Two Tips; No Philosophy

12/17/17 The braid of a young woman sitting in front of me on the bus.
No inspiration here, just practice, captured because I had a sketchbook handy.

Today is the last day of my fourth consecutive year of sketching daily. My year-end tradition is to write a retrospective about what I’ve learned from my daily-drawing commitment, being mindful, forming a habit, etc. But I did such an overly thorough job of it with my three-part series in September that I have nothing left to say! (Aren’t you relieved? 😉)

Well, almost nothing. Instead of waxing philosophical, I’ll offer just two practical suggestions to people who want to draw more and draw regularly:

• Carry a small sketchbook with you always. No exceptions. You’ve heard this suggestion countless times from many people, I’m sure, and it’s a good one. You never know when the smallest, most insignificant thing will give you an opportunity to practice. Notice I didn’t say the smallest, most insignificant thing that might inspire you – this has nothing to do with inspiration; it’s about practice.

• Use whatever sketching tool you are most comfortable with. Recently I overheard a conversation in which a new sketcher asked someone, “I noticed that lots of urban sketchers use Lamy fountain pens . . . should I get one? I’ve never used a fountain pen before, but it must be the best pen for sketching or something . . .?” I would never recommend to someone who has never used a fountain pen to use one as they begin their sketching adventure. Anytime you use a medium you are not familiar with, you are trying to learn to use the tool at the same time that you are trying to learn a whole new skill set. Drawing is challenging enough; why complicate it? Just use the thing you are already comfortable with so you can focus on sketching.

Happy New Year!