyer or Collector - The second audience for art is the buyer or collector. If someone is willing to pay for your art, then they have definitely given you a "good" grade. The art buyer as far as I can tell, usually buys art for themselves (to hang in their home) or as an investment (they believe in the artist, and think his or her work will increase in value over time). This audience is most easily reached by works of art that fit the current trend in designers colours, and florals and peaceful landscapes for the most part. Art that makes people comfortable and beautifies the home. Many art buyers are women, so things that interest them are often good subjects.
  
  Goodness for this audience is easy to calibrate. The more money you earn, the better your art is. The nice part about this audience is they help with the mundane, but necessary need of earning a living.
  
  
• The Art Community - The third audience is the art community. By this, I am referring to the critics and judges. This community has certain criteria it uses to determine what is "good" art. Art history, the masters, the critic's or judge's personal taste in art, are all criteria used with a multitude of other things like technique, composition, creativity, originality and many, many others. This is a very difficult audience to receive a good rating from. Remember, though, that this audience, like the others above, are strongly effected by their culture and era. For example, Van Gough was not accepted in the art community of his time, his work was not popular with the public, and he was not successful at selling his work during his lifetime, yet failing in all te above markets, he is recognized today as a great master. Sometimes the art community audience is slow to accept someone as good, and as times and tastes change, work previously not accepted as "good" becomes "good". Like everything in art, there is no hard and fast rules.
  
  
• The Artist - The final audience that determines whether art is "good" or not is the artist himself or herself. I believe this is the most important audience of all. Art is an interaction between the artist and the subject. What the artist believes is "good" will drive the development of his or her work, create the artist's personal style, and give cohesiveness to their lifetime of work.
  
  It is the artist himself or herself that strives for perfection (what the artist believes to be "good") in each work, and is always disappointed and resolving to do better in the next work.
  
  And who is better at determining whether the artist achieved his or her creative goal than the artist?

What is "good" art? I think it depends on who is the audience and what factors are effecting them, such as culture, and the world they exist in. I think for myself as an artist, the only measure of "good" I am comfortable with in judging my art is my satisfaction with the artwork I created and has it progressed from prior works in a way that I want to go in.

The image in this post was done on an artist's weekend getaway to Quadra Island near Vancouver Island. The drawing was done between rain showers and depicts Cape Mudge lighthouse, a working lighthouse near the resort.

This week I went on an artists trip with a group of artists. I was part of the group that traveled together in one large vehicle. It was a very pleasant drive. I really enjoy the company of artists. I learned a lot about art classes in the area, shows, and how others approach the business of art. We also talked about art in general, and there was a buzz of anticipation in the vehicle as we were headed for the resort.

The first night there I had to teach on-line, so I could not join the others for dinner, and could not explore the area. What I did, since it was late after I ate dinner, was some contour drawings. I didn't want to stress myself, and contour drawing is an important exercise that I have to admit I don't do often enough.

I was worried because it rained the whole way to the resort, and it was raining that night with a 60% chance of rain in the morning. I had been really excited about this trip, because there was a lighthouse within a short hike from the resort. I love lighthouses, and this was my primary target for the trip.

As it turned out, there was about a three and half hour break in the rain, and I used that time to draw the lighthouse. I never seem to understand the limits of my time. I packed way too many supplies. Watercolours, pen and ink, brushes for ink, charcoal, and graphite. I actually only had time for one graphite drawing of the lighthouse that morning. In the afternoon it rained and I toured a local museum with a number of our group. At night we saw an art movie about the life of an artist. The movie was very good. I was just surprised about how little time there was to draw. Before breakfast that day, I did try a quick watercolour of the resort, but the moisture in the air made it impossible to dry, and the watercolours stayed so wet they ran into each other. Not a great experience, but the result was better than I thought they would be with the moisture conditions.

Some of the attendees only took photos. I wondered why, but I guess that some prefer to work from photos, and they only took references. I also wondered if they were afraid to work from life. I know I was a bit intimated, in case others wanted to see my work. As it worked out I used some of my photos of the lighthouse to add details I didn't get when I was sitting outside drawing the lighthouse. I got cold and was late for lunch, so I did not quite finish. Reference photos can be invaluable for finishing off a direct drawing if weather and time cause you to quit early.

I was proud of my experience with working directly outside. I set myself up by the edge of a woods, so if it rained, I could stomp down some of the underbrush and get protection from the rain in the trees. Luckily, I didn't need to do that.

One hazard I encountered that I did not expect, was the lighthouse keepers dog. The dog was really friendly, and layed down by me, like he was mine. What I didn't realize was that the dog had snuck into my pack, and stealthily removed my bottle of brown ink. Lucky for me the lighthouse keeper caught the dog with my ink, and luckily for me the ink bottle, though plastic, only had tooth marks, but the dog hadn't punctured the bottle.

The joys of working outdoors.

I was really surprised when I came back and went sketching with my sketch club. I did a sketch of a little harbor and I was really disappointed with the results. I realized some of it was due to an experiment with brown paper and graphite (they didn't go together) and more importantly, I just didn't get excited about the subject. I spent alot of time chatting with a woman who was on the beach with her dog. I understand now what a difference real interest in the topic can make to the success of a drawing.

I can not post the drawing with this post, because I left my camera behind at lunch with the sketching club, and I have to pick it up to photo my sketch. I am including another sketch from the work I do with my sketching club.

Going Back to Move Forward

Sometimes to move forward, I have to go back. I am trying very hard to improve my drawing. Drawing has been my focus for the last six months. I believe art is a journey not a destination, and learning is how we move along the path.

Recently, I did a copy of a Tintoretto, and it had a profound effect on my thinking and my art. At first, I just copied this master work because it looked easy to me, and I wanted something to draw. It was mostly line, and the human figure of a man, and I like drawing people. So I went about copying this master's work, and I started to feel different. I had had this experience before when I copied a Van Gough. When I copied the Van Gough, I got angry. I couldn't believe it, but the strokes I had to make with my charcoal were bringing up anger in me. This seemed amazing. Since that time I have been studying the mind/body connection, and physical memory, and don't find the idea of the body/mind interaction all that strange any more. But this time I was copying the Tintoretto, and I found a real flow going on in my drawing. It felt almost like ice skating. The most amazing thing was when I went to life drawing. I found I suddenly started to see the model in curved line, just like the Tintoretto I had copied earlier in the week. I still can't get this mind shift out of my mind. Whenever I go to life drawing, I still see the curves in the model in a way to mimics Tintoretto's work.

I have been studying master works and have not had time to copy them, but even reading analysis of them (Drawing Lessons from the Great Masters by Robert Beverly Hale) has effected the way I approach a lot of subjects, and how I see them, and approach them to draw. I would not see the master strokes without a guide, but seeing the analysis, I can apply the techniques using the right side of my brain. By copying the masters, I think I must be engaging the left side of my brain, because the feelings I get when I am drawing or seeing changes based on these experiences.

A third way I have benefitted from studying the masters is that I carry these lessons to my painting and well as my drawing. Drawing is a great way to learning value, composition, and structure, and then painting adds the complexity of color. For me, painting is just drawing with a brush and color. They are not separate art elements, but rather just different stops on a single continuum.

Each human starts out in art in the beginning, and must learn himself or herself all he or she can during his or her lifetime. Studying the masters and what they have learned just speeds up my trip down the path of art.