Sketch Everything! Part 1

Above is a photo of some of my sketchbooks. They range in size from little 4" x 6" sketch pads to 18" x 24"s (not pictured.) A few of the sketches in these sketchbooks are included below. I consider sketchbooks to be indispensable tools for developing and continuing visual arts skills and ideas to any degree. Painters aren't the only ones who use them. Sculptors, illustrators, potters, architects, furniture designers and many others find them invaluable to their creativity and productivity.

In the past few years I've slacked off on sketching. In a conversation I had with the recently retired director of the Springville Museum, Vern Swanson, he emphasized the importance of using lots of sketchbooks. That is where ideas are discovered and developed, information gathered, and skills sharpened. I realized I needed to get back to actively using sketchbooks. Now I keep sketchbooks in my car, my day packs, and accessible wherever I go. I try to use them every day. 

This is the first of an on-going series about using sketchbooks, at least from my perspective. These posts will appear on this blog from time to time. Many of the sketches in these posts will be from older sketchbooks, and as the series progresses, it'll begin to include more recent sketches. There are several other posts already in this blog about sketching. you're welcome to explore those by clicking on "sketching" on the "Labels" sidebar and following the links.

Sketchbooks aren't the only places you can sketch. I've sketched on loose leaf paper, church programs, and even paper place mats at restaurants. Sketchbooks, however, provide the handiest places for your ideas, and are less likely to be lost. Here's one of the very few sketches on scrap paper I still have, This one in blue ball point pen ink:

But what goes in a sketchbook? Anything and everything! Mine have a wide range of subjects, methods and reasons-to-be. Here are a few examples:

A flower outside of a Pennsylvania home, and a lamp in a Washington D.C. motel: 

A stick and artifacts in a Utah desert:

A landscape near Pittsburgh:

A couple quick plant studies, and the back of a dog I had many years ago, sketched when she didn't know I was looking:

Any object, no matter how simple or mundane, can be put to use in a sketchbook. A kitchen chair in Pennsylvania for example:

Or if that's not challenging enough, how about a wicker chair in Utah?

Many of the sketches in my sketchbooks are simple gestures or line studies, drawn from life:

Here's a couple of quick sketches on a sketchbook page done at different times in the past week:

In part two I'll present other ideas about what sketchbooks can be used for, including a little about developing ideas for finished artwork. As mentioned earlier, these ideas are from my perspective. If you have any ideas you would like to share about sketchbooks you're welcome to put them in "comments."

The Sevier River

18" x 24" Oil on Canvas Panel

This painting is of a place I wrote about here. On the left side of the painting are the red bluffs I wrote about in that post. The painting was done over a year ago, in spring or early summer when the West Desert's plants were still relatively green.

The wind was strong and gusting the day I arrived there to paint - wind typical of such open country. Early in the setup a moment's inattention allowed a gust to topple my gear, spilling paint and solvent all over everything, including the canvas panels in their holders. An attempt to catch the easel and keep everything upright was lost in a tug of war to the stronger wind.

I was upset and about ready to quit the day's painting trip! But calmer thoughts countered my gusty temper. There was still plenty of time. Some of that time was used to clean up everything as best I could. There was another can of paint solvent in the leather paint bag. The easel was turned so that the large sail-like canvas panel was edge on to the wind instead of flat to it. There were ways to brace the easel against the wind. Soon enough the painting was begun again.

Despite on-going battles with the wind the painting progressed. Then the moon arose, casting her reflection onto the river's surface. That was just one of the things that made me very glad I had stayed and tried again. The day's painting trip was well worth the wind's trouble.

Last Thursday's Drawing

Pastel on Gray Paper

This is last Thursday's sketch from the weekly drawing class I attend. This was one time I felt the need to break out the color. The photograph doesn't show the drawing's color as well as I'd like, but hopefully it will give you some idea. It was done with Faber-Castell Polychromos pastels and Conte pastel pencils on a toothy gray paper. This was the first time she's modeled for our class and she was a real classy model.

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

Drawing from Oliver Wendell Holmes

Charcoal and White Pencil on Gray Paper

Sometimes a portrait "drawn from life" isn't from a real person. Drawing from plaster casts provides a means to sharpen drawing skills and study how light defines a form. The plaster cast "model" doesn't replace real live models but allows a unique opportunity to more thoroughly explore light and shape in a model that never moves and needs no breaks. You certainly don't want a plaster cast that breaks! 

The drawing shown above is from a plaster bust of Oliver Wendell Holmes by Cyrus Edwin Dallin (1861-1944) in the collection of the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah. Even though my drawing kind of looks like Holmes after some unfortunate event in a flour mill, I immensely enjoyed drawing it and was able to learn a lot by doing so. Whatever the level of skill attained, whatever level in one's professional career, improvement is always possible and desirable, so I look forward to more opportunities to learn from plaster casts.

Western Wyoming 2012

Smith's Fork, 11" x 14" Oil on Canvas Panel

The Western Wyoming Plein Air competition in Cokeville, Wyoming was mentioned in my last post. Pictured above is one of the paintings I made during that competition. "Smith's Fork" was painted Thursday afternoon shortly after I arrived in Cokeville for this year's competition. The next three days were spent painting or scouting around. Thursday and Friday evenings the artists gathered for meals at the Pine Creek Ski Lodge. Instead of staying in a motel at night I camped up in Pine Creek Canyon where I enjoyed free rates and the fine decor of aspen trees.

I wasn't able to spend as much time as last year, but was able to enter two paintings in the competition and had a few "studio" pieces on display. The painting shown at the top of this post won the "People's Choice Award."

A Recent Portrait Sketch, and an Upcoming Plein Air Event

9" x 12" Charcoal Pencil on Paper

This is a quick sketch from one of the more recent drawing sessions. All that was needed materially was a charcoal pencil, a kneaded eraser, and a spiral-bound sketchbook - basic stuff. It's fun to work with fancier and more expensive materials - and sometimes I do -  but so much can be done and learned by keeping it simple.

For more about drawing sessions, go to "Labels" on the side bar and click on "sketching" or "drawing."

Plein Air Event

This coming weekend (July 20 and 21) I hope to participate in The Western Wyoming Plein Air competition in Cokeville, Wyoming. The town of Cokeville sits on the banks of the Bear River, surrounded by picturesque ranches and cottonwood stands. Beyond the valley are mountains with evergreens and aspens. There's lots to paint in this scenic area. This will be my third year in this event. For more information go here:

http://www.cokevillewy.com/western-wyoming-plein-air-718-21.html

Shade Along a Wasatch Trail

Shaded Trail, 8" x 10" Oil on Panel

This painting shows a section of a popular walking trail by town. The trail begins in the mouth of a canyon and leads out onto the bench, roughly following the old shoreline of prehistoric Lake Bonneville. The view in the painting is to the west through shady Gambles Oak. The trail disappears around the steep slope near the top of the painting. The trail then continues northward along the bench above town, affording views of town and the lake and mountains beyond.

I've walked this trail many times, in all seasons. This time of year I might see a squirrel scamper across the path, or a lizard scurry away as I walk by. Up on the mountainside, and sometimes below the path there might be mule deer, or even bighorn sheep browsing on the lush summer greenery.

On this particular day I brought my favorite 8 x 10 pochade box along for a walk and did this painting.