Sketching on the road is more challenging than I thought. I was traveling to see my daughter's convocation at the University of Northern BC, in British Columbia. I just got home yesterday, and it was a wonderful trip. I had clear, warm weather for the whole trip, and it was a great family event. One of my frustrations was that there was so much beautiful scenery. The trip was 14 hours each direction, so I really didn't have much time for stopping and drawing. I also had to teach a course on-line the first travel day, so I did not get out until after dark. The first day I sketched while waiting to get on the ferry. I did not have much time, but I did get a quick sketch in of the terminal market. It was challenging with the time frame, but I managed to get a likeness of the market. It was then that I found that I had forgotten my pencils. I had brought pen, ink and wash, but for the short time I had, I decided to sketch with the ballpoint pen I had. It was not as satisfying as using my sketch pen, but it was all I could find. I had it in my head, I would be able to erase and correct my work, but I could not do it. That increased the challenge. It is strange, because a few years ago I did most of my sketching with a ballpoint pen, and then switched and got hooked on a sketching pen. It just has a different feel, and as an artist, I really enjoy the feel of my tools as well as the drawing itself.
The next sketch I did was of a flower vase in the restaurant where I ate. It was a really nice steakhouse, and the decor matched. I was faced with a problem there too. I only had the ballpoint pen and small paper, as I did not want to bring my fancy pen sketching. I was tired, and hungry, and close to my final destination. I just wanted to get to my daughter's house. I am glad that I took the time to do the drawing. It really was an exercise in simplification first. I had to find a reasonable set of symbols for the little flowers of the lilac, and then in the end, I added a leaf in the lower left to put the leaves around the flowers. I also had to subtly widened the vase base without making it look changed. I was able to do this because of the shading lines.
Next, I found that I did a sketch while waiting for the convocation ceremony. I tried to draw the stage, but that did not work out as well as planned. The lighting made it hard to identify the images, and they were complicated. Oh well, not every sketch is a winner, but I had taken photos of the same image so I can revisit it in the future.
The next images I got to draw were really fun. My daughter and her husband have three cats. and this gave me a chance to work on cat sketches from life. I always thought that cats just sat around and for the most part didn't move. Boy was I surprised. They are constantly moving around, but small movements. That just goes to show, that I have some fundamental misconceptions about life, that my sketching corrected. Everything that I need to know, I learned from sketching. I like that expression. I think I will put that in my slogans memory.
These sketches were not as good as some, but I captured the action, and they look like the cats, even if they are not the best poses. I considered them a success, because I learned a lot about the subject, and captured the moving cats by drawing from memory a bit.
My final sketch was done the night I was driving home. I finished supper, and went out with my sketchbook as it was getting dark. I found a spot around the corner from the main street, and was standing on a deserted street, sketching in peace. Suddenly, this guy comes up to me, and tries to hit me up for money. I was fine, but it made me realize that in a strange town, after dark, I was standing on a deserted street because I chose my location based on what I wanted to sketch. I should have been more cognizant of my security.
There were a lot of lessons I learned on this trip. First, I need to carefully pack my materials, and make sure the tools match my hopes. Second, I need to leave more time to sketch. Third, I need to make sure that I am more careful about my personal security when I am in a place that is new to me. I learned that I need to sketch a lot more subjects that I usually ignore, to learn more about their habits (like the cats). Life is wonderful, with new discoveries all the time, and sketching is a great way to make those discoveries.
No comments:
Post a Comment