Saturday 19 April 2008

"What can I draw?".....Sketchbook Solutions


Draw everything! Don't get bogged down looking for subject matter, the right view, weather conditions, can't find my pen which I always use, these are all excuses and there's no excuse. I'm speaking to you, but also to my own lazy self!
 





 





You only have to turn your head from this screen to find something worth putting down on paper.
And what is the worst thing that happens if your attempt fails? the sky doesn't fall in, your paltry picture isn't paraded round the streets to be mocked by townsfolk....... you just lost a scrap of paper and a bit of graphite! Glue a new bit of paper over your shameful shortcomings and carry on regardless.











A good artist finds something worth drawing or painting in everything they see.












Here's a list of sketchbook subjects...

Pets- good for intense quick studies- you don't need to complete each one.
Car journeys- again quickly done, but make sure you're the passenger.
Shoes- Van Gogh painted his boots.
Washing Line- or in a basket, on a clothes horse.
Anyone around- Durer and Hockney drew their Mums, Rembrandt his wife asleep. Couch potatoes keep quite still.
From the TV- you could even 'frame' each small study with a rectangle, a few to a page.
An unmade bed- Durer drew his pillows.
A corner of a room-remember Van Gogh's painting with the yellow bed?
View from the window -I've even used a mirror to see outside when I've been confined to bed.
Fruit and veg... or a single flower
Shells, stones, seaweed, pine cones etc. Make a collection of interesting subject matter. Keep in a box, dip in when needed.
Draw from photos in magazines.
All things household or mechanical- phone, wheel, cog, cutlery, camera, lightbulb, plug, the list goes on.
Self portrait- a reliable subject who always wants a break at the same time as you.
Your hand, your foot.
Outside stuff- trees, passers-by, street furniture, buildings, cars, boats, and in Brittany all things rural and coastal.
Cafe scenes (be brave!), and draw at rock gigs, concerts, markets.

Phew! Must go and lie down after all that, but I promise I'll do a page in my sketchbook when I wake.....


Drawings are: Steve's red back, coffee cups on the boat, shoes from a mag, hospital drawing with conversation, Pebble in Devon, M5 Moto Frankley , Sun Inn at Chipping.


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