3/22/17 colored pencil (photo reference) |
For our last session in the colored pencil class I’ve
been taking at Gage, the focus was on sketching
(Yay! Finally!). Well, it wasn’t exactly sketching as I know it because, as usual, we worked from photos. (You should
have seen me twitch at the travesty: The temperature was mild, and the sun came
out this morning as we sat in the classroom, sketching from photos! What is wrong with this picture!) I
half-heartedly produced a few sketches like the one shown here (a scene I’d
love to sketch very soon from life –
a cherry tree in full bloom at the Seattle Arboretum).
More than the sketching experience itself, I found Suzanne’s
lecture today interesting because she talked about the purpose of sketching – from a fine artist’s perspective. Gage Academy is in the business of
training people to become fine artists. Most atelier students go on to become professional
studio artists, and even many casual students are there because they have an interest
in eventually offering their work for sale. So when Suzanne discussed
sketching, it was clear that the sole purpose of producing a sketch is as a
preliminary step toward eventually creating a finished work. Unlike the type of
sketches I make, the fine artist’s “field sketch” (Suzanne’s term) has no
purpose if it doesn’t lead to something bigger and (presumably) better. At the
end of the sketch, an artist may decide that a scene doesn’t interest her
enough to merit a finished painting, or she doesn’t have enough information about
the scene to make a painting, so the sketch goes no further. But in any case,
the job of the sketch is to help the artist make that decision. It has no life
of its own.
To me, that’s very different from the content of the dozens
of sketchbooks I’ve filled during the past five years. My sketches did their
job just by being made by me. They do
have lives of their own in my sketchbooks – by evoking for me, every time I
look at them, whatever captured my attention long enough to make me want to sketch.
Despite this major difference in purpose, the steps she takes to make
a field sketch are very similar to the basic steps I take for most of my
sketches:
– Look for a point of interest: What attracts or excites me
about what I see? What do I want the viewer to see?
– Zoom in and out like a camera to find the composition.
– Once I’ve identified the picture I want to make, think
about the best ways to express it – with line, shape, color, form, texture?
– Where is the sun? Think about light and shadow and how I
can use them to help describe the scene.
– Deliberately emphasize the light and shadow in the sketch
to help define the forms.
After Suzanne (and other fine artists) makes a field
sketch, she still has to take it, along with photos, back to her studio and
hope that it contains enough information to help her make a painting.
Fortunately for me, after I’ve taken those steps, my work
is done.
Tina! I must remember to come to your blog more often. You think .. your share your joy. I also find my field sketching has a very legitimate purpose all by itself. I look through my (field) sketchbooks and the memories come flooding back. A few sketches inspire a more complete work of art, but that is a secondary byproduct. Meanwhile my field sketches capture many of the best moments in my life, I learn, I share, I enjoy, ......
ReplyDeleteYup, that's it exactly -- the sketchbook contains all the thoughts, feelings and sensory stimulation that occurred when the sketches were made. Thanks for dropping by, Elva! :-)
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