I know I need to sketch like a musician needs to play scales, so last night while the kids were sitting still-ish watching the Dick Van Dyke Show (very silly) on Youtube, I attempted some quick drawings in charcoal.
I chose charcoal because I didn't want to erase or get otherwise persnickety, but I still did, in some of them. I believe firmly from experience that sketching things quickly again and again is a better way to improve my drawing than trying to get one drawing right, but the drive to labor over one image is powerful because it's rooted in fear. "Oh no, it doesn't look like her," I think. "I need to fix it to prove I'm really an artist." Then I get all tense and draw worse than ever.
I feel a little scared sharing these. You might figure out that I'm not a real artist. But I am sharing them, and I intend to sketch more and worse, like a real artist, so I can get better at it. Anyone want to join me?
(I only have four kids, though this looks like I have a dozen. And that's a lamp under the head at the top of the photograph. It's not supposed to look connected to anything. I just sketched a lamp close to where I sketched a head.)
But if they all run around at once it seems like there's a dozen kids...:) Yay for sketching and drawing quickly, and the sketches on the center piece of paper look especially awesome.
ReplyDeleteYes, sometimes it does seem like a dozen kids, and I suppose a dozen kids would sometimes feel like thirty-six kids. I think the middle paper sketches are the best too. Now I just have to treat this sort of sketching like brushing my teeth, just do it, do it quickly and move on to the next thing..
ReplyDeleteI LOVE these sketches. Please do more of these. These show real life and real energy in the liveliness of the drawing. These look like a real artist did them.
ReplyDeleteThat means a lot coming from you Janice, since you are a "real" artist with lots of professional experience!
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